12 Disciplines of a Grateful Heart

Part 4

3. Look for the hidden blessings

Colossians 4:2 

Continue in prayer, and watch 

in the same with thanksgiving;

Sometimes in our lives, we grumble and complain at the blessings God gives us, as they’re not what we would have chosen for ourselves. God’s blessings often come disguised as pain and suffering and trials. We only see the pain and suffering, but God is doing a refining process. God is working on the condition of the heart. The blessing is obscured from view until such a time as God chooses to reveal it or as our hearts are in tune with Him more closely, 

and we can see His hand at work.  

In Colossians, Paul exhorts the brethren to be watchful and be alert. He encourages them to be earnest towards, to persevere, to be constantly diligent and to be vigilant and to keep awake! The Greek word for watch in this verse in kin to another Greek word that has the idea of 

wakening from sleep and rising up.

Yes, we all need to wake up! Wake up to God’s blessings, despite how they look on the outside. They don’t always look like a blessing. They are hidden gems. God’s way of teaching us and helping us to grow. We can either become better or become bitter during trials. It’s a choice. And it’s our choice.

And did you notice that we are to watch with thanksgiving? We are to watch in gratitude as an act of worship to God, with a thankful heart.

We find ourselves complaining about our physical appearance, our size, our job, our level of intelligence, our possessions. But God knows that not everything we desire will be to our benefit. He gives us what we need.

When I was going through a dark and lonely trial last year, I couldn’t see any benefit in it. I couldn’t see any blessings. All I saw was darkness. But my God saw blessing. My God saw a way to refine me and draw me closer to Him. He looked down and saw someone in need of an even deeper relationship with Him. There was blessing despite the burden.

Psalm 68:19

 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits,

 even the God of our salvation. Selah.

This verse in Psalms tells us that he DAILY gives us benefits. Daily. Every day. The problem is that our definition of something profitable for us, is vastly different to God’s definition. His ways are not our ways. 

His thoughts not our thoughts. 

There are hidden blessings under every cloud. God has a purpose for the rain and the snow. Rain may disappoint, but that comes from our limited knowledge. God sees the bigger picture. He sees the reason for the rain. 

Isaiah 55:10-13

 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, 

and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth,

 and maketh it bring forth and bud, 

that it may give seed to the sower, 

and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth

 out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, 

but it shall accomplish that which I please, 

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: 

the mountains and the hills shall break forth

 before you into singing,

 and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree,

 and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: 

and it shall be to the LORD for a name,

 for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

There are a lot of spiritual applications in these verses that I would like to explore more at another time, but for now, just know that God has a purpose for the rain and the snow, and He has a purpose for your trial. He showers us with blessings, it’s just that sometimes they are hidden and we might 

have to dig a little to find them.

 We need to look for those hidden blessings. We need to stay alert to the blessings God gives and then remember to praise Him for them. God is always giving us reasons to praise and worship Him. A grateful heart will rejoice and be thankful.

Isaiah 61:10

 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, 

my soul shall be joyful in my God; 

for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,

 he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, 

as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,

 and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

We have so much to be thankful for. Stop and look for those hidden blessings, and then take the time to thank the Lord for them, giving Him all the honour and praise that is due His name. Develop a grateful heart

 and watch and pray with thanksgiving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers and Cockatoos

My sweetie brought me flowers! 

Dave knows that I love these 'weeds'

that grow in abundance in the tabledrains

along the side of the road. 

These sweet little flowers are called

Hairy Mulla Mulla.

They grow on stony ground or red sand.

(I'm sure there's a lesson in that)

Apparently it's an ephemeral herb that appears after rain. 

Well, whatever they are, I love them!

And I especially love them when Dave stops the truck

to pick them for me. Aww. 

 And here's a couple of snaps of some cheeky

cockatoos in the tip top of a very dead,

very hollow, palm tree in our yard. 

I'm so thankful for the little things, 

like weed-like flowers and noisy cockatoos,

that bring a smile to my face. 

Nothing is insignificant to God, 

the Creator of the universe. 

No matter how great or small. 

Job 12:7-10 

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; 

and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: 

and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 

Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD

 hath wrought this? 

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, 

and the breath of all mankind.

Recent Whirlwind Trip

 A couple of weeks back,

Dave and I were able to take a

brief trip back to Malanda for Dad's birthday.

This was the first time Dave has been back 

since we left the Tablelands 6 years ago!

We flew on Air North from Darwin to Gove

then onto Cairns. I always love to sit by the window and 

happily snap away at the beauty below. 

And this time was even better as we flew into

Gove, which we'd never been to before. 

Beautiful country.

