Philippians 4
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
This is one of my go to verses when I'm worried or hurting. It's not easy I'll tell you that. I know right now there are some hurting people out there and believe me I'm no stranger to pain either. Trust me. So I'm writing this today and tomorrow to help you. And I'm dead serious about this.
I mention this before years ago and I'm not sure if anyone is doing this right now or not. I made a promise to God - maybe twenty years ago - that I would write a note to Him and tell him five things I was grateful for - each and every day. I call it my grateful journal. For some reason it has stuck with me and I do it faithfully. I'm not sure exactly why I started that, why I promised Him that, or why I'm still doing it - except that is is a gift from God Himself. Thank you God for it changed me.
I also made a promise with Him when I was about 15 years old. That every thought in my head would be like a prayer - a conversation with Him. I still do that - but to be honest - there at times I do fail. I let my mind run a muck and to tell you the truth not some so good thoughts go through my mind! But when I fall off the wagon - eventually I get back on - even if it takes awhile.
These two things changed my life. I'm not the Chatty I was 20 to 40 years ago. If you knew all I've been through - where I started - I dare say you'd be shocked at what my life was before and what it is now.
No more about me - I want to help you. I promise you if you do the grateful list to God and keep it up with it - I know it will change your life - for the better, but you do have to stay with it for awhile.
Part Two Tomorrow.
NOW WHO WON THE CONTEST?
I wrote all the names - three times on paper. Cut them up to the exact same size. Folded them all in half. Put them in a bowl. Shook them up. My hubs held them high while my grandson picked at 8pm.
Okay he has picked one and who was it??????????
Lisa from From Two Bears Farm! Congrats Lisa. I will send them your email and I'll send you theirs. I wish I had a few more to give everyone! Sorry if you did not win. Remember if you want anything from their site you still get a 10% discount off this month of October.
A Little humor . . .
Thought for the day:
40 comments:
There is so much to be thankful for each day. I've tried to say thanks for each and every blessing. Sometimes I do miss a few. Today I'm thankful I was home when DD called needing me to watch my little grandson. I'm thankful that I can help out when ever needed. Hope you have a great Thursday!
A very good reminder :-)
Giving Thanks, every day of my life. Congrats to Lisa!
Philipians 4:6 is one of my favorite verses too, also Isiah 41:13 which I recite over and over again while I am waiting in a doctor's office.
Love this verse! I am trying to be more grateful each and everyday! Hugs, Linda
I love your grateful journal. Although I don't write them down, each day I purposefully find things to be thankful to the Lord for. I don't think I'll ever get to the end of that list~
aAAAwwHH, dang!
Congratulations to Lisa. Good thing you got it on film or else ... hahahaha. You are so funny.
I loved the scripture and the comic strip.
Some day I'll win a blog contest, some day. :D
Have you read that book.... 1000 Gifts? It is the best book I have read in a long time! Congrats to Lisa!!
thank you, dearheart, for the reminder.
This is a good reminder, Sandie. Sometimes I tend (wait, more than sometimes...) to focus on what's wrong in my life, instead of what's right and what's good. I've got a lot of good! Ann
I don't always write in a journal, but I do give thanks nearly every day for my many blessings. Just looking at a beautiful sunset reminds me to give thanks for the gift of eyesight! There are so many things we take for granted. Phillipians 4:6,7 is one of my favorite verses.
Congrats to the lucky winner!
Great post. The author of the book I am reading, Debbie Macomber, makes a grateful list of five things every day, too. I can see how it would set the mood for your day and set your thoughts on "things above"!
Hi Sandie, Yes---even through the hard times, we all do have so much to be thankful for... Making a list is great since it keeps it on our mind (which is good).
George and I began doing daily devotions together --thanking God for our blessings and praying for his guidance and direction--- several years ago. The devotions last for about 30 minutes each day --and that helps us both to have a much better day than we would otherwise...
Hugs,
Betsy
I am SOOOOOO happy that Lisa won! She is such a sweetheart...:)JP
You know....I'm thankful for today too.
Philippians is my go-to book. I love it's encouragement and comfort, a genuine blessing for a woman who sometimes frets too much.
