Tag Archives: Jesus

Gratitude

As we start off the New Year, many of us are writing down our resolutions, or creating goals we’re preparing to reach. The past few years I’ve heard more and more people talking about choosing their “one word for the year” With the plan to be more intentional about living that word out through the year.

I’ve never chosen one before. And I didn’t plan on choosing one this year either. Mainly because trying to pick just one seemed difficult, since there are so many different aspects of life I want to continue to grow in.

*I encourage you to read the following verses in your Bible, or looking them up as you read the next few paragraphs*

But lately as I’ve been doing my Bible study, in journaling, and in prayer, one word has continually been pressing on my heart, and that is gratitude.

The past two months I’ve been reading through the Old Testament, and learning at a new depth of the Lord’s goodness. Reading about His creation (Genesis 1) and amazed that I can experience it daily. The writings of His power and provision (Genesis 37-46, Exodus 3-4 & 13-14, 1 Samuel 17, and many more) stirring my heart to awe. And seeing His faithfulness as He makes His covenants and keeps them (Genesis 8-9 & 12-17, Exodus 19, 2 Samuel 7, Jeremiah 31:31-34)

At the same time in reading throughout the Old Testament, I’ve continued to see a new depth of the wickedness of us in our flesh. The fall of creation (Genesis 3), the continued corruption of man’s heart (Genesis 6), and rebellion against the Lord and His commands (Genesis 16 &19, Exodus 32, Numbers 14, 1 Samuel 15, 2 Samuel 6, 11, & 24, as well as many more). And it doesn’t stop there.

“Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’ Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly and Moses was displeased.” Numbers 11:4-10

Now when I first read this passage above, I was frustrated and angry. I was thinking “are you seriously complaining, when God just brought you out of slavery (see Exodus 7-14), with the promise of a new land filled with all you would need, and He’s even giving food along the journey?” And as I was growing in my frustration, I stopped and realized I’m no better than they are.

How many times have I passed up an opportunity to praise the Lord for what He’s done, because I was complaining about another desire? Or wallowed in pity, as He removed one thing to lead me to something better? What about ignoring a blessing He has bestowed, because it wasn’t how I thought it would be?

Ask yourself these same questions. The wickedness we see in the Old Testament, the people rebelling against the Lord and ignoring His commands, continues in us. You may not have a golden statue that you praise, but is there something you’re putting ahead of the Lord? Is your time, relationship, entertainment, or money an idol in your life? You may not have touched the Ark of the Covenant as Uzzah did (2 Samuel 6:6-7), but are you doing something He has commanded you not to? Have you lied, cheated, stolen, disobeyed your mother or father? Maybe you’re not complaining about eating manna day after day, but is there something else you’re complaining about instead of trusting in the Lord’s steadfastness?

We are sinful. But the Lord is merciful.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

This covenant that the Lord made, was fulfilled through Christ (Matthew 5:17) , as He died on the cross for our sins. And through faith in Him alone, we receive the gift of salvation, knowing that we will be with the Lord for eternity.

So as 2024 starts, I have decided to intentionally walk in gratitude. I want my heart to sing His praises, not reside in ungratefulness or complaints. And in my flesh, I may fall in this, but I can start right now by thanking the Lord that He has paid the debts of my sins and failures through His Son! And for His redemption, making me new that I may desire to live for Him!

If you’re sitting here wondering “have I been forgiven?” “am I saved?”, or “what does any of this mean?” I encourage you to reach out to a believing friend, local church, or you can even go to my contact page for questions.

Now I want to know from you, what are you grateful for today?

-Ellie Marie

Whatever It Takes

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” -Ephesians 3:20

My mind is constantly running. Ideas, thoughts, and plans are always flowing through my head. Often these are way out of my current capabilities, whether it be what it would feel like to fly, or a new system that would better the world.

There’s very little restraints on the progress of an idea within your mind. You can dream up some pretty crazy things. Looking to Ephesians 3:20, it tells us that God can do more than we can ask or even think!

As I read those words, I’m in awe of the Lord’s power.

Sometimes, I think we can forget just how powerful God is. The creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who can calm a raging storm, who knew you before you were ever born. And we still forget His powerfulness.

I don’t mean forget in a way of disbelief that He did all those things. I mean forget in the way that we dwell on our problems. Making them bigger and bigger in our mind, instead of focusing on that God is bigger than any problem that comes our way. I mean forget in the way we go about our day to day lives, without a thought of God’s goodness. I mean forget in the way we focus on ourselves so much, and that’s where our attention is kept.

“I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” Isaiah 42:8

The Lord deserves our praise, not for His greatness to be forgotten. He does not give His glory or praise to another, but in our sinfulness we still give our attention to others or ourselves.

Without the realization that we’re doing this, we can’t turn our eyes fully to Him, not on our own. The one true King, the God who every knee will bow to, He can do whatever it takes to get our focus back to Him.

Back in October of 2020, God did just that with me. From an outward glance, everything was going good for me. I enjoyed my work, my friendships were solid, and a lot of my free time was spent helping out at church. Inwards though, my heart was not focused on God, but on me.

I came home one day from hanging out with some friends, to my parents telling me they were spontaneously leaving for Florida the next morning with my younger siblings. I had to work, and needed to stay home. I ended up getting off early a few days that week, but every time I tried to make plans my friends were busy. Coming home to an empty house, with no plans to go anywhere, a sadness began to creep up. This continued on for the rest of the week. A repetitive cycle, feeling the loneliness, sitting in self pity as I focused on me, drown it out with some distraction. Again and Again.

By the end of that week, I was feeling pretty low, but I held on to the hope of going to a friend’s house that Saturday night. The day finally came, and I was filled with excitement, ready to not be alone anymore. A few hours before I was to leave, I got a text from a friend that the get together had been cancelled.

I was devastated, and began to buy into different lies the enemy was using against me. My heart ached, and I left myself zone out in front of the tv, feeling alone and unwanted.

The next morning, I decided to go to a coffee shop, so I wouldn’t be alone. Yet even though there were plenty of people around, I still felt that way. As I dug around in my over-sized purse, looking for a book, I pulled out my Bible instead. I flipped around until I found Psalm, and just began to read. The next few hours I continued to spend with God, my heart felt lighter than it had in awhile.

Looking back on that time, I see how I was stuck in this pattern, of focusing on myself, and idolizing my time spent with others. God did what it took to break me of the pattern, and bring my focus back to Him. It took sending my family away, my friends not being able to be with me, and moments of being alone, to see where my heart was at that time, and to draw me nearer to Him.

While that time was difficult, it reminded me where my joy truly comes from, and that I am completed by the Lord, and not things of this earth. It reminded me of how powerful God is, and even remembering this time causes my heart to be filled with hope!

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11

Whether right now is the greatest moment of your life, or you feel you’re at your lowest point, the Lord is great and powerful. He is good. Always.

I encourage you to think, and pray today, about where your praise is going to. Are you truly focused on the Lord, do you see His power in the day to days?

It’s not a one and done thing. This is something we will most likely often struggle with, and fall in again. But we serve a gracious, merciful, and powerful God. He can do the unimaginable and impossible. He can do whatever it takes.

-Ellie Marie