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“Among the many vices that are at once universally decried, and universally practiced in the world— there is none more base or more common than INGRATITUDE; ingratitude towards the supreme Benefactor. Ingratitude is the sin of individuals, of families, of churches,of kingdoms, and even of all mankind. The guilt of ingratitude lies heavy upon the whole race of men, though, alas! but few of them feel and lament it.I have felt it of late with unusual weight; and it is the weight of it that now extorts a discourse from me upon this subject.”       Samuel Davies

I am learning that keeping a grateful heart before God helps me fight pride. When I give thanks, I am recognizing that I am only a vessel receiving blessings, virtues, opportunities, abilities, resources. Even when I do something “good” towards my neighbor, it is a gift from God that I am willing to do so; Paul reminded the Philippians of this when he wrote to them saying that “it is God who works in us to will and to work for His good pleasure”.

The more I cultivate I grateful heart, the more clearly I see that pride and gratitude cannot abide in the same heart. So I give thanks to God, over and over, so I won’t forget that HE IS the ONE that works all things in me for His good pleasure!

1204. My oldest son turning 18years old! (Sorry no pics! I was too busy baking, cooking, serving our family and enjoying the moment!)

1205. I am grateful that it is GOD who has worked in my son all these years.

1206. I am so grateful to have am 18 years old son who loves the Lord and his family.

1207. I am grateful for my marriage, and how we keep holding hands as we see our children grow in the Lord.

1208. Fresh flowers in our home.

1209. I thank God that His mercy has been poured upon me upon all sides, and has followed me from the first commencement of your existence; rich, various, free, repeated, uninterrupted mercy!

1210. I thank God for the blessings of a body wonderfully and fearfully made, complete in all its parts, and not monstrous in any!

1211. I thank God he blessings of a rational, immortal soul, preserved in the exercise of sound reason for so many years, amid all those accidents that have shattered it in others, and capable of the exalted pleasure of religion, and the everlasting enjoyment of the blessed God, the Supreme Good!

1212. The blessing of a large and spacious world, prepared and furnished for our accommodation; illuminated with an illustrious sun, and the many luminaries of the sky!

1213. The earth enriched and adorned with trees, vegetables, various sorts of grain, and animals, for our support or convenience!

1214. The the sea, a medium of extensive trade, and an inexhaustible store of fish!

1215. The blessing of the early care of parents and friends, to provide for us in the helpless days of infancy, and direct or restrain us in the giddy, precipitant years of youth!

1216. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of having freedom to give our children a godly education.

1217. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of health for months and years!

1218. The blessing of clothing suited to the various seasons of the year!

1219. The blessing of rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, of summer and winter, of seed time and harvest!

1220. The agreeable vicissitude of night and day!

1221. The refreshing repose of sleep, and the activity and enjoyment of our waking hours!

1222. The blessing of the most endearing relationships; the blessings included in the tender names of friend, husband or wife, parent or child, brother or sister!

1223. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of peace.

1224. Blessings in every age of life; in infancy, in youth, in adult age, and in the decays of old age!

1225. Thank you, Lord for all blessings as numerous as our moments, as long continued as our lives; blessings personal and relative, public and private! For while we have the air to breathe in, the earth to tread upon, or a drop of water to quench our thirst—we must own we are not left destitute of blessings from God!

“May our divine Benefactor, among his other blessings, bestow upon us that of a thankful heart, and enable us to give sincere, fervent, and perpetual praise to his name, through Jesus Christ, his unspeakable gift! Amen.”

Join me today, let us praise together our Father in Heaven from whom all blessings flow!

What are you grateful for today? I want to join my voice with yours and extol our God who is worthy to be praised!

Note: My dear friend Trisha, is hosting the giveaway of a wonderful book that encourages us to have  a grateful heart. Please go to her site and be sure to follow her blog, it is one of my favorite places on the web!

