November 21, 2024

Count Your Blessings

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
*Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
[*And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.]

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings—*money cannot buy [*wealth can never buy]
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
*Alternate text

Written by Johnson Oatman, Jr ~ Music by Edwin O. Excell ~ Sung by Ann Williamson

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Written over a hundred years ago (1897), this hymn is still sung today and is still reminding us that we have much to be thankful for.

Be thankful in all circumstances,
For this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

When I sing the first verse, I think of the disciples out on the stormy sea.  Actually, there are two accounts I want to share.

Matthew 8:23-27, tells the story of Jesus and His disciples in the boat when a fierce storm came up.  The water was swamping the boat, and the disciples were panicked! Jesus was calmly sleeping because the storm wasn’t bothering Him.  In the midst of the storm, Jesus was right there with them.  Instead of seeing Him as their example to stay calm and trust God to protect them, they cried out to Jesus for Him to use His faith to save them.  Thankfully He was there, He did intercede for them, and commanded the wind and the waves to be calm.  The disciples were amazed at Jesus’ power, and were counting it a blessing that He was with them.

In the next account (recorded in Matthew 14:22-33), Jesus sent the disciples out in the boat without Him.  Night came, and a storm developed.  The disciples were fighting the strong winds and heavy waves, but to no avail.  They hadn’t even thought to call out to God, evidenced by the fact that when Jesus came to them walking on the water, they didn’t even recognize Him.  But He came, because He loved them, and never had planned on leaving them helpless.  Peter even walked on the water—until he took his eyes off of Jesus.  When Jesus and Peter got back in the boat, the storm died and the waters calmed.  The disciples (maybe especially Peter!) were surprised and blessed that Jesus came to them and saved them.

In our lives there are times when we are ‘tempest-tossed,’ and we do become very ‘discouraged, thinking all is lost.’  As believers, we can count on Jesus to be there for us.  He’s in the boat with us.  He is our example of trust.  And even in the times when we are trying to carry our heavy cross alone, He’s walking on the water toward us.  He just wants us to call out…even to walk out to Him…and He will lift us up. What a blessing!

Proverbs 10:6, tells us that “The godly are showered with blessings.”  Do you count your land, your home, your money as blessings?  Yes, they are, but they are just to help us get by here on earth.  God has so much more for you/us. Do you count your salvation, the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, God’s love for you, your family’s love, your reward in Heaven, and other spiritual gifts as blessings?  Money can not buy any of those because they are priceless blessings from God.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is by His great mercy that we have been born again,
because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance
—an inheritance that is kept in Heaven for you, pure and undefiled,
beyond the reach of change and decay.
And through your faith, God is protecting you by His power
until you receive this salvation,
which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.”
1Peter 1:3-5

“So amid the conflict whether great or small, do not be discouraged, (remind yourself) God is over all. Count your many blessings.” It will lift you up, and it just may surprise you to see what the Lord has done!

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Dear Lord, in this season of Thanksgiving we come to You with our hearts bursting with thanksgiving.  We, as Your children, have so many blessings to count!  Truly, “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised” (Psalm 113:3).  All day and all night, in every season, we count our many blessings and our voices lift up praises to You, the Giver of all good gifts!  Praise the Lord!  It Is So!

Blessings

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It’s not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Singer/Songwriter – Laura Story

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Blessings in disguise. Are you looking for those blessings even in the hard days? What you focus on is what you will magnify…good or bad. What are you choosing to magnify in your life?  My prayer is that even when we are going through hard times we will choose to magnify God and focus on Him.

“I thought about how when I looked through my magnifying glass all I could see was the object that I was focusing on. Then I thought, when we go through hard times we need to focus on the Lord. We need to MAGNIFY HIM above our troubles and see only His helping hand in every situation.
In Psalms chapter 34 and verse 4 it says, “I sought the LORD, and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” We need to seek the Lord in our times of troubles and look to Him for our help. Psalms 69:30 says,” I will praise the name of God with a song, and will MAGNIFY Him with thanksgiving.” When we praise and thank God for being their for us in our times of need and our times of gladness,….when we like Joseph in the Bible, thank God for every situation we find our selves in, we can have peace of mind that God will come through for us.
When Paul and Silas were thrown into prison they didn’t sit there and gripe and say WHY ME….why did we get put into prison…were people of God… how could God let this happen to us!!!!! No… instead they sang the praises of God. They MAGNIFIED the LORD in their situation and the Bible says that the earth shook and their shackles opened up and the doors of the prison opened up for them. There is POWER in magnifying the Lord in our lives Psalms 40 and verse 16 says, “Let all those that seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let such as love thy salvation say continually, THE LORD BE MAGNIFIED!
So the next time you find yourself in a hard place in your life, be a Paul and Silas…. sing praises and MAGNIFY the Lord and see His mighty hand come to help you. And as Psalms 35 and verse 28 says,” My tongue shall speak of YOUR righteousness and of YOUR praise all the day long!”

