Learning to be thankful!

(James 1:12) “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

I have heard some people say you haven’t really lived if you haven't any regrets to one’s life. This is an opinion based on experience; I would on the surface accept this to be true, for my life anyway. However if one scratched a little deeper, would we arrive at the same conclusion? I am not sure I would as our hope in Christ overshadows our regrets or at least they should. Less of self and more of Christ; this would also include my daily thoughts. To find the right conditioning we must be trained by Christ, our minds must be renewed on a daily basis. It is an on-going battle that we can never excuse ourselves from, for if we do we will fall.

I would have done things very differently in my life, if I could re-visit them; this however is not an option for any of us. We must forget those things that are behind us and look forward, pressing towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus our Lord. In fact even if I am justified in my reckoning and I feel that I am not to be blamed for the place I now find myself, it is the will of God for my life. I am exactly where I need to be and hopefully learning to depend on Him more and more as I see that day approaching.

Our great God has the capability to use every situation to conform His children into the image of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It only becomes painful when we look to kick against the goads; “And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” (Acts 9:5)

It is a lot harder to swim upstream against the current that to sit back and use the stream as intended, swim with it and not against it. Rest in the Lord; be thankful for all we have both good and bad as they will help get us home to heaven. When we second guess our standing in Christ we call God a liar, a heavy indictment! We may not say it but we think like this; Why, I have wasted so much of my life, I have been tricked, why me! The answer is a simple one, because you have needed it. So, until we arrive in heaven this process will continue in our lives, changing us into the image of Christ! Yes, many bad choices may have left us with much regret; nevertheless we can and must learn from them.

We will never have to experience something that is not needed to achieve this outcome; changing us into the image of Christ. The olive only processes its delightful oil when placed between two grinding stones, when downward pressure is exerted on the olive and only then is it useful as cooking oil. But before that sequence the olive remains an olive! Try throwing a handful of olives into a frying pan and then fry an egg, a disaster as the egg sticks to the pan. Our lives are no different; we also need to have it milled out so that we may be of use to others.

Let us stop complaining and be thankful; it is not our prerogative whether or not we feel like praising God our heavenly Father. We have been created for this exact purpose and that is to be thankful for all we have received, starting with salvation all the way through to the oxygen we breathe. It was the murmuring Israelites that fell in the wilderness not the thankful ones; “Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, To-day if ye shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tried me by proving me, And saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was displeased with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart: But they did not know my ways; As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.” (Hebrews 3:7-11)

Will we except and trust our God as we believe this one fact? That He knows what He is doing. If we answer yes to that question, then moaning has no place in our lives. Let us lay aside every sin and weight that looks to way us down. Let us run this race with fortitude, looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith. May God help us to be thankful for all we receive from Him, without exception!

Teach us beloved Lord to trust and obey!

Signing off

Tyrone