05. Count Your Blessings

 


God’s Bucket List for You, part 6

 Introduction to the series, click here

Introduction

One of the songs in our books, that we sometimes sing, is called “Count Your Blessings.” The chorus is written like this:

 

Count your blessings; Name them one by one.

Count your blessings; See what God hath done.

Count your blessings; Name them one by one.

Count your many blessings; See what God hath done.

 

This is something we should take to heart on a regular basis. You might be surprised, when you realize, that some things you take for granted are actually blessings.

 

Definition of Blessing

1828 Webster’s Dictionary—2. Any means of happiness; a gift, a benefit, an advantage; that which promotes temporal prosperity and welfare or secures immortal felicity.

There are some who will say that having a lot of money is a blessing. How about just having money, in general, is a blessing. As Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content (Philippians 4:11). He wrote this from prison. I’m sure he wasn’t blessed to be there, but he was blessed to still be alive and able to write and talk to the brethren without any restrictions.

 

Examples of Physical Blessings

Most people see objects as major blessings: Roof over our heads, clothes on our back, food on the table, vehicles to drive, a job to go to, a bank account, etc.

The next level of this, however, are things that we sometimes take for granted. Some examples are: the ability to get in and out of bed without assistance. The ability to eat food without assistance. The ability to walk from point A to point B without assistance. All of these are blessings that certain people don’t have due to age, disability, or infirmity.

They may seem small or trivial to you but just imagine what life would be like if you required assistance to do all of these things. And not just a few times a day but, every day for the rest of your life; 20+ years or more.

 


Examples of Spiritual Blessings

In the beginning of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states a series of those people who are blessed in Mt. 5:1-12. You can read that for yourself.

The apostle Paul opens his letter to the church in Ephesus by stating, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

James wrote in James 1:12, Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. We are tempted on a daily basis yet; it is not considered sin until we give into it (Verses 14-15).

These are just a few to consider, naturally there are more but, I believe this makes my point.

 

Conclusion

James goes on to say, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17). Write down a list of your blessings on one side of the paper and your burdens on the other side. Your blessings should outweigh the burdens. If not, remember what the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 5:7, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. You don’t need to bear your burdens alone (Gal. 6:1-2).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

09. Number Your Days

Image
  God’s Bucket List for You, part 2   Introduction In Psalms 90:10-12, Moses prayed, The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. We’re only give so much time here on Earth and it is up to us to make everyday count. Each day breaks down into just 1440 minutes and when you subtract to amount for school/work and sleep, it’s even less. We should appreciate the amount we have daily.   I’ve Got Plenty of Time How often have we said, or heard someone say, that they have plenty of years ahead of them to do this or that? Most young people believe that religion is for the older people; those headed into their twilight years that are “closer to death” than they were in their youth. Yet, they do...
Read more

06. Realize Your Self-worth

Image
  God’s Bucket List for You, part 5  Introduction to the series, click here Introduction One of the problems I suffer from, as do a lot of people, is a low self-esteem. We often make the mistake of basing our self-esteem on our family, friends, occupation, area we live in, and our home. Although all of that factor into our lives, they don’t have to be the main basis of our self-esteem. As part of His bucket list for us, God wants us to realize our self-worth by examining our lives according to His scriptures. If we are not following His word, as written, then we need to change and build up our self-esteem.   Moses’ lack of Self-worth In our previous article , we looked at Moses and the excuses he made to God as he didn’t want to lead his people out of Egypt. One of his excuses was a lack of eloquent speech. Here’s what he said in Exodus 4:10, Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant;...
Read more

IMMORTAL (I’m Mortal)

Image
(from 2013) Introduction “Do No Try This at Home” is a phrase generally seen as a disclaimer on certain television shows that feature dangerous stunts or other things in which professionals have been training to do for many years. Teenagers and young adults will attempt to imitate these very same stunts themselves. Why? Because it’s the thrill of the stunt and an opportunity to gain approval of their peers. To them failure is not an option as well as death. It’s a certain level of immortality that young people feel because, to them, their whole life is ahead of them and death only happens to old people. But as a preacher once said, “The Old must die and the young do die.” Definitions of Immortal The dictionary definition for immortal is ‘Exempt from Death’ or ‘Imperishable’.   In other words, you can never die or you live forever. But this is not true and we all, eventually, will die. In addition, the dictionary also defines immortal on the basis of a noun in...
Read more