excerpted from Living Truth website “Magnify The Lord”

click here to read entire article

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Heavenly Father, thank You for when we choose to magnify You in the midst of our troubles that You are faithful in each and every one. Thank You for the blessings in disguise. May we focus on You so that we may find them…in Jesus’ name, AMEN!!!

Lady in Waiting: The Man Worth Waiting For

“When you finally submit completely to God’s authority and come into complete obedience, that is when His blessings begin to pour out!!!” Beth Thompson

My lovely Aunt who I admire a great deal, had this quote posted on her facebook wall years ago.  When I read that it hit my heart!  I was just starting to come into complete submission with God and as I read this quote, my heart smiled because of the truth behind each and every one of these words!  I was seeing how faithful God is and experiencing His many blessings, and for once I was overwhelmed with joy and not fear or heartbreak!  There is no doubt that God will bless us richly when our heart is right with HIS and in HIS control.  One blessing that I am still holding out for is a man who knows my story and loves me still.

Just as you, I sometimes wonder why I am still single.  I think to myself everything in my life is going so well except for one little detail…I do not have a husband to share it with.  If we were honest with ourselves, would everything really be going so well?  We pray for the right man to cross our paths, but are we even on the right path to find that man?  When our hearts are right with the Lord, are feet will follow suite on HIS path.  We must get rid of the urge to settle down with the wrong man; the men that come wrapped in perfect packages but when unwrapped they prove to be empty.  The man we will find on the right path one day will be filled with the Holy Spirit in his heart.  The package will not even matter, just his heart being right with God will leave a lasting impression.

Please think about this for a moment.  Ask God to direct you to the right path.  Desire to see the unfailing handsomeness in the man God has for you and not be distracted by the fading looks on the outside. 

My sister is one very wise woman, she told me once that God is preparing me for my husband just as much as He is preparing my husband for me.  Maybe my husband is not ready yet to meet me.  LOVE THAT, DON’T YOU?  She has also told me once that I should be praying that God will open my heart to the man HE has for me and not the one that I think it should be.  OK, LOVE THAT EVEN MORE, DON’T YOU?  Thank you Kristen!

Please think some more about that advice.  Remember why you are waiting; God’s timing is the best; you have no idea where your husband is right now.  Just as we are becoming ladies in waiting, our husbands are being molded into OUR VERY OWN MR. RIGHT.  Wouldn’t you wait forever for that?  Pray that God would open your heart and eyes to the man He has planned for you; get rid of any personal ideals (B.B.B or T.D.H’s).

Do you even know the man you are waiting for?  Yes it is the man that will be your husband one day, but what other qualities will he possess?  Sit down and think about the characteristics given on pages 131-133 in the Lady in Waiting book.  Which of these do you desire in a husband?  Husbands are just people; their characteristics are what make them worth waiting for!

I want to leave you with this excerpt from one of my personal blog posts.  This is the man I am waiting for, I know him and most importantly HE knows GOD!  This is my heart’s desire for our relationship.

 We will make God number one, and live our lives completely surrendered to God’s plan and will for our lives. We will do great things all in the name of Jesus. We will worship, praise, love, honor, glorify, and spread Jesus to the ends of the Earth. I will have Jesus holding my right hand, and this man holding my left, and together we will be an example of true love that comes only from Jesus Christ!

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Let’s Pray: 

Lord, I want to thank You for the many blessings that You pour out into our lives on a daily basis!  Your love is life changing and I pray each woman reading this blog experiences a new level of Your love today and every day forward.  I pray that she sees her future “husband” for what he truly is and waits patiently for the one You have planned.  Our hearts wait patiently for You, and they also wait patiently for our Mr. Right.  I pray that when the time comes, You show each of us the man You have planned for us.  I ask that You help each of us to submit completely to YOU and that we come to complete obedience to YOU.  Thank You Jesus for being all we need.  I love You so much!  Amen

You’re Assignment: 

You guessed it, please share with us what the man you are waiting for is like.

