counting blessings

The chapter from study at Potter's House this week was on Envy. It is striking to me how much envy consumes us, and we usually just shrug it off and think nothing of it. Envy is deadly. It will kill your soul faster than you can say green monster. Envy is the antithesis of contentment. It is not only wanting what someone else has but going so far as to destroy what they have.

How is it possible to not allow the green monster to rule your life? For me it is to count my blessings. Instead of looking what everyone else has, I look at the rich blessings that God has given me. I find that when you are busy counting your blessings you don't have time to focus on what everyone else has. I also find that when I start to count my blessings it becomes more and more apparent just how many things I have to be thankful for. I wish I could remember how important counting my blessings are all the time.

All-encompassing joy comes from the Joy-Giver. And He will fill you up completely to overflowing if you ask Him to.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
a little retreat for summer evenings

Peace out yo!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Called Beauty

I'm listening to Pandora right now, and the song that is on is Love Song . I'm not sure what exactly that has to do with my life at the moment, but thought I would share it with you all. In fact, I feel rather at a loss as to what I should say as I sit here eating sweet potatoes. I had a lovely run with my roommate, B, today. We both decided that it is much more fun to run with someone than to run outside alone...not to mention smarter as our neighborhood isn't the greatest. Running feels so awesome now. I am getting new running shoes tomorrow, and I'm really excited about them. The lady at the store let me go out on the sidewalk and run back and forth to test them out when I went today to look, and they just felt really amazing. Switching Subjects... I have never really had many guy friends. I'm not sure why. I think part of it had to do with the fact that for a while I was really scared of men in general. Then I went through a men disliking period (I refuse to say
Read more

learning to savor

I was asked today if money wasn't an object, if I didn't have to work, if I could do anything in the world, live anywhere in the world, what would I do? I wanted to give her a thoughtful answer, a truthful answer, so I thought about it. If I could do anything what would I do? My heart leapt within me at the thought. It's one of those rare opportunities where you just allow yourself to dream for a minute of a perfect world. What would that world look like? I knew within myself what I would do, and I did my best to express it to this lady. I would have a house on the beach. It would be a safe place, a resting place, a refuge. It would be open to anyone who wanted to come. I would have tea every afternoon with my friends. I would cook and bake. I would work in my garden in the backyard. I would spend hours in communion with my Beloved. I would take walks on the beach, watching the sunset. I would sit on my front porch and soak up the day and night. I would savor life, and I wo
Read more

I say Hi!

I have discovered the secret to avoiding awkward situations... things are only awkward if you make them awkward. Think about it. We take our cues from the people around us. If someone else is trying to make you feel awkward, and you just ignore it and go on with life...then they will stop. I was in a situation tonight that could have been awkward, if I had made it that way, but I choose not to. As a result I ended up having a great conversation and was very encouraged and uplifted from it. Anyway...this is going to be short because it has been a very long day and I have a lot of homework to do tomorrow...so tomorrow is going to be a very long day. We finally covered Philippians 3 in Bible Study tonight...so excited to move on. Also, I am greatly enjoying playing chess with a good friend...we are having about a weekly match up. Good times!! I'm getting better, so we'll see if I'm able to eventually pull off a win. Funny how God grants little desires of our hearts. I always k
Read more