“I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.” (Psalm 138:1-3 NASB1995)
We, as followers of Christ, have so many things to be
thankful for to God. For one, I am thankful that he gave me the breath of life,
and that, at the age of 75, he is still giving me the breath of life. I am thankful
to God that Jesus Christ (the second person of our triune God – Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit) came to the earth, was born as a baby to a human mother, grew
to manhood, and in his death on that cross put my sins to death with him so
that, by the grace of God, I might die to sin and walk with him in his ways.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
I am thankful that, at the age of 7, he called me to be one
of his followers, though at that young age I was still pretty immature. What I
knew, though, was that I did not want to live a wicked life, but I wanted to
live for my Lord, to please him. I had seen hypocrisy displayed before my eyes
on a regular basis, and I knew that I did not want to be a hypocrite. I did not
want to be someone who faked my Christianity, or who just did religious stuff.
So I was a seeker of truth who wanted the real Christian life, not the fake
one.
I had a lot to learn, though, and a lot of growing up to do,
and I faced many difficult and challenging experiences throughout my life, some
of which I caved to, and I tried to escape from, but the Lord brought me
through them. And because of all of the difficult and trying circumstances I
have faced throughout my life, the Lord has made me stronger and more
determined to stay the course no matter how many times I get verbally struck,
pushed down, cast aside, rejected, and misunderstood. I am thankful for God’s
love.
And I am very thankful that my Lord did not give up on me
when I failed, at times, to be the person he created me to be. And please do
not misunderstand me here, for I am not saying that it is okay for any of us to
live in sin and not in obedience to the Lord and that the Lord is going to hang
in there with us and that we will still have salvation from sin and eternal life
with God. The Bible teaches the opposite of that. So if we keep on sinning, or we
return to sin, and we do not repent, we are not saved.
So, please do not take God’s grace for granted. For he is a
person of his word, and he will do what he said he would do, both in his
promises and in his warnings, which are also promises of what he will do if we
do such and such. So, I am so thankful that, when I failed, he did not give up
on me, but he pursued me, and he brought me back, and he had a plan and a
purpose for my life to use me in the way he has been using me these past 21
years, and he has sustained me, and he is directing my path to walk in his ways.
Now I grew up as a very timid and fearful child. I was not
the aggressive type. I was content with a few friends and with peace and quiet,
and I had no desire to be at the forefront. I got walked over a lot, and
misunderstood, too. And I was very trusting, though not of everyone, but I
believed people, and I believed some lies, but truth was very important to me.
Doing what was right was important to me, and not doing what was wrong. But the
Lord took me through a lot to make me bold with strength in my soul.
So, I am very thankful for the Lord’s lovingkindness to me,
for his truth, for his word, for his forgiveness and grace, and for loving me enough
to choose me to be one of his disciples and ministers of the gospel of our
salvation. For I was not worthy of his grace. And I know fully well that I am
only able to do what he has called me to do because of his love and grace to
me, because of his tender mercies, and only in his strength, power, and wisdom,
as led by God, and not by the flesh. So I give God all the glory always. Praise
Him!
An Original Work / December 18, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
“About
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other
prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
With All My Heart I Give You Thanks
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