https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/25/a-thankful-heart
As I have shared before, one of the blessings we receive by having God in our lives, is an uplift of our economic status over generations. This could be indirectly a result of us being a better person and thus avoiding vices like gambling, drinking, drugs and womanising. It could also be due to us having a better education and job or business opportunities as our mind, acumen and soft skills become sharper and better with Jesus in our lives. But I believe it is also just a broad outpouring of heavenly blessings upon our lives that made things just smoother and better over time, say 40 or 50 years in our lifetime or over a few hundred years across generations.
That is why it is good to devote ourselves to prayer, be watchful and thankful. We must acknowledge the goodness of God in our lives as we reach out to Him every day in prayer, as we communicate with Him, even in times of supplication and requests. Be thankful for what we have and who we are. Be thankful that God had called us to be His own. Be thankful for the ministries we have the opportunity to be involved in. Be thankful for the lives who had cared for us and have touched us. Be thankful for the lives we can reach out to. Be thankful for the time and effort put in by various ones to preach messages to us from the pulpit, for the worship leaders leading us in worship, for the time put in by musicians to sharpen their skills. Be thankful for the writers of ODB and for those who take time and effort to help us draw closer to God.
As for me, I’m thankful that I may write these commentaries with the inspiration from the Lord and guidance from the Holy Spirit and for the many who support me in this endeavour by reading my work. I’m thankful for my job for how the Lord protected me and opened up new opportunities within my present organisation that despite earlier setbacks, I can soar with wings of an eagle again! I’m thankful that with the blessings of God that my wife and I are able to support two of our sons who are now in tertiary education and give them the opportunity to broaden their horizons and achieve their dreams. This is supposed to be the most strained times of our lives as parents in financial terms but I’m thankful that God’s blessings are seeing us through smoothly. I’m thankful that despite the economic downturn and uncertainty caused by the pandemic, our respective companies are doing fairly well and are able to withstand the storms coming our way with rising prices and dwindling consumer wallets and customer revenues.
If we have ever helped anyone before, even if we did not expect anything in return, we at least hope to receive an acknowledgement of our help, a note of thanks and a genuine heart of thanksgiving and gratefulness. Most of the times, that would have made our day. I’m sure our God the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are the same. They would also want us to acknowledge and appreciate them as they help us along in our lives and pour down their blessings from the heavenlies to smoothen our paths that we may lead better, more comfortable and more purpose driven lives.
Be thankful to God. It will not hurt. His love and compassion may be steadfast and unconditional, but He has feelings too. Remember that in John 11, Jesus was moved by the mourning crowd, and He wept. He loved Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, and He loves us too.
Ronnie's Thoughts 