Devotionals for the Heart: Gratitude Will Change Your Attitude

Remember to Thank Your Heavenly King
A devotional by Wendy Wilson Spooner

“Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.”

—Psalm 136:3 (NIV)

Studies conducted on the effect of gratitude on our well-being have redundantly revealed positive results to the point it is almost cliché. Such as, improved physical health, mental health, resilience, and strengthened social bonds.

Many of our homes contain small wooden signs that state, “Thankful. Grateful. Blessed.” I personally love this reminder. It helps me remember how much God loves me when I consider my blessings, but even more when I drop to my knees to thank Him.

What does the word of God have to say about being thankful?

Many people love the story of The Ten Lepers (Luke 17:11-19). We can imagine, to an extent, what it would be like to be labeled “unclean” and “untouchable”. Oh, the loneliness! Not to mention the miserable existence to live in a diseased body that slowly wastes away. And then to experience the love of another person for maybe the first time ever from the Son of God (Jesus Christ)? The joy and tears of these outcasted lepers must have been immense.

But the most important part of this story, and possibly the most beautiful example of gratitude in all scripture, is the one leper—out of ten—who returned to Jesus to thank Him for the miracle of healing.

Times I have experienced great trials and suffering myself have been alleviated when I remember to recognize how God has surrounded me with wonderful things, which encourages me to count my blessings, not my burdens. Counting our blessings can have the power to magically restore a sense of direction, or a change in perspective when all seems lost.

Right now, post-Covid financial difficulties have peaked for me and my family. The stress of this situation was so bad recently that I developed a debilitatingly painful stomach ulcer. But as I remembered to look around me and count my blessings, I was encouraged because I recognized that we still had a roof over our heads, we have cars to drive, and our family members are healthy and well. Soon after remembering the goodness of God in all of these areas, I snapped out of my “doom-and-gloom” downward spiral into darkness and returned to live in the Light of Jesus Christ. As a result of this change in perspective, my stomach ulcer is healing! It rarely flares up anymore.

Thanking God is a choice we can make every day, anytime, anywhere. So, the next time you feel like you’re drowning in earthly cares, look heavenward, then around you, and consider what you can be thankful for.

It’s not so easy to remember to have an attitude of gratitude, especially when darkness surrounds us. So be proactive and put a reminder on your mirror, or in your car. Remember, God can fill us with His Holy Spirit and pure joy like nothing and no one else on Earth can!

Jesus is the source of true happiness.

He is the source of pure and everlasting joy!

Let’s Pray: Our Father in Heaven, bless us to remember You in our darkest times. Most importantly, help us to remember You are the Light! Thank you for all the goodness You pour upon us. You are the one true source of joy, especially during trying times! We love You, Lord. Keep us close to Your Heart. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

~*~
Author Bio:

Wendy is a Genetic Genealogist by day, a writer by night, and an artist in between.  

Her love of what we can learn from history compels her to write the true stories she unearths because she’s found that truth is indeed much more exciting and inspiring than fiction.

Wendy writes about family, faith, grief, art, and overcoming obstacles in life by coming to know who we really are—the children of God, and the descendants of incredible people who paved the way for us—even if they really struggled. Wendy believes in learning from our ancestors, honoring them, and then standing on their shoulders to become a better generation.

As an award-winning family history writer, Wendy’s debut novel, Once Upon an Irish Summer, released April 3, 2020. This book is a dual timeline historical fiction novel about a young, gifted artist suffering from debilitating grief, who finds healing and inspiration in her Irish ancestry, and goes on to paint a masterpiece.

The sequel, Celtic Winter: Eliza’s Story, released November 5, 2021. The storyline goes back in time to the little sister left behind in Ireland to keep her family alive, woven with present-day Beth’s continuing story as she races the clock with the young man she loves to find the only person who could save his mother’s life.

When Wendy is not researching or writing, she hikes, paints, loves being a church youth leader, binges on epic Bollywood movies, and hangs out with her greatest loves—her family.

~*~
Connect with Wendy:
Website: https://wendywilsonspooner.com/
Blog: https://wendywilsonspooner.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorWendyWilsonSpooner/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendyspooner/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Wendy_W_Spooner

Devotionals for the Heart: Praise God

A Habit of Praise
A devotional by Karen Marstaller

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” –1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

In this season of turkey and dressing feasts, pumpkin spice everything, and gloriously cooler weather, it’s easy to find reasons to be thankful.

Riding horseback under a cathedral of autumn leaves in the crisp mountain air, experiencing the first snowfall of winter as it dresses the landscape in a garment of purity, or enjoying a wonderful rain shower that causes one of our national treasures to surge again in thunderous falls after a long season of drought—all these things cause us to feel gratitude welling up in our hearts.