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“When the thoughts are scattered and distracted about the cares of life, a man is not fit for devotion. Discontent takes heart wholly off from God and fixes upon the present trouble, so that a man’s mind is not upon his prayer, but upon his cross”
Thomas Watson, The Art of Divine Contentment

Because I want to discipline my mind, my heart not to wander, I give thanks to God as a continual offering, a sacrifice of thanksgiving all day, every day.

1185. A girl, the joy of still having a little girl home.

1186. A young lady enjoying a great vacation with a beautiful family.

1187. A baby girl growing in my sister’s womb.

1188.  My two young men who love to be at home as well as going to the movies with their Dad on weekends.

1189. Markers, and pens, and pencils all over our house, always ready to be used.

1190. Homemade Oreo Cookies! Yummy!

1191. My son’s creativity. (Amazing what he built with cardboard boxes and lots of patience!)

1192. Heart- Shaped leaves that helped me remember God’s word.

1193. Pasta night… It so much fun to be all six crammed in the kitchen and chatting while cooking pasta once a week.

1194. Happy friends planning a trip with us.

1195. An excellent reminder to pray for our spouses in the workplace.

1196. The Word of God, an anchor to our soul when troubles rise.

1197. The Word of God, which is a lamp unto my feet in the days when it is too foggy to see clearly.

1198. The Word of God, which points to my sin.

1199. The Word of God, which is sufficient to feed my soul.

1200. The Word of God, the only book in the whole word that is infallible and perfect.

1201.The Word of God, which enlightens our minds and help us discern.

1203. The Word of God, the ultimate authority in all matters.

May we remember this week that “in every loss there is only suffering, but in every discontent there is a sin; and one sin is worse than a thousand sufferings.” (Thomas Watson)

Blessings to you on your week, dear friends!

>Today is new day, a brand new day no one has ever lived; a day in which we are awaken to new opportunities, to new mercies… isn’t that incredible?

I want to share with you this verse and what John Piper says about it and gratitude, (I recommend you to read the whole sermon)

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”             Col 2: 6-8

“…thankfulness is an essential guardian of the soul, and therefore we should guard ourselves with gratitude. Evidently we are fair game for the devil when we don’t abound with thanksgiving. Unless the song of thanksgiving is being sung in our hearts the enemy outside will deceive his way into the city of our soul, and the enemy sympathizers within will make his job easy. So for the sake of your own safety, strive to fill your heart with thanksgiving! Guard yourselves with gratitude!”

So I will keep on counting the impossible… His mercies over me which I do not deserve!


1172. My Beloved… keeping my heart.


1173. Friends who help me think out..


1174. My friends who love sound doctrine so passionately.


1175. Not one, but several books on my nightstand.


1176.  Cappuccinos for two.

1177.  A morning in the woods… and my oldest son teaching my little one how to climb trees from the roots!

 1178. Dogs who bring so many laughs!

1179.  Light shining so beautifully through some old logs!

1180.  My daughter, her guitar, her songs… her beautiful life!

1181. My Beloved helping my little one build a doll’s house with a cardboard box.

1182. Pretty flowers in my garden

1183. I am so grateful that even though we live in a busy, busy, big, big city… I wake up every morning to the song of many birds!

1184.  A new day, a new week, new mercies!

Now you know… guard your soul, give thanks to God!

Share with us, what makes your soul sing for joy and gratefulness today?

Under His  Sun and by His grace,

Are you memorizing the Word of God or planning to start doing so? Well, don’t miss my giveaway!

Endless Gifts, the Way of Contentment

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It happens again, it is my friends going through tough times while we are enjoying a peaceful and calm season. My friend’s mom is in the hospital, my other friend has lots of economical problems, and so on… and the question comes to my mind:

Why Lord?

Why not me?

And I type these words with fear because,  who will stand in the day of  trouble? Only the one who is holding fast to the Word of God will stand firm… am I? Am I ready for the days of trouble that might lay ahead?

I pray I will.

Meanwhile, while peace and joy, and health and bread, are in our home I feed my soul, I memorize the Word, I sing praises, and give thanks… I fill my “spiritual tank”, because  who knows what tomorrow may bring?

