COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

By John Mason

DO YOU COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS OR THINK YOUR BLESSINGS DON’T COUNT?

If the only prayer you say in your whole life is “Thank you” that would suffice” (Miester Eckhart).  Do you have an attitude of gratitude?  If we stop to think more, we would stop to thank more.  Of all the human feelings, gratitude has the shortest memory.

Cicero said, “A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.”  The degree that you are thankful is a sure index of your spiritual health. 

Max Lucado wrote, “The devil doesn’t have to steal anything from you, all he has to do is make you take it for granted.” When you count all of your blessings, you will always show a profit.

Replace regret with gratitude.  Be grateful for what you have, not regretful for what you have not. If you can’t be thankful for what you have, be thankful for what you have escaped. 

Henry Ward Beecher said, “The unthankful … discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart … will find in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”  The more you complain, the less you’ll obtain.

Vernon Luchies said, “If we get everything we want, we will soon want nothing that we get.”  If you don’t enjoy what you have, how could you be happier with more? 

Francis Schaeffer stated, “The beginning of men’s rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart.” The seeds of discouragement will not grow in a thankful heart. 

Erich Fromm remarked, “Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.”

Epicurus reflected, “Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.”  It’s a sure sign of mediocrity to be moderate with our thanks.  Don’t find yourself so busy asking God for favors that you have no time to thank Him. I relate to what Joel Budd said: “I feel like I’m the one who wrote Amazing Grace.”

Maxim Gorky said, “Happiness always looks small while your hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.”  I believe we should have the attitude of 

George Hubert, when he said, “Thou O Lord has given so much to me, give me one more things – a grateful heart.” 

The bible says in Psalms, “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving.”  Our thanks to God should always precede our requests of Him.   The Bible challenges us in I Thessalonians 5:17-18, “Pray without ceasing.  In everything give thanks.”

Robert Woods once commented, “We don’t thank God for much he has given us. Our prayers are too often the beggar’s prayer, the prayer that asks for something.  We offer too few prayers of thanksgiving and of praise.”  Don’t find yourself at the end of your life saying, “What a wonderful life I’ve had!  I only wish I’d appreciated and realized it sooner.”