Then we headed to Palm Cove for a 

very brief one night stay at one of the resorts 

Dave and I used to visit annually in celebration of 

our honeymoon. Awww. ❤

We even got to try a decadent dessert

of deep fried Snickers wrapped in a crepe

and served with amazingly creamy 

caramel ice-cream and edible flowers! Mmmm

Besides the room smelling mouldy and the weather

being cold and wet and windy, it was nice to

have a night on our own and walk down the beach. 

We were able to go out to eat with ALL the family

at Obis in Yungaburra. 

My brother was able to visit from Brisbane 

and we finally got to meet our niece-in-law, Abi

and adorable little great nephew, Paddy. 

We had a lovely time and ate some delicious food. 

Dave and I even had the pleasure? of helping Lauren

clean the church on Saturday! Just like old times,

except daughter was making Daddy vacuum instead

 of Daddy making daughter vacuum. 

Despite the clouds and wet weather, 

we did see some sunshine and it was pretty. 

Although I was very happy to get back to our

beautiful warm and sunny, dry weather! 

And of course one of the highlights for me

was getting to spend a couple hours with

my 'other' family. These beautiful children

are growing so fast and my sweet little Josh

has grown from an adorable, cheeky, little ratbag

into a fine, young man. God is so good. 

It was great to be with ALL the family,

but all too soon, it was over and we had to 

be on our way home. A whirlwind trip

but it was worth every minute! 

12 Disciplines of a Grateful Heart

Part 3

2. Give thanks for the small and ordinary things

In looking at the 12 disciplines, we’ve covered the first one, which was to give thanks to God independent of feelings. In this 2^nd discipline, we are told to give thanks for the small things.

Often, we forget to praise God for the ordinary things in our lives. We don’t think too much about the little blessings we receive every day. They seem so ‘ordinary’ that we don’t give them much thought. But God loves to hear us offer prayers of thanksgiving, regardless of the size of the blessing.

We receive small blessings so often and so regularly from God, that we can actually become unappreciative of them. Familiarity breeds contempt.  We don’t even think of them as blessings. The sun coming up each morning, the cool breeze on a summers’ day, the laughter of a child, the song of a bird, a picturesque sunset, the traffic light turning green when you’re on your way home after a long day, the parking space right in front of the store, the extra blanket on the bed on a cold winters’ morning.

There is so much to be thankful for that our list would be endless if we sat down to write one. I find it a good habit to keep a gratitude journal where I can jot down things I’m thankful for every day. It keeps my focus on God’s goodness and helps me to praise him more regularly.  

God speaks of small things, like the sparrow, and the hairs of our head. That’s an interesting one, thanking God for the hair on our head!

Matthew 10:29-30

 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

I imagine that when God healed the ten lepers, and only one returned, the one that returned to glorify God gave thanks for his ten finger and ten toes. Fingers and toes that now worked as they should and caused him no pain and suffering anymore. Do we give thanks for our fingers and toes?

Luke 17:15-16

. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks

The word ordinary means, to have no distinctive features or something that is commonplace or standard. Well, there are a lot of commonplace things that we ought to be grateful to God for. God is not just the God of big things, he’s the God of small things. Ordinary things. Unnoticed things.

💗 Sisters 💗

Miriam loves her little sister Lydia.

After her initial hesitation at this new

little being in her house, she has accepted

little Lydia and helps mummy with what will

soon become her playmate and friend. 

Taking these photos reminded me of a photo

of Lauren and Abbi when they were around the

same age. So sweet. 

Miriam Turns 2 💗

 Precious little Miriam turned 2 on Sunday.

Boy, has time flown! 

She was very pleased with her new sweet dress

that her wonderful Grandma (that's me), made her! 

And a matching dress for her little dolly too, of course. 

Here's a comparison photo from her 1st birthday

to her 2nd birthday. What a big girl she is now. 

Grandpa helped her unwrap her presents, which was very exciting

as it was a new experience for her. 

Having adoring Auntie helps in the present department! 

She loves her little Alphabet puzzle we bought her

and has not stopped playing with it and has

learnt almost all the letters already! 

And the star of the show (besides Miriam of course),

was the most amazing, incredible, magnificent 

cake that Abbi made! All hand piped icing flowers

and a black forest cake at that! 

Unbelievable and tasty too!  

Miriam was very excited to have her very own

birthday cake with candles. We didn't even have a chance

to tell her to blow the candles out, or show her what to do,

when she rushed in and did it before we were ready.

So, we had to relight them and have her do it again, 

so Grandma could take photos and we could sing. 

We had a lovely roast dinner and 

delicious cake and coffee. 

A beautiful afternoon spent cuddling our sweet little girls. 

And now, it's time for another photo shoot with little Lydia. 

She's growing so quickly now too. 

12 Disciplines of a Grateful Heart

Part 2

1.   Give thanks as a holy discipline independent of feelings.

At times our hearts are cold and we don’t feel very thankful,

especially during times of trial. The last thing we ‘feel’ like doing

is giving thanks to God for the storms in our lives.

