The Greatest Gift

Beth Moore is another of my favorite authors. During my hubby's cancer journey a friend gave me her book "Praying God's Word Day by Day". There were so many amazing quotes and thoughts that really encouraged me. I loved this one on joy:

The greatest joy in our lives is the very thing we have deserved the least. It is an absolute gift of grace.

Father, how I thank You that Your servants were also sinners saved by grace. The apostle Paul said, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service." Even though he was once a blasphemer and persecutor and a violent man, he was shown mercy.

Like him, Lord, Your grace has been poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 1:12-14). Never let me show contempt for the riches of Your kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that Your kindness leads me toward repentance (Romans 2:4).

My salvation is my greatest gift. If God the Father chose not to bless me in any other way, I could still be joyful. This life will come to an end. All that is here in the present will fade away. The one thing that is a constant, is the promise of heaven to those who believe. My future hope is what gives me joy in this present life. However, because God is rich in kindness, He does offer me gifts in this world above and beyond what I could ask or imagine. So while I am still here in this place, I will continue to look for and count the gifts that God chooses to bestow on me. . . ever mindful that it's just the seed of the rich fruit that is yet to come!


276. Hubby’s procedure went well and still no sign of cancer

277. Having a hubby and kids to clean up after

278. First day of Friday school; kids had fun; I enjoyed a few hours by myself; favorite bagel and trip to book store

279. Lazy Saturday - things I could/should be doing, but relaxing instead

280. Good time of worship and inspiring message from our guest speaker

281. Afternoon in Oak Glen with the family - yummy food, neat things to see, fun playground

282. Sleeping in on a Monday. . . Because I can!

283. An apology from my girl without prompting

284. Kids cleaning up science experiment without being asked

285. My girl’s volleyball team starting to get the hang of the game

286. First time being chilly in the evening

287. The problem of having to return books to the library on a day when I have too much going on - but my kids can read and enjoy doing it.

288. Overnight with G&G in the middle of the week!

289. Field trip to Long Beach Aquarium with my mom.

290. Enjoying God’s ocean creatures - variety of colors, patterns, and textures; and uniquely suited to their environment

291. Friday school for the kids - they get to enjoy friends and different studies; I get a couple of hours to refresh myself

292. Dentist appt. - healthy, clean teeth & the money to pay for it

293. My mother-in-law coming to stay with the kids and teaching our girl how to crochet

294. A day of Unschooling - reading books, watching science videos on space, building with Legos, crocheting, and time in the Word

295. Successful first game for Ellie’s volleyball team - the girls are improving in their skills; love devotions and prayer before the game

296. Cooperative spirits from my kids while hubby is away at school retreat

297. Canceled volleyball practice meant chance to go to Lego build

298. Time with my mom and daughter - nice drive, pretty day, exploring a yacht, yummy dessert!

299. Hubby home after three days


300. Having a partner to share life, love and the raising of our kids with.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Benefits of Being a Child of God

Image
In her book "Breaking Free", Beth Moore writes about five benefits God intends "to be the daily experience of every child of God." (p. 23) The first benefit is to know God and believe Him . Beth Moore writes that "one of your chief purposes on this planet is to know God intimately and with reverent familiarity. That intimate relationship begins, but was never intended to end, with what we call the 'salvation experience.' So the first question to ask yourself is, Have you received Christ as your personal Savior?" "One of the most beautiful elements of salvation is its simplicity. Christ has already done all the work on the cross. Your response includes four elements: 1) Acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself. 2) Acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only He can save you. 3) Believe that His Crucifixion was for your personal sins and that His death was on your behalf. 4) Give Him your life and
Read more

Fuel Up with the Holy Spirit

Image
 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26 Once we decide to get on the road with Jesus, we discover that the Bible is like a road map for our journey; helping us to live in a way that pleases God. If we spend time in the Word everyday, we will grow to be more like Jesus. A car needs gasoline in order to work. In order for you to keep going, you have to fill the tank up. Well, just like our physical bodies need food for energy, and cars need gasoline in order to go, our spiritual bodies need a kind of fuel too. This "fuel" is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and energy for life. We know that God created us. We know that Jesus saved us. But you might wonder who the Holy Spirit is. In John 14:16-17 we see that before Jesus was going to die on the cross, He told the disciples that God would send another Helper to help them. This w
Read more

The First Four Commandments

Image
The first four commandments tell us how we are to conduct ourselves before God. We can fulfill these first four commands by praying about our needs, thanking and praising God, using God’s name respectfully and taking time to rest and meditate on God’s Word.  –Exodus 20:1-8 The basic code in Israel’s divine law is found in Exodus 20:2-17; elsewhere it is called the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew words for Ten Commandments literally mean “Ten Words”. (Study note for Exodus 20:1) The Ten Commandments begin with the statement “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:1) Warren Wiersbe points out that the phrase “I am the Lord your God” is used five times in this section (vv. 3, 5, 7, 10, 12) to show that God is the authority behind these commands and they weren’t just Moses’ opinions. The study note for Exodus 20:2 tells us that the Ten Commandments reflect the structure of the treaties of the time period. First there was a preamb
Read more