 

Love and Prayers,

Diane

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For the “Lady In Waiting” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

Lady In Waiting: Quitting the Hunt

Do you absolutely love this book yet??  I love it even more the second time around!  There is just page after page of truth, encouragement, and love.  The words I have searched for…there they are written on the page so matter of fact-ly.  With Jesus first and my boyfriend second, I will have lasting peace and security.  I absolutely love the wisdom behind each one of Debby’s words.  You may think this quote does not work for you because you do not have a boyfriend so there is no possible way you can be putting a boyfriend first before God, you are all good.  That is so WRONG!  For me, I do not have a boyfriend, but I can so easily see how I put the hunt for my boyfriend and eventually husband way above Jesus.

When we do this it may seem harmless, or impossible to stop.  There is something so important about truly putting God first: you receive his lasting peace and security.  Maybe if we have been feeling insecure lately, we can look at where we are finding our security.  Chasing after men will never lead to security or peace.  Those gifts from above are only available when we surrender the hunt to God and start chasing after all HE has for us!

Reading through Debby’s journal entries I felt quite convicted.  I have so gotten to that point in my life where all I could do was pick up the pieces of my broken heart and hand them over piece by piece to My Perfect Healer.  I too, have asked Jesus to keep my heart safe, guard it, keep the key, and give it to only the one who He has for me.  I made a pact with God that I would seek HIM first and when a man came along I would pray to Him alone to see if this would be the man to hold the key to my heart one day.  I was doing so well with this until I was about to turn 24.

The closer and closer it got to my 24th birthday the further and further I got away from that perfect security God had given me.  I wanted to be married by the time I was 25…there was no way now that this was going to happen because I am single at 24.  We all have our ideal futures, don’t we?  Please, tell me I am not the only one that had an idea of how they were going to meet their husband, how they were going to start dating, how he would propose, how they would be happy and married one day: sooner rather than later.    Has your ideal future ever come true?  I am here to tell you, unless your ideal future is completely in line with God’s future for you; it is never coming true.  You can stop wishing and hoping for something so miniscule compared to what God has for you: THE BEST YOU NEED.

Just so happens instead of a man, this study came into my life right after my 24th birthday.  This study has truly helped me through a struggle: a struggle of putting the hunt for my non-existent boyfriend over God.  This study was what I needed and what you need and God knew that!

This study is instrumental in keeping my focus on God and not on my husband.  It has helped me seek God more often.  It has helped me to find support from other ladies that are struggling with the same exact thing as me.  It has brought me closer to God.  It has made me realize that my ideal future is NOTHING compared to the ACTUAL future God has for me.  I am on a mission to embrace HIS future.  Where is your mission leading you: to YOUR ACTUAL ALMIGHTY GOD or to your ideal man you thought of one lonely night?

I want you to understand something as I write this to you ladies.  The reason I feel convicted is because I may have given God my heart, but it doesn’t mean I haven’t tried to get it back from Him on several occasions.  It does not mean I do not struggle with being single and 24!!!  There is one image I see daily that almost always is a struggle to see.  A man and a woman holding hands walking together, sometimes her head is rested on his shoulder, but it doesn’t have to be just the hands in one gets me.  You see I have always wanted to hold hands with a man-my man.  When I see others doing what I want so badly to do I instantly think, “Lord, why can’t I have a man holding my hand as I walk down the street?  I am learning that I can have that man but I can also have the man God has for me.  I am waiting oh so patiently for the man who will one day be holding my hand in one and the key to my heart in the other.  As a lady in waiting I pray that YOU do the same.

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Let us Pray:  Lord, thank you that you give us so many blessings on a daily basis.  Thank you for your blessing of security that we find in you alone.  I pray that each and every one of us will be able to put down the ideal man and chase after receiving your many blessings.  I pray that we are able to support each other along our journey.  I thank you and praise you for bringing this group together.  I pray that you help all of us to be patient, waiting for your perfect timing in our lives.  We love you so incredibly much, Amen!

Your Assignment:  Please share with us-What is ONE THING you have learned/ gained from this study thus far?  What is the ONE thing that you see from couples that you struggle with on your journey as a lady in waiting?  In your quiet time-Pray to God, be honest with Him.  If you are ready give Him your heart.  If you are ready make a pact with Him about what you are going to do or not do to make sure God is put first, always.

Much love to you ladies,

Diane

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For the “Lady In Waiting” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

The Resolution for Women: Overflowing Blessing

Memory Verse for this week:

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain”

1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV)

I’ve heard it, you’ve heard, it we have all heard it – in fact, we have probably heard it time and time again throughout our lives.  “If you give, you will get it back ten-fold” , “You will reap what you sow”, “Bless and you will be blessed”., Yes, we’ve all been raised on a variation of Luke 6:38 and its a scripture that doesn’t lack understanding.  God promises if we give, we shall receive.

