Sunday, August 12, 2012

Stop and Count Your Blessings



“Always be joyful; never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16)


How often do we thank God for the everyday things in our lives? When I started counting my everyday blessings a few months ago, I began to take stock of something to be thankful for every day.  It has been a wonderful journey of stopping and thanking God for blessings that I used to overlook or take for granted; the very things that deserved my gratitude! Even on a day where everything seems to go wrong, there is always something to thank God for........


  • A God whose love never fails

  • Family and friends who have been our companions in life

  • Our sense of sight and hearing that allows us to hear and see the colors in life

  • The sun, moon, and stars for bringing light and beauty into our world

  • Music to lift our spirits and sing and dance

  • Laughter to cultivate our life with joy



“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father who created all the lights in the heavens.” (James 1:17)

The best way to count your blessings is to live with a thankful heart in every moment! And our blessings and thankful hearts should not be stored up and hidden away. The good things that God gives us should be shared and used to serve others.  Blessings are a sign of God’s grace and they are given to us so that we might produce more fruit and be used in the way God wants. All year around in every hour of every day God is richly blessing us. No matter what struggles or pain crosses our path we can always find something to give praise for if we take the time to remember and look. When we don’t count (make ourselves aware of) our blessings they disappear and we don’t think about them or we forget them.  Every day we need to remind ourselves of the many gifts God has given to us and keep them active in our minds.        

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! (Psalm 107:1)

A blessing is defined as anything that gives happiness; a favor or gift bestowed by God that brings us joy. Since they bring us joy we should make a daily habit to record them and treasure them. The smallest things can bring laughter and joy, and we are the luckiest people in the world to have so many reasons to celebrate every day of our lives. I am so thankful for a God whose love never fails and who opens my eyes to my every day blessings! I just recorded gift/blessing # 1,000, and I am excited to continue to experience and record what blessings God has in store for me today and every day!

13 comments:

  1. You are a blessing Denise ~ Great post!!

    Hugs...Chelle

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  2. So glad you reminded me to be thankful today sister. If it weren't for our Almighty loving God, I'd be consumed with complete darkness and despair. Living in Him is what gives me life to the full . . . even when life seems empty. :) SO thankful for you sister!
    Cherie

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  3. I appreciate this post, Denise. I agree that sometimes we take advantage of our everyday blessings. I know that I forget to be thankful and forget to count my blessings on days that are more difficult than others. I appreciate the reminder :)

    Erin

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  4. I agree about counting our every day blessings. I know it's changed my daily perspective too. I'm thankful for blogging friends ...like you Denise!

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

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  5. Amen, we are each abundantly blessed. I feel blessed to have our paths cross in blogland

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  6. When I was a little girl we sung a song that went like this, count those many blessings name them one by one...

    Each day we need to count them and say thank YOU LORD

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  7. Beautiful post Denise! Visiting your blog has encouraged me to start recording my own thankful list. I started to do so on a Diary blog but find it easier to jot down regular reasons to be thankful in a notebook I've purchased especially.

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  8. Thank you Denise for this. Lately I have been counting many things the Lord has given and is out there for me to receive. Blessings.

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  9. Denise, I, too have started my list of things I'm thankful for from linking up with the 1000 gift challenge. It has caused be to see things from different perspectives. It's good to read your thoughts here!

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  10. I need to be more diligent in thinking about the all the blessings big and small He gives me.

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  11. Hi Denise - I think I needed to read this today. My attitude certainly changes when I start focusing on being thankful for all the Lord has done, and all He has saved me from and for who He is and the friends He provides and and and .... Great post my friend.
    God bless
    Tracy

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for all of your help dear friend Tracy! Testing! :)

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