The Grateful Heart!

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” – Psalm 105:1-4 NIV

Most of us would give thanks to the Lord when moments of blessing happen and we may blame Him when terrible or bad moments happen. It is necessary to give thanks to the Lord when moments of blessing happen and it is necessary to give thanks to others, if they took parts in them. However, God wants us to feel gratitude over Him all the time that we begin to tell others of His wonderful and mighty acts, that He has done towards us. Out of all of God’s blessings in life, the main reason that we always should feel gratitude over Him for is that we may be able to get saved spiritually if we put our trust in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9) and truly repent for not believing in Jesus Christ and for all of the sins that we committed before Him (Acts 2:28-39; Acts 3:19-20). This is because God has loved us so much that He sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ as an image of Himself (Colossians 1:15), into the world (John 1:14) to crucify Himself on the cross as an atonement of our sins (Colossians 2:13-15). In addition to this, He has given us eternal life through Jesus Christ, instead of death since sin leads us into it (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:56-57). The main reason for these is that we have been created by God to be His image (Genesis 1:27; Romans 8:29-30) and that He wants to restore everything back to the “normal” of how He has intended the Kingdom world to be (Genesis 1-2).

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

Furthermore, we should rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 4:4) with the hope of God (1 Peter 1:3-9) for the fact that we are able to discern what the will of God is for our lives through the Spirit of God (Ephesians 5:15-18), even though we are still on this world (Romans 12:1-2). In addition, there is the Word of God to keep us accountable and in the right track (Philippians 1:27-29), to be the righteousness of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:1-17)

As for me, I have been wanting to tell everyone that there is more life to them than there already is by following Jesus Christ, and that there is eternal kingdom of heaven that God has been preparing for us, which will happen at the end of the age (John 14:1-7) Luckily, God has given me an amazing spiritual gift that I am able to influence and encourage others spiritually by writing devotionals. Therefore, my dream is to be a Christian Writer, so that I may be able to influence and encourage others all day long by writing devotionals, short books, novels, etc. I actually do not know that I am able to write spiritually other than devotionals but I trust the Holy Spirit is going to empower me to do so. Furthermore, I am beyond blessed for the fact that I now am able to build the bridge between the Bible and the culture world. This is because everybody other than Christians may be able to understand how Kingdom life really works and what it really is.

Jesus said to them, “The Father is the only one who has the authority to decide dates and times. They are not for you to know. But the Holy Spirit will come on you and give you power. You will be my witnesses. You will tell people everywhere about me—in Jerusalem, in the rest of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.” (Acts 1:7-8)