We are grateful for our families and our friends. Looking into their beloved faces causes us to smile as we cherish the times we’ve spent together. Then we look forward with anticipation to the future, maybe even to Thanksgiving, when we will see our loved ones again and make more beautiful memories.

Pausing in our busy lives, we thank God for the places we live, the food on our tables, and the jobs that give us a sense of worth and fulfillment. We slide into our favorite boots, or our coziest coats, or even into our cars with the blissfully warm heated seats. For all of these, we are grateful.

Then there are the times when we don’t feel that same rush of gratitude. Houses burn, jobs are downsized, economies shrink, a tiny baby dies, or a dear old friend breathes his last, and we are faced with a dilemma. Will we stop in the middle of the great heartaches of life to bow in humble thankfulness to the Lord?

God tells us to use every circumstance as a reason for praising Him. The events when joy is plentiful—like a wedding or a graduation—exist side-by-side with the other events. These are the ones where joy is not as apparent—like a gravesite, or a packed box representing years of faithful service with a pink slip resting on top. Thanking God is sometimes easy, and sometimes it isn’t.

God’s Word encourages us to thank Him regardless of our circumstances. To some people, His instructions sound like we’re to put on a fake smile and pretend to be “holy” in front of others.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our thankful hearts are the bond that keep us in tune with our Heavenly Father. We gain peace in His presence as we pray because He is our peace. He is strength when we have none because He inhabits our praise (Psalm 22:3). We can’t see the path before us, but God does. A thankful, praying heart helps us to keep following Him, even in the darkest night.

And as we follow the Lord with our sometimes faltering steps, we rely on His vision, His path, and His plan for our lives. Moving along a trail in the dark teaches us one of the fundamental truths of living for Jesus Christ. Our steps are uncertain, but His are sure. Our sight is blurred, but His is crystal clear. Our thoughts are fearful, but His are higher than we can even imagine (Isaiah 55:8-9). We can trust Him with every moment on this beautiful journey we call Life.

We can choose to rejoice in our life. We can rejoice in the things that hurt and in the things that make us want to jump for joy. When our eyes are filled with tears, we may feel as though we are blinded. But God collects all our tears (Psalm 56:8) and He shines that much brighter to others through our tentative smiles in the sorrows, and through our hearts that humbly bow to His will. He is with us always—in our joys as well as in our sorrows.

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank You for everything. We ask for the courage to choose to praise You for all the days of our lives—not just for the ones that fly by, but also for the ones that seem to take forever. We thank You for Your Life in us, and as we take a deep breath for courage, we thank You for death, as well. Because You are the Giver of Life, we understand that You are also the Giver of eternal life after death in Heaven for all whom are in the family of God. You are all we need, and we worship You in every circumstance. Help us to trust You and help us to lift our prayers of heartfelt thanksgiving to You, for everything is from You. Thank You, Lord. 

We love You. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

~*~
Author Bio:

During this time of quarantine, Karen enjoys reading, writing, and connecting with friends and family via phone calls, texts, emails, blogs, live-streams, and video conferencing. 

She is grateful that the Lord has provided so many ways for humankind to stay in community, even when we are all hunkering down in our homes.

Karen says, “In this unprecedented time, we know that He has prepared us for such a time as this! To God be all the glory!”

You can reach Karen by emailing her at this address: klmarstaller@gmail.com

Know your worth

GOD and His Son Jesus Christ thought YOU were worth dying for! So he made a way for you to be saved! Read all about it in John 3:16.

Why did He do it? Because He thought YOU are worth keeping! He wants you to be FREE (Revelation 1:5) and experience the abundant life (John 10:10).

I hope this song by Anthony Brown and Group Therapy encourages you as much as it has inspired me.

Sincerely,

Alexis

Thankful Thursday: God’s Providence

It’s Thursday and I’m thankful for God’s Providence in my life!

Here’s the back story: When I lost my first career in teaching in June 2011, I lost the excellent health care insurance benefits that came with it, benefits that I took for granted until I did not have it any longer. Some of you may remember my story from Sept. 2011, a testimony I shared on my blog and in that testimony I said that after being denied coverage from all the big name insurances due to a medical reasons (a pre-existing condition), I was at my wits end UNTIL God opened the door for me to have coverage through an insurance company that I never heard of before. Now, while this company offered me basic coverage, that was it, BASIC coverage which meant while it covered most basic needs like appointments with my primary care doctor, it did NOT cover MANY other important needs like specialists and visits to the ER. I remember praying that I would not have a head cold/sinus infection because a visit to that specialist which we call an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor (ENT) would cost me out-of-pocket $100.00 (literally) because my health insurance at the time did NOT cover visits to doctors who were specialists. So I was on pins and needles for nearly three years, praying that I would NOT get sick or need to go to the hospital. But I did get a head cold a couple of times in the past two years and each time, I had to pay out-of-pocket because since my insurance was not accepted by my ENT. So the services were $100.00.