Hey friend...writing down a few blessings every day is such a great idea,and changed lives for sure,I can relate,I sure ain't the "Jo" I once was,thank God!!!...I mean that,"thank God"....
congrats to Lisa!!
Congratulations to Lisa! Your new look blog is looking lovely, Sandie. Each and every day I have so much to be thankful for, and I really do think that it is such a good idea to write these down each day, as it really does focus the mind of just how much we have to be grateful for.
i am happy for you that is has helped you so much and it is wonderful to share it with us. that is one of my favorite scriptures and most of it i have committed in memory, but i learned it in KJV many years ago. i have tried to relearn some of the verses i learned but it confuses me. i like this version a lot.
Great advice and thanks for being so diligent to share how that has helped you. I give thanks every day and on a regular basis I do write down the things I'm thankful for. Being thankful is a perfect way to also learn how to be content in any circumstance which is another great verse from Philippians.
I like the idea of writing down 5 things a day that you are grateful for. :) I'm grateful I found your blog!
Sandie, I love those scriptures! So thankful you shared them with us today. And you're so right, it's not about who we were, but who we are now. Sometimes it's easier to feel sorry for ourself than it is to feel thankful. I must hone in on that thought.
Oh thank you! I've been wanting to win one of their giveaways FOREVER!!
ALways important to remember to give thanks. Thanks to you!
I try to always remember to give thanks and pray. I pray a lot!
I love that comic!
Hi Sandie...You are so right! Keeping a gratitude list is VERY life changing. I've done it for a couple years now and have several journals filled from cover to cover. As soon as one is filled, I start an empty one. When that's filled, well, you get the message.
So take care and keep up that journal. By the way, I'm thankful for YOU and for your sweet blog! Susan
I can't remember a day when I didn't say "thank you, God" and a lot of days I also said, "thank you, Dave". None of us are every thank enough!
love those verses...
great shot of the number picking...
love the thankful shot!
Congrats to Lisa!
And I think you are a WONDERFUL person. I love communing with God, too, and I want to try your journal. GREAT idea.
Love you so much...
XO,
Sheila
Hi Sandie,
I am thankful everyday. Life is good!
Congratulations to Lisa.
xo,
Dee
Me again.... Please comment on this ---and see if my email comes up now. I think it's through my set-up on Google+.. I'm trying to get it back to my email....
Thanks for telling me. I didn't know.
Love,
Betsy
What a good inspiring entry. I am sure you sweet lady have blessed many folk over the years. Good for you and your commitments.
Love ya!!!
Jack & Sherry
Beautiful testimony...i thank it is very special that you are sharing this to help someone who may be worried or hurting and hopefully help change their life as yours was changed. It is commendable that you have kept your promise with your grateful journal. I can see how this would be life changing. When we grow close to the Lord he grows close to us. I look forward to part two.
I'm so glad Lisa won! I think it's great that you have a journal that you write in daily!
Hubby and I talked this over and we're starting a Grateful Journal! Thank you for the reminder!
Love,
Marie
Congrats to the winner! I do like what you have done over the years Sandie with your writing of five things you are grateful for on a daily basis. It does help take the focus of the things we are struggling with and help us to realize we really do have things to be thankful and grateful for. I like your idea too about praying to God with your thoughts. I know I try to do that when I'm stressed about things, but I'm hit and miss with it (mostly miss)
I look forward to part two tomorrow
betty
I try and not only remember to be thankful but also to choose joy.
LOVE that scripture. I needed that this morning. Thank you, my friend.
You have such a good attitude about life, and I know we could all write a book about things in our lives; the good and not so good.
I'm so happy for Lisa, that's awesome! :)
I couldn't agree more that there is SO MUCH to be thankful for. One thing that God spoke to my heart immediately after my husband lost his job was how much he had loved it. What I realized was that when God first gave it to him, we had thanked God for it consciously every day. As the years went by, we had started to take it for granted. I do not believe that we were "punished" for our cease of gratitude, but I do think that it was a teachable moment about how easy it is to wander from the path of thanks.
Wonderful post, and congrats to the winner! I'm too fat for anything to look good on me anyway. Ha!
Congratulations to Lisa, one of my favorite bloggers!!!!
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