{"id":22955,"date":"2014-11-22T00:15:39","date_gmt":"2014-11-22T05:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=22955"},"modified":"2014-11-22T06:38:26","modified_gmt":"2014-11-22T11:38:26","slug":"count-blessings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/11\/22\/count-blessings\/","title":{"rendered":"Count Your Blessings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16629\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg\" alt=\"psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv\" width=\"341\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg 341w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">When upon life\u2019s billows you are tempest-tossed,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Count your many blessings, name them one by one,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>Count your blessings, name them one by one,<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em> Count your blessings, see what God hath done!<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em> Count your blessings, name them one by one,<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em> *Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em> [*And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Are you ever burdened with a load of care?<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> And you will keep singing as the days go by.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">When you look at others with their lands and gold,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Count your many blessings\u2014*money cannot buy [*wealth can never buy]<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">So, amid the conflict whether great or small,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Do not be discouraged, God is over all;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Count your many blessings, angels will attend,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Help and comfort give you to your journey\u2019s end.<\/span><br \/>\n*Alternate text<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9fMjgS4vu4o?rel=0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>Written by Johnson Oatman, Jr ~ Music by Edwin O. Excell ~ Sung by Ann Williamson<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> \u00a0 * \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0* <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Written over a hundred years ago (1897), this hymn is still sung today and is still reminding us that we have<em> much<\/em> to be thankful for.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Be thankful in all circumstances,<br \/>\nFor this is God\u2019s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.<br \/>\n1 Thessalonians 5:18<\/p>\n<p>When I sing the first verse, I think of the disciples out on the stormy sea. \u00a0Actually, there are two accounts I want to share.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=matthew+8%3A23-27&amp;version=NASB;AMP;NIV;NLT\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew 8:23-27<\/a>, tells the story of Jesus and His disciples in the boat when a fierce storm came up. \u00a0The water was swamping the boat, and the disciples were panicked! Jesus was calmly sleeping because the storm wasn\u2019t bothering Him. \u00a0In the midst of the storm, Jesus was right there with them. \u00a0Instead 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. \u00a0Thankfully He was there, He did intercede for them, and commanded the wind and the waves to be calm. \u00a0The disciples were amazed at Jesus\u2019 power, and were <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>counting it a blessing<\/em> <\/span>that He was with them.<\/p>\n<p>In the next account (recorded in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=matthew+14%3A22-33&amp;version=NASB;AMP;NIV;NLT\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew 14:22-33<\/a>), Jesus sent the disciples out in the boat without Him. \u00a0Night came, and a storm developed. \u00a0The disciples were fighting the strong winds and heavy waves, but to no avail. \u00a0They hadn\u2019t even thought to call out to God, evidenced by the fact that when Jesus came to them walking on the water, they didn\u2019t even recognize Him. \u00a0But He came, because He loved them, and never had planned on leaving them helpless. \u00a0Peter even walked on the water\u2014until he took his eyes off of Jesus. \u00a0When Jesus and Peter got back in the boat, the storm died and the waters calmed. \u00a0The disciples (maybe especially Peter!) were surprised and blessed that Jesus came to them and saved them.<\/p>\n<p>In our lives there are times when we are &#8216;tempest-tossed,&#8217; and we do become very &#8216;discouraged, thinking all is lost.&#8217; \u00a0As believers, we can count on Jesus to be there for us. \u00a0He\u2019s in the boat with us. \u00a0He is our example of trust. \u00a0And even in the times when we are trying to carry our heavy cross alone, He\u2019s walking on the water toward us. \u00a0He just wants us to call out&#8230;even to walk out to Him&#8230;and He will lift us up. <em><span style=\"color: #800080;\">What a blessing!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Proverbs 10:6, tells us that \u201cThe godly are showered with blessings.\u201d \u00a0Do you count your land, your home, your money as blessings? \u00a0Yes, they are, but they are just to help us get by here on earth. \u00a0God has so much more for you\/us. Do you count your salvation, the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, God\u2019s love for you, your family\u2019s love, your reward in Heaven, and other spiritual gifts as blessings? \u00a0Money can not buy any of those because they are <em><span style=\"color: #800080;\">priceless blessings from God<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.<br \/>\nIt is by His great mercy that we have been born again,<br \/>\nbecause God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.<br \/>\nNow we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance<br \/>\n\u2014an inheritance that is kept in Heaven for you, pure and undefiled,<br \/>\nbeyond the reach of change and decay.<br \/>\nAnd through your faith, God is protecting you by His power<br \/>\nuntil you receive this salvation,<br \/>\nwhich is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.\u201d<br \/>\n1Peter 1:3-5<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo amid the conflict whether great or small, do not be discouraged, (remind yourself) <strong>God is over all<\/strong>.<em><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Count your many blessings<\/span><\/em>.\u201d It will lift you up, and it just may surprise you to see what the Lord has done!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> * \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0* <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Dear Lord, in this season of Thanksgiving we come to You with our hearts bursting with thanksgiving. \u00a0We, as Your children, have so many blessings to count! \u00a0Truly, \u201cFrom the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised\u201d (Psalm 113:3). \u00a0All 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! \u00a0Praise the Lord! \u00a0It Is So!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When upon life\u2019s 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":16629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4937],"tags":[7838,51,7831,154,3660,264,7833,365,425,5028,554,7832,4868,7834,7836,7837,7839,2658,7835,1059,1083],"class_list":["post-22955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs","tag-1-peter-13-5","tag-1-thessalonians-518","tag-and-spiritual-songs-blog","tag-blessings","tag-clella-gilbert-fox","tag-count-your-blessings","tag-edwin-o-excell","tag-faith","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-hymns","tag-jesus","tag-johnson-oatman-jr","tag-matthew-1422-33","tag-matthew-823-27","tag-peter","tag-proverbs-106","tag-psalm-1133","tag-songs","tag-storm","tag-thanksgiving","tag-trust","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-5Yf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22955"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22961,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22955\/revisions\/22961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}