Thank you, Lord, for a beautiful Birthday cake, and for the friend who made it!

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

By George Jesze, 27th May 2016

“There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves…proud…ungrateful,”

2 Timothy 3: 1­2 NIV

One Friday morning, I took my wife shopping. As she needed only a few items I waited for her in the car. Suddenly my attention was focused on a car in front of me. A young woman opened the boot, lifted out a wheelchair, and brought it to the passenger seat side. She opened the door and a man started to move himself out of his seat. He swung skillfully into the chair and set off at a fast pace, manoeuvring the wheels with both hands.

A tall, strongly ­built man was standing by the supermarket door; the man in the wheelchair looked up at him with an infectious smile and asked him how he was doing. Through my open window I heard the man begin to tell about his problems. They seemed to me trivial, in comparison with his friend’s handicap. I was surprised that the man in the wheelchair acted in a more jovial manner than the man who had no handicaps. He must have learned to cope with his problem and was facing life in a positive way. I began to think about myself and my attitude. Yes, I had problems facing me, but I did not have a handicap like this man faced every day.

Taken for granted

I wondered, was I really thankful to God that I was healthy? Was I thankful for the health of my wife and children? So many of the things in life we take for granted. We take our eyes for granted and yet there are many thousands who are blind. The blessings of God that he daily bestows upon us are often not appreciated as they should be. We grumble and moan, yet there are millions who are worse off than we are.

The Bible text from Timothy describes the attitudes of many people today, one of these being “ungrateful”. It is so easy to forget the good things that the Lord has done for us. No wonder the Psalmist reminds us:

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits,”

Psalm 103: 2 NIV

The healing of the ten lepers is a sad commentary on human nature. Ten of them asked Jesus to heal them, but only one took time to come back and thank him for his healing:

“He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him …”

Luke 17:16 NIV

Be thankful

How often we pray but, once the problem is solved, forget to thank him for the answer. If Jesus had only one in ten people thank him for his help we should not get discouraged and disappointed, even if we get less. We cannot force people to thank us for giving them help, but we can see that we ourselves are thankful to others. Most of all we should not forget the blessings that God bestows daily upon us.

Have you become bitter because people have not thanked you for your services? Have you given up helping because of the bad treatment you may have received? Jesus never gave up even when people treated him badly. Jesus keeps records of what we do for him.

“Anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward,”

Mark 9: 41 NIV

If a cup of water is worth a reward, then I am sure that all our acts are worth a reward as well.

Why not make a list of all the blessings you have received from the Lord in the last few days, weeks, months and years. How about keeping a diary of the blessings of the Lord and his help in your life? For most of us, God has done great things in our lives. Are we really thankful? If not, we need his forgiveness in this area.

Some of you may remember the chorus we used to sing many years ago:

“Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!
Count your blessings, name them two by two,
Count your blessings, see what God can do.
Count your blessings, name them by the score,
And it will surprise you there are millions more!”

If you have not started counting your blessings, start counting – today!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank you for all your goodness and blessings to me! Forgive me when I have taken your goodness for granted.

Help me to see the challenges other people face and those less fortunate than I am; show me how I can help them in their need, passing on your love to them.

In the Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.

This beautiful Birthday cake was made for George on his 70 birthday. Perhaps it will give all you ladies ( and some gentlemen, too) who are wonderful cake-­bakers, some creative ideas!! The ‘Bible’ is made of marzipan!