What am I grateful for?

So many sad things going on in this world we live in. It’s so important that daily we pause and consider, “What am I grateful for?” Gratefulness is a key to being emotionally and spiritually healthy.

For me every time I read about someone who has passed away from cancer, or more specifically a brain tumour, (this week it was Roxette singer, Marie Fredriksson), my heart aches for the ones who have lost someone they love, and at the same time I am so grateful to God that that was not our story.

God’s healing power

And I am grateful for the way that God has continued to bring healing and wholeness to our family over the past 9 years. We have grieved (and sometimes surprisingly find we are still grieving) the expectations of how we thought our family would be. For me every time the tears have surfaced the Holy Spirit has given comfort and restored peace.

But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you. John 14:26 AMP

Over the last few years the ability to dream about the future has returned. What a blessing it to be able to dream again! Dreams for me, dreams for our marriage, dreams for our children, all wrapped in God’s love and purposes. I didn’t realise how important dreams were until I was in an emotional place of being unable to dream of the future.

When there is no clear prophetic vision,
people quickly wander astray.
But when you follow the revelation of the word,
heaven’s bliss fills your soul.
Proverbs 29:18 TPT

A God who is always there

I am grateful for a God who doesn’t abandon us, but rather carries us when we need to be carried. He is always there in the midst.

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
Psalm 46:1-5 NKJV

A hope and a future

I am grateful for a God that tells us He has plans to prosper us, give us a hope and a future.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Grateful for Jesus and eternal life

I am grateful for a God who sacrificed His son Jesus, so we could have life to the full, and life eternally with Him in Heaven.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10

I am grateful for a God that is no respecter of persons. His gift of eternal life is freely available to all of us when we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord.

Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!” Romans 10:9-10 The Message

So today, take time to consider, “What am I grateful for?”

For some more thoughts on the importance of being grateful, please visit these posts …
Thankfulness lifts our eyes to Jesus
Be thankful – Day 11 – Drawing Closer to God devotion