Please, dear friends, don’t take me wrong, I am not expecting hard times… I am just being realistic. The Lord brings his children through trials, through fire, through valleys to see what is in their heart and to show Himself powerful to them.

Today God’s providence has us laying on green pastures, and I am grateful for that.

1151. I am grateful for green pastures.

1152. I am grateful for friends whose faith encourages us around them.

1153. I am grateful for the perseverance of the saints.

1154. I am grateful that even though we are called to walk at times through dark valleys, He is our Pastor and never leaves us.

1155. I am grateful for friends who teach us to recite a poem when all our children are sick.

1156. A family whom we have not met, and will soon become a family to our son.

1157. Babies  growing in the womb. It never ceases to amaze me how this can happen!

1158. Having lunch with a friend I have not seen in more than 17 years!

1159. Planners and calendars…

1160. Eating lunch at my parents’ home every Monday.

1161. Strolling with my little one through beautiful flowers in a garden.

1162. Reading time…

1162.  Brown Sugar, coffee, and my daughters beside me!

1163. Phone calls from my Beloved in the middle of the day.

1164. My children’s kisses.

1165. I am so grateful that I don’t have free will.

1166. I am grtaeful for my sister.

1167.  A great book on my nightstand. (I will soon post a review!)

1168. Chocolate melting in my mouth! (Isn’t it wonderful that we can actually taste?)

1169. I am grateful for the challenge to become addicted to my Bible!

1170. Unutterable Grace.

1171. I am grateful for you… for visiting, for reading, for loving… thank you!

What makes you sing for joy today?

What are you grateful for this very moment?

Share with us so we can praise God with you today!

>This week we reached counting 2000 gifts from God’s hand in our family gratitude journal. I have learned so many beautiful things on this journey, things I have been sharing with you every Monday. Today, however, I want to tell you few things I have learned that having a grateful heart won’t do in you or for you.

Some of my favorite things to buy are journals, so I have always loved to look through them in the shops and more than often I buy just one more. But I remember one day in one airport that I found lots of handmade gratitude journals, but no matter how pretty each one of them was I did not buy any. Why? because they were all related to the New Age movement, Yoga, Tao, and things similar to these. I realized that being grateful, that keeping a gratitude journal is not only something that we Christians do.

So, what is the difference? The difference is that we give thanks to GOD because we know that it is from His merciful hand that we receive every single thing we have and do not deserve.

But wait… there is still more. If we dig up a little bit deeper, we’ll see that many  Christians think that through gratitude you can find God. Haven’t you heard  something like this  before? “Count your blessings and you will see God clearly”, or “Having a grateful heart is what will draw you closer to God”  I don’t see in the Scriptures anything that supports this. I do believe, because it is written, that we need to come with a grateful and humble heart before God THROUGH the blood of Christ, through His saving grace. A grateful heart is what God expects from his children but it is not because we are grateful that we can come before God.

Gratitude is not The Way to the Father, only Jesus is!

So, my dear friend, if you keep a gratitude journal, don’t be surprised that the pagans also do that! It will be very profitable to search our hearts and in the light of the Scriptures consider why are we doing this, and let’s be sure that it won’t replace our communion with God through His Word.

Lord, today I am thankful for….

1100.  The beautiful discipline we have learned while keeping a family gratitude journal.

1101. For the wind blowing with might.

1102. For godly women around me.

1103. For the song of the birds.

1104. Sunlight coming through my bedroom window.

1105. Grades, students, teachers and classes.

1106. Planning our summer.

1107. Not knowing (more than often) what is going to happen but resting in God’s Sovereign will.

1108. God’s promises upholding us.

1109. Knowing that our times are in His hands…. is there a better place for them to be?

1110. My little girl’s grateful heart.

1111. My son… always loving much.

1112. Crepes with our friends from church.

1113. My sister’s baby growing in her womb.

1114.  A simple knots that reminds me that the only one who can untie the knots of sin in my heart is God.

1115. Paper work … and all that it means.

1116. Family in Christ in another country.

1117. Thank you, Lord…. for your sanctifying grace today!

What makes you sing for joy today? What are the words of your Grateful song today?