So what changed this year? This is where I say THANK GOD FOR OBAMA CARE or more properly said, the Affordable Health Care Act! Praise Jesus because of GOD working through U.S. President Barack Obama to establish this Act, millions of Americans of which I am one are as of January 1, 2014, covered by noteworthy and well-known insurance companies who offer EXCELLENT health care packages! My insurance as of January 2014 is just as good as my insurance when I was a teacher and for that I am SO grateful!

Case in point: Just a few weeks ago, I had a head cold that required a visit to my ENT and since my new insurance IS accepted by my ENT, instead of paying $100 in out of pocket costs, I only paid $20.00! Praise Jesus! And the antibiotic was given to me by the pharmacy for FREE! God is GOOD! Since then, I've wasted NO time in visiting the doctors I had not seen in nearly three years and breathed a BIG SIGH OF RELIEF and PRAISED JESUS CHRIST every day! Truth be told, I’m STILL Praising JESUS! Unless you’ve walked that path of having NO health insurance or being barely covered by health insurance, you have NO IDEA how GOOD it feels to finally be COVERED COMPLETELY by EXCELLENT health insurance that covers my EVERY HEALTH CARE NEED!

So I say ALL of this to encourage you! As you can see by my story, God didn’t answer my prayers the way I thought He would but He sure did show up and show out when the time was right! You can also see that God works through people. I am convinced that God impressed President Obama to think of and implement the Affordable Health Care Act and because of it more than 2 million people can breathe easier and be taken care of when they are sick or in need of medical attention.

Praise God for His Providence! God was not only watching out for me, He was watching out for MILLIONS of people here in America who were in dire financial straits and He worked it out for our GOOD just like it says in The Bible verse Romans 8:28!

Now I DO have MORE news! But that will have to wait until next week Thursday!

Meanwhile, I’m praying that God will continue to provide for you and bless you in ways you’d least expect!

Love,

Alexis

31 Days of Prayer: Because God is worthy to be praised

Why should you not only pray to God but praise Him? Because He is worthy to be praised!

We're talking about the One who wakes you up each morning and starts you on your day (no, it's not your actual alarm clock that gets you out of bed, it's God deciding to give you another day to live). We're talking about the King of kings (yes, God is the Ultimate Boss), the Lord of lords (no authority supersedes God's sovereignty). We're talking about the Creator of the entire Universe who despite His busy schedule, still makes time for you! And not only does God make time for you each day, He invites you to worship and study His Word (The Holy Bible), spending time in devotion with Him each and every day. 

As you spend time with God, you will discover day by day just how wonderful He is and you will find yourself praising His Name. The heavenly angels praise God continually (Isaiah 6:3) because they know God is good. They realize how magnificent is His power, how boundless is His grace, how unconditional is His love for ALL of His creation. And yet here on Earth, we mere mortals so easily fall into the trap of going about our day and going into our rest at night without spending more than five minutes with God. 

A Christian minister once said sometimes we have a drive by relationship with God meaning, we wake up in the morning and go, "Hi God!" then as we rush out the door, we say, "Bye God!" And that is the extent of our communication with our Creator for that time. I can relate. I know what it's like to feel too rushed in the morning to spend time with God and then too tired at night to open the Bible, read a devotional book and spend time in praise and prayer with God, which is why I'm writing this post.

If you've fallen into the drive by devotional pattern like I have, today I encourage you to slow down, take time for God because He's always willing to make time for you. 

Dear God,

I pray for You to rebuke the spirit of rushing that settles in over our lives. Please lead us into spending more time with You. Heavenly Father, I ask you to reveal yourself to us in so many ways that not only to we feel compelled to praise You but we take our praise to another level by telling others about what You have done in our lives. Lord, I plead with You to give us faith that moves mountains--especially if that mountain is blocking us from spending time with You. Finally, I pray for all of Your children around the world--those who know You already and those who do not yet know You. My hope is that all of humankind will learn why You, dear God are worthy to be praised!

In Jesus' Name I pray,

Amen.

The Power of Restoration

If you ever doubt the power of God and His ability to restore His children to His original plan and purpose for their lives, watch this video about "The Homeless Man with the Golden Voice":

To learn more about God and His power to restore us, out of His unfailing love for us, read The Holy Bible and focus on the story about The Prodigal Son, found in Luke 15:11-32 (www.biblegateway.com).