We don’t feel like praising Him, we don’t feel like being grateful.

But, should we live our lives running on feelings? No!

The Bible tells us that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked

(Jeremiah 17:9) and it also tells us that if we trust in our heart,

we are fools.

Proverbs 28:26

 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:

but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

We are to give thanks, despite our feelings. We must lay aside

our feelings and give thanks, whether we feel like it or not.

It is our duty. God commands it.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God

 in Christ Jesus concerning you.

When we begin to give thanks, despite how we feel,

our words often kindle a small fire that works its way

from our lips down to our hearts and then the gratitude

begins to flow from our hearts and not just our lips.

Being grateful is a choice we have to make.

We must choose to give thanks. We need to see it

as something we owe to God, regardless of how we feel.

When we begin to give thanks, in spite of everything

that is going on around us, God brings along the ‘feelings’ that

may have not been there in the beginning.

We are to make that choice to be thankful, as a holy discipline

independent of feelings. We know that our feelings

are feeble and swayed by every little thing.

But God’s word doesn’t change, and God’s commands

are not something to take lightly.

If God is commanding us to be thankful,

which He is, then our feelings don’t come into it.

It doesn’t matter whether we feel like it or not.

Begin to speak the words of gratitude, and God

will bring the feeling. We give our words with our lips,

 and He works on our hearts and gives the feeling.

Hebrews 13:15

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,

 that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

“Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God--
Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I'll trust in God's unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!”

Martin Luther

(12 disciplines taken from a sermon by Paul Thigpen)

12 Disciplines of a Grateful Heart

“If we cultivate the discipline of gratitude, we can overcome the temptation to turn our backs on the Lord in self-absorption as the nine lepers did. Instead, like that healed Samaritan, we'll be sure to run toward the Lord, fall at His feet, and whisper often the words He delights to hear: "Thank you." P. Thigpen

Recently, I read a sermon by Paul Thigpen on the subject of Gratefulness. In it, he outlined 12 disciplines of a grateful heart. I found them to be very helpful in developing a heart of gratitude in my own life.

I have found that becoming continually grateful is not something that just comes naturally to me. It has to be cultivated. It has to be worked on.

” I tremble as well to remember that ingratitude is a clear indicator of the heart turned in on itself of the proud, restless ego that is never satisfied, that believes the world owes it whatever it can get. Whether complaining that the gift is not good enough, or too absorbed in the gift to say thanks, the ingrate spurns the Giver in favour of self.” P.Thigpen

I know that for me, I have to consciously make myself think thoughts of gratitude and take time to sit and ponder all the things in my life that I can thank God for.

I know that often, when I come to God in prayer, my prayers are that of supplication and intercession. These things are needful, but to have a heart of thankfulness, and adoration pleases the Lord and brings honour to Him all the more.

We are commanded many times in scripture to give thanks to the Lord. It’s not just a suggestion that we praise God, but a command! The command to praise Him is just as important as the command to love others.

Psalm 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD;

 for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.  

If you read the whole of Psalm 136, you’ll notice the phrase “his mercy endureth forever” repeated over and over. Why? In this passage, the Psalmist is bringing our attention to the many wonderful works of the Lord, telling the people to give thanks to the Lord and then giving them the reason to be thankful. “his mercy endureth forever”. This Psalm doesn’t just apply to a people long ago, but to us in this day and age. His mercy still endures forever. And we need to give thanks.

Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father

 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

I love the use of always and all in this verse. We are often told to be careful about using the word “always”, because we use it wrongly, when accusing someone of wrongdoing or complaining about our lot in life. But in this verse, it is imperative that we ALWAYS give thanks and for ALL things. Not just the good things. But ALL things. Ouch. Yes, that’s not so comfortable, giving thanks during trials and for all things. But, it’s not a suggestion, it’s a command.

Our lives are a gracious gift from God’s loving hand, and our hearts should overflow with gratitude to God, each and every day for the bountiful blessings he showers upon us.

So, I’d like to go through these 12 disciplines of a grateful heart, one by one, to help us all gain a better understanding of gratefulness and a heart of gratitude.

Over the next few days or weeks, learn along with me, how to develop a heart of gratitude and a spirit of thanksgiving. I need to be continually reminded to be thankful and I’m sure I’m not the only one. We all live busy lives that can crowd out our offerings of praise to God, but with some serious prayer and determination, with the Lord’s help, we can all become more skilled at giving God the praise and adoration that He deserves so that thankfulness flows naturally from our lips.

“If tomorrow’s supply depended on today’s thanksgiving,

 how much would I have tomorrow?”

Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,

 do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

To be continued with Discipline no. 1….

“Give thanks as a holy discipline independent of feelings”