The Apostolic Life is an abundant life, full of the joy and peace in the Holy Ghost*, but one can only truly walk in all that God has intended for them, if they learn the valued art of cultivating gratefulness.
Cultivating Gratefulness
Cultivating gratefulness means focusing on what’s right in our lives, instead of what’s wrong with them. It’s celebrating the 20 pounds we lost over the last year, instead of bemoaning the 5 pounds we gained this month. Cultivating gratefulness means acknowledging how blessed we are to have a family, instead of griping about the lack of familial communication that sometimes occurs. Cultivating gratefulness means praising God that we have hair, any hair, instead of complaining about our gray hair, our thinning hair, our dry hair etc. Cultivating gratefulness means praising the God of glory for the breath in our body, for the bed we slept in last night, for the fact that we can see, hear, and walk across the room without difficulty.
Yes, if we are not careful, we can sow seeds of discontent and reap a maelstrom of bitterness, when we could have chosen instead to cultivate gratefulness, and bask in the joy of the Lord.
If ever you doubt that you have something to be grateful for, take 5 minutes and scan your social media news feed. I did, and came across an astounding number of people who are suffering much more than I am. In fact, just this week, I was whining about my thinning hair that is making it increasingly more difficult to do a french twist, or any up-do for that matter, and then I read this post byJessica Bembry Suarez, the daughter-in-law of a friend of mine, who is battling stage 4 Leukemia:
In this season I have been going through. I have Faith, Great Faith !!! But one of the most emotional things I have had to deal with is the loss of my hair. It was like the final symbol that made my inward struggle with cancer would now be identified to everyone… But I’ve learned we need not be afraid of what is happening to us because God is in control. He so much in control that as Luke12:7 tells us he counts the very hairs on our head . Imagine that ! Every hair that has washed down the drain, Every Wisp that straggles upward from your scalp after treatment ends God’s number is on it. If God cares that much about the hair on your head, you can trust that he cares for you and nothing – not even cancer- can separate you from his loving control. ” Doubt not his grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that He loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness – Charles Spurgeon”#chroniclesofamiracle
What a remarkable young woman, and how incredibly shameful of me to complain about the appearance of my hair, when this beautiful young mother is giving God glory even in the midst of all that she is going through.
If you, like me, want to cultivate more gratefulness in your life, LEAVE A COMMENT expressing something you are grateful for.
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” -1 Thessalonians 5:18
*If you have never experienced the Acts 2:38 experience of the infilling of the Holy Ghost as evidenced by speaking in tongues, you are really missing an incredible, life changing experience!! Visit one of these wonderful websites for more information: www.upcbartlett.comor www.readytobefree.com. or How To Receive the Holy Ghost