I have a friend who has struggled most of her life with addiction.  However, even during these times of addiction I watched her stop to help strangers time and time again.  At one point downtown she ran into someone that had a dog with a health problem and right there on the street she showed the owner how to correct it.   I’ve watched her change tires for people on the side of the road, get gas for a vehicle that ran out, and not think twice about passing out cigarettes from a pack that someone just had to buy her because she didn’t have a dime to her name.  She just GAVE without thinking, even in the state of addiction.  This was the goodness very few people saw in my friend.  She was a [quiet] giver and do-er – nothing was publicized or bragged upon – this was just who she was.  She gave with total contentment.    As I helped her pack up her house to go into treatment and worked along side of her to get ready to go, all she could think about was making me a special steak dinner to thank me.  I didn’t want her to spend her money on me; however, the last night in her house she had dinner waiting for me and we ate on a small table covered with a white towel – all because she wanted to give in appreciation.  I am sitting here with tears in my eyes thinking about that night – here she sits at rock bottom, leaving her son and all she has right now to go into treatment – but all that was important to her that night was ‘giving’. – giving with total contentment.  How many of us give without thinking?  How many of us have to stop and evaluate, pray for a few days, and then decide if we have enough to give?  Where are we in our level of ‘giving’.?

Now, Where is God in His?  OVERFLOWING  is the only way to describe it.  As Priscilla says, “His gifts are overflowing. He’s not stingy with His goodness or ungenerous with His supply”  YES, He fills us up with far more than we started with, far more than what’s fair ~ He fills our cups until they runneth over and can no longer be contained – when we choose to give, this is His promise.

AND, it’s even larger than that……Days when we are at our lowest points, when we have given all we think we can possibly give – if it is God’s Will  and we feel that ‘nudge’  but we just don’t know how we will find the energy to give with the desire of Our Heavenly Father’s heart – He will simply bust up inside of us with all of His power and through HIS power we’ll get it done.  He provides us with every need to follow his request. Do you get those ‘nudges’?   Those nudges that are ever so slight,  but oh so powerful;  that you just KNOW it is a request coming from above and not just random voices in your head?  WOW, I do……  More often than not, I feel my Father telling me – “Now Kelley, you know you need to do this’.  It’s then I know there is no further questioning what is expected of me. It is also here when I must understand and find peace within, KNOWING that giving contently and carrying out this desire of my Father’s heart will provide me with an over abundance of blessings – when we take what little we have left inside and are willingly able to give that away, God promises, it truly will come back to us in unimaginable amounts – in blessings beyond belief.  How absolutely amazing and beautiful our God is.  He never ceases to amaze me with His Love for us.

Remember, every day starts with a choice.  We can be content or discontent ~ let’s make the resolution right now to be CONTENT, let’s intentionally live our lives each and every day being content -content in giving, content in doing, and content being a Christ Follower.  Try this and watch the blessings flow – be prepared, anticipate, and be ready to pour yourself out at the drop of a hat, the nudge of Our Father – whether we are weary and tired, full of energy, or lacking – remember, He will provide so we can provide.

HOMEWORK:

Based on God’s provision that you listed at the end of the last chapter, what is the one thing you could close this book and go do for someone else out of that resource?

Let’s pray:

Dear God,  Thank you for the ‘nudges,  for pushing us ~sometimes not very comfortably~ into being the Christ Follow we need to be. For teaching us to live in contentment rather than discontented.  Thank you for providing us with the strength when we are weak, for smiles instead of frowns, for sunshine instead of rain – for taking care of each and every detail in our lives, preparing us to carry out your requests to give contented. We love You, Honor You, and prayerfully make the resolution today give with a content heart. <3 Amen

Question of the day:

When you consider your level of willingness to give of yourself, does it reveal more contentment or discontentment residing in your heart?  In what way?  Let us know below –

After reading today’s blog, please return to our Online Bible Study Group on Facebook for your daily activity!  ♥  You just never know what we have in store for you!

If you are not currently a part of our Online Bible Study group, and would like to be, please send an email to GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com, and we’ll be glad to add you!

Praying you have a beautiful, blessed 4th of July holiday.  Remember today the soldiers that continue to fight for our freedom and our country every day of their lives.

Live  Intentional, Live Content

Hugs, Kelley