Gratitude the Core of Thankfulness by Milo Briscoe

 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

This verse of scripture has been in my face so much in the past few weeks, I had to write about how it has touched me. My wife used the same scripture a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t want to be redundant, but I had to use it again. I believe being thankful starts with a grateful heart. I’m learning to show gratitude by giving thanks in whatever situation I’m in. It is about my perspective. How do I see things?

I turned 60 years old this month, and that was one of those milestones that made me reflect. As I reflected, an overwhelming feeling of gratitude took over me. A part of that reflecting time was remembering the things I went through, (we all can go back there from time-to-time, right?). That feeling of gratitude prompted thanksgiving. I started thanking God for those circumstances, those challenging times. It was not always that way for me. There were times I didn’t see it that way, because being grateful was the furthest thing from my heart.

The turning point came when I truly opened myself up to the Holy Spirit. As He ministered to me, my heart changed, which changed my perspective. I started learning how to be grateful in the challenging times. I understand that challenges test my faith and produce endurance in me. So, when circumstances come, no matter what they are, I am thankful. Do not get me wrong, I am still developing. But I don’t think this would have ever taken place if it didn’t start from a grateful heart.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God’s Greatest Gift by Alicia Briscoe

Image
  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16   What is the greatest gift you received from God? I’m sure you are like me; you can’t just name one because God gives the greatest gifts. From the beginning, God proved himself generous by creating us in His likeness and image along with a world of abundance. Although we may have a list of answers for this question, we all would say “The greatest gift God gave to us was Himself.” God’s example of generosity so selfless, an act in human history so important: Jesus’ died on the cross for us, what love. There is nothing in the world more important than the unity of people and God, bringing eternal abundant life and promising that we are never alone. Sometimes we do not honor God as we should, in his unbounded generosity, he gave his best and most valuable, the only thing he had only one of – his Son. Instead of aba...
Read more

Don’t Quit, Reap Your Harvest! – by Alicia Briscoe

Image
So, let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Galatians 6:9 The harvest has always been a beautiful and important part of life on earth, the time when the year’s work bears fruit, and the people are fed.   One of my favorite scriptures about harvest is Galatians 6:9. When I read this scripture, it gives me hope and encouragement to keep moving. Especially when you face challenging times and people. But when I meditate on this scripture, it reveals so much more. It is an opportunity to get in God’s presence to gain understanding during processing cycle.   It reveals in the practical sense that you are like a farmer that sow seeds and reaps a harvest. This concept leads to me asking questions like; “Am I sowing seeds?” “What kind of seed am I sowing?” “What kind of harvest am I expecting?”   These questions are valid because they will determine the cycle that takes place in reaping a ...
Read more

Change, An Intentional Process – by Milo Briscoe

Image
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP I used to look at this verse as just a person becoming new through accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. But, after I spent more time meditating on it and understanding what it takes to become new, now my perspective is different.   Change means to make (someone or something) different; alter or modify, Merriam-Webster . A synonym for change is convert. Salvation takes place instantly, but change can take a lifetime as we learn to think, Romans 12:2, and act like our Heavenly Father.  What I realized is the change, the conversion, described in this passage speaks to something that takes time. The Amplified bible describes it a...
Read more