Documentation…

As Christian’s we have so much to be thankful for…

Think about that line for a second…

I am just going to choose one item here and run with it. When was the last time we were thankful for forgiveness??

“If you are a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don’t call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it is something only God can do, and you trust him to do it — you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked — well, that trusting him to do it is what gets or sets you right with God. Sheer gift.”              –The Message

When one is first forgiven and now covered with by God’s grace… thankfulness is just something the bubbles out, and is seen and experienced. To be forgiven is something that we cannot do for ourselves. It is a gift… given to us. Not at a cost on our behalf, but that of Jesus’ great sacrifice. A sacrifice that should be seen with a WOW factor every time that we come to the cross. I think that to many times. I don’t know if it becomes a pattern, or if we think that we deserve it, or we just loose sight… but I think that we miss that WOW factor to often. We miss being thankful to God that has given so much to us, and has given it to us with no strings attached.

I know that I need to be more thankful, when I come to God for forgiveness when I have messed up. remembering that He holds no records of wrong, that I am forgiven, that my slate has been wiped clean. It is not by what I have done, that I am chosen, or by the rule and regulation that I have follow. Not at all, it is only by God and His grace that I can be washed clean and live a life with a purpose and a goal that I can set my sights on. When we look at it like that how can we not STOP and say WOW… Thank you God for your forgiveness, that I am set free.

I like feeling comfotable… I like knowing that everything is in place… That I am where I am for a reason.

Where ever you are, where ever you have been, where ever you are going. From our own bubbles of life it is sometimes hard to see or feel the direction you are moving is worth it sometimes. From inside we have a narrow view, a narrow view that is sometimes selective and bias. It is hard to see, and maybe sometimes hidden. That is the effect that our lives have on others. The way our words and actions permeate our friends, family and the people who we come in to contact with.

There are times when just a little bit of encouragement means the world… Someone seeing our life from the outside. Seeing the effect that we have on others, and just giving us a glimpse to that effect and its success. It is so refreshing just to hear someone talk about your life, to tell you that they see or have felt the effects our your live. To encourage you that what you are doing is productive and worth it.

I encourage you my friends to tell others the effect of their lives have … just one word,  like one spark can start something bigger than itself!

To many times individuals think that they have all the answers. That they know it all, that nothing can touch them.

In the darkness they are hidden, everything looks the same. It doesn’t matter what they look like because the person next to you and the person inside look identical. There is a protection there, a calming feeling allowing them to stay in that state. “Change” is not even on the table because they are comfortable where they are at.

Life in the light is that of change. In the light you are seen for who you really are. Every piece of filth, dirt, and grim is seen under the microscope. Is that  OK with you? Are you happy the way you are? What we so easily forget is that yes in the light everything is exposed, but it is through that exposure that we find true protection, self worth and dignity. How else would we know that change is needed if there was nothing seen that needed changing? God exposes things in our life, not to bring us down or to say I told you so (even though we might deserve it sometimes). He exposes the things in our lives so that we can find forgiveness. That we can walk in the light just as he does. Change is part of the process, not the end result. The end result is moving towards HIM!