1,000 Gifts Continued

I am loving this exercise of being thankful and grateful. I am blessed beyond measure. I hope you all see how God is blessing you as well. I am praying for us all through this Thanksgiving week. I am praying that we will live our thankfulness out loud to the One who gave all for us His enemies.

76. that I am full of Godly potential
77. that I am made in God’s image
78. that through Christ I can choose not to sin
79. for kiddo cuddles
80. for prayer. Having access to the throne room of heaven is amazing.
81. for glasses for my little L that took less than a day to come back.
82. for the feel of the drier autumn grass beneath my feet.
83. for the smell of my kids’ sticky ice cream hands.
84. for bear hugs from chubby arms.
85. for God’s beautiful creation I got to experience in Hawaii
86. for 10 years of marriage to a wonderfully exasperating, but perfect for me man
87. for quiet
88. for the amazing colors of fall
89. for the sun and how it’s light changes things
90. for the light of the world and how He changed everything
91. for my writing critique group, they are encouraging and challenging. Thank you ladies!
92. for God’s perfect timing.
93. for His grand design in working things out and through us.
94. that He would use even me to accomplish something that will matter for eternity
95. that food is easily accessible to me and my family
96. that I can give to others in need
97. that God created joy and love and wants us to look to joy and love in all we do
98. that God gifts us all so differently.
99. for nuts (I love to eat them!)
100. for sleep, I sometimes wish I didn’t need to sleep, but letting go and resting teaches me to rest in Him.

The End is Near Part 4 What to Do Now?

Just a quick recap: Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4:7 that the end is near. Part 1 of this series addressed how knowing the end is near changes our behavior. Check it out here. In part 2, we talked about being clear minded. That discussion is found here. Self-control was the topic of part 3. That post is located here.

1 Peter 4:7 says, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.”

Now we have a clear mind so we are alert and self-controlled so that our minds are “sober.” Why are we to be alert and sober-minded? So we can pray. How often do we say, “All I can do now is pray.” When truly God wants us to pray continually. He wants us to pray, not only when we are distracted, not only when we are falling asleep. No God wants us alert and sober-minded so we can pray. We can’t pray effectively if we are not alert. If we aren’t alert, we won’t even see what needs prayer. So we need to be alert to what is going on so that we know how and what to pray.

If you are anything like me, you get tunnel vision for what you are doing. You lose sight that the person who cut you off may have lost a loved one, or that unhelpful sales clerk may have never been shown true love in her life. We miss the fact that each person has a story and each story has broken pieces. We need to see outside our difficulties and pray for the difficulties of others.

Father forgive me for being stuck in a world that is populated only by me. Help me to live a life alert to others with a sound and sober mind so that I can recognize pain and pray. Oh that I would pray with an alert and sober mind. Help me to do that daily. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Are you alert today? Ask God to show you at least one person outside your close family and friends to be praying for. Then pray! 😉