I’ll Turn Every Blessing Into Praise

I’ll Turn Every Blessing Into Praise

Jesus followers—and even people who are unsure of God—often respond to tragedy by first appealing to God for help and then questioning His intentions. Either way, difficulty has a way of making us aware of our dependence on God. In these moments when He is all we have, hopefully we can realize that He is all we need.

For Job of the Bible, this was no mental exercise. Job actually experienced the loss of everything he held most dear in life. How did he respond? His book is where we get the phrase, “blessed be the name of the Lord!”

In both trial and blessing, a grateful heart returns praise to God. When we fail to praise God for His blessings, we make fertile soil for poisonous seeds of pride in our hearts. Ideas like, “I deserve this, I earned this, and I did this,” begin to take root and overshadow God’s providential work in our lives. When we instead return God’s blessings as praise, we make fertile soil for God to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine.

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…in love, in faith, in purity.

How to UNCOVER God’s Word:

ASK – God to connect with you here. In prayer, start by slowing down, inviting God to be present. Begin with focus and openness to see what God has for you.

READ – the selected section of Scripture slowly. Take note of the words and phrases that intrigue you, reading them a second time if necessary.

REFLECT – on what grabs you. What connections do you see at this point in your life? How might God be speaking to you through these words? Stop long enough to let this take root and thank God for engaging you.

RESPOND – to the Scripture. Speak directly to God about what’s on your mind and heart. Look for ways to live out what you’ve uncovered – individually and with your church. And look for ways to bring what you have discovered to others.

1 Timothy 4:11-12 ESV

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Fight for what matters…

How do you make the better choice of living with one handful? You fight for what does matter. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 to flee from the love of money and possessions and instead pursue such simple things as righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

Nehemiah 4

14And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

Are you a fool?

How do you begin to live a one-handful life? Start with Jesus’s parable of the rich fool in Luke 12. Don’t build bigger barns to accommodate all of the unnecessary things in your life. Instead, throw stuff away as if your life depended on it. There is no need to worry and put your trust in things that don’t matter because God promises to meet your needs.

Luke 12

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’18And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.19And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”‘ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”22And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!25And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.28But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Daily Desperation for God…

In order to live with an ongoing, unending awareness of God’s presence, you must develop the habit of having a daily desperation for God.

Psalms 63

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;my soul thirsts for you;my flesh faints for you,as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,beholding your power and glory.3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,my lips will praise you.4 So I will bless you as long as I live;in your name I will lift up my hands.5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,6 when I remember you upon my bed,and meditate on you in the watches of the night;7 for you have been my help,and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.8 My soul clings to you;your right hand upholds me.9 But those who seek to destroy my lifeshall go down into the depths of the earth;10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;they shall be a portion for jackals.11 But the king shall rejoice in God;all who swear by him shall exult,for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

How do you have a day with God?

Q: How do you have a day with God?

A: You live with an ongoing, unending awareness of God’s presence.

Colossians 3

1If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 8But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Healed Heart 2K17

​Father God, I come to you now. Here’s my heart. It’s been broken. Here’s my life Lord. Take it. It’s broken. I need You Lord to mend me. I know you are the only one who can help me so I come to you, not once or twice, but frequently. I will keep opening myself up to you until I am healed completely and everything’s new. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Know the Lord is with you.”

One of the most important keys to fulfilling your God-purpose is knowing that the Lord is with you. It is an awesome feeling to know you have support in the natural sphere of life like family, friends, coworkers, peers, and acquaintances, and be that as it may, the ingredient in making this phase perfect is knowing that the Creator of the universe, the one who brings the world as we know it into existence out of non-existence goes before you and backs you up. With this kind of knowledge, there is no way to fail, but there is an assurance that the very purpose you were created for will come to be a reality, because the one who authored it is with you.

As I have explored the Bible about the lives of many men and women God chose to use, I found that the common denominator was that the Lord was with them. God used ordinary, and even the least of men, and women to accomplish great feats that would preserve future generations. They had faults and flaws; however, these short comings did not keep them from accomplishing their God-purpose. We must remember; in order to fulfill the God-purpose, we must have God in it.

My friends, the present situations that we face in our lives should not deter us from fulfilling the God-purpose because we as believers are equipped with the assurance of knowing that God is with us. Being able to fulfill the God-purpose in our lives may never happen the way we think it should happen, but when we know the Lord is with us, it does not matter how it is going to happen, but, rather, it matters that we know who is with us while it is happening.

Power Thought: I am determined to fulfill my God-purpose – not in my strength and abilities, but in the Lord’s strength and abilities.

Broken Crayons Color The Same…OnPurpose!!

Rose-colored Glasses

Holy. How often do you see yourself as holy? That’s not a term we usually apply to ourselves? Perhaps you’ve never married, but not by choice. Maybe you’re divorced, abandoned or abused. You might have had a baby outside of marriage, or you may have even aborted a baby. How holy does that leave you feeling?

And yet, if you are God’s child, he sees you as holy, no matter how damaged, broken or deserted you feel. You may wonder, How can he see me that way after everything I’ve done? It’s because he is looking at you through rose-colored glasses. These heavenly glasses have crimson lenses that have been tinted by the blood of his Son, Jesus — the Darling of the universe. Heaven’s precious Prince. The Savior of the world.

The Father cannot see the ugly stains, blotches and blemishes of what you may think is your unholy life. He cannot see your past failures or sins because they are filtered from his view by rose-colored lenses that have been drenched in the royal-red blood of his Son at Calvary. By that sacrifice, Jesus made it possible for you to be perfect forever — yes, holy! You may have trouble wrapping your finite human mind around such an infinitely divine concept. But it’s true nevertheless, and you can celebrate your holiness. Look forward to eternity with the Father, who loves you more than life itself — the life of his own dear Son.

And when you look into your mirror, see what your Father sees through rose-colored glasses…OnPurpose!

Mary Hollingsworth ~ Taken from Fulfilled
See Leviticus 11:45

In·car·cer·a·tion

Psalm 119:71 “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” (KJV)

Which of these has you entangled in mental or emotional incarceration?

• I lack motivation.
• I procrastinate too much.
• I don’t have time.
• I don’t have enough resources.
• It’s too late to change.
• I have too many responsibilities.
• I have no clue who I am.
• I have no clue where to start.

This use to be my list…then one day I hear a young lady talking – I couldn’t help myself – I shared my story with her…and I have been sharing ever since.

I didn’t lack motivation – I was afraid of what people might think.
I didn’t procrastinate – I was afraid of what people might think.
Time wasn’t an issue – I was afraid of what people might think.
You see…I was incarcerated in my mind.  Caged with limiting beliefs.

Free yourself from what people “might” think…What people think about YOU is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

The hurt, the pain, the discomfort, the tragety, the lack, the loss, the dissappintment, the break-up, the let down were ALL for a PURPOSE greater that YOU.  It is designed to send you to GOD.

We are always giving a witness in the midst of affliction. Afflictions will tell others where our trust is – whether in God or in ourselves.

Afflictions can draw out what is in our own hearts…OnPurpose!!