The more I think about being thankful, the more I realize how important it is for our spiritual and emotional well-being. As I am purposing to be more thankful for what I have and less consumed with what I don't have, the more I enjoy life. So often people are consumed with what they don't have, instead of looking at what they do have and being thankful for it, whatever that may be. Thankfulness is defined as feeling or expressing gratitude, being appreciative, aware and appreciative of a benefit, and being grateful.

To be thankful is a choice. It is a choice to look at all the good in your life, instead of always seeing what is not good, in your estimation. For example, some people do not have a job and are desperate to have one. You have a job and instead of being thankful for it, you choose to complain about it. A mentor of mine always used to say, "It could be worse." For some, they can't even see that. However, things could always be worse.

I see so much pain and sickness; there are families falling apart and people hurting other people. It causes me to be thankful for what I have. I thank God each and every day for my life, for protecting my family, and for salvation. I'm even thankful to know that because of Him, there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow, for salvation, for forgiveness and His help in my time of need. The more thankful you become in life, the more enjoyable life will be.

Start today and find something in your world to be thankful for. Practice being thankful and I believe you will see your circumstances differently. It will open you up to more possibilities in life, instead of limitations.

Just a Thought,

PSS

We all will experience loss at some time, in our lives. The first person that passed away, and I loved very much, was my dad. It was so painful and sad. To this day, I miss him. But what comforted my heart was the Word of God. “God sent His Word and healed them and delivered them from destruction” (Psalm 107:20). His Word is a comfort, when we experience a death of a loved one. What I have learned is that every one of us will experience it a little differently. Grief is grief and if you really cared for someone you will experience some degree of grief. The basic stages of grief are denial (you just can't believe that they are gone), anger (you are mad that they are gone), depression (you are troubled about them being gone), and then acceptance.

We will all go through some kind of process, when we have lost someone whom we cared for. What's interesting is that God gave us emotions, feelings, the ability to love someone, and then those same feelings and emotions can create in us hurt. However, God has a process for all of us. We must continue to believe Him and act on His Word because Jesus said that He came to heal the brokenhearted. If you are hurting today, maybe you have been grieving the loss of someone you really loved and cared for; start asking God to comfort you, and then find out what God says in His Word about those who are hurting, those who are born-again when someone close to them dies. What I realized is that God says that when another believer passes, we will sorrow, but we will sorrow with hope. Don't allow the death of someone close to you, as painful as it is, sideline you forever. I have met some wonderful people who have experienced such tragedy, only to watch them pick themselves up and act on the Word of God. I have watched God turn their pain around to where they are now helping others who are grieving. God can and will help, if only I believe.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Letting go of the past is for some easier said than done. Have you ever eaten something, and then that night or the next day you got really sick? After feeling better, you won’t eat that food because you think it was the reason you were sick. It will even become difficult to even think about eating it. It could have simply been that you got the flu, or that particular food had some type of bacteria in it. I've heard people say that they won't eat pizza for a long time. In their minds, the bad thing that they ate was pizza, and then they got sick and threw up.

 It's so funny to me how we think; I have done this same thing many times. Eventually though, we will go back and begin eating pizza again. We get over the past. Today some cannot move forward in relationships, with God, or with life because they were hurt in some way. They can't or won't allow themselves to get over their past experiences, which have hurt them. How sad it is for that person! We all, at one time or another, experience this type of pain and disappointment in our lives, but we shouldn't allow ourselves to become the victim of it.

We should realize that the only one who is really getting hurt here is ourselves. Let’s begin to let go of the past and begin to take steps to put ourselves out there again, knowing that people will make mistakes and do bad things to us. However, our lives are worth living and enjoying. Let’s choose to move forward, forgetting these thing in the past, and begin to look forward to what lies ahead.

Just a Thought,

PSS

We need to understand that God is a personal God. He cares about the individual. He cares about the one. Luke 15:3-7 speaks of a man who would leave the ninety-nine to find the one. At times, we have been taught that thinking God cares about me is false. Why would He care about everyone, especially someone like me? We also say and think thoughts like “we are not important enough for God to care about.”

This could be exposing how we really think about ourselves. Sometimes you believe that in some way you don't measure up, or that others are more important. You may even think that surely God has more important things to do rather than help you with your problems. This is not true. Fake humility is thinking poorly of yourself, having low self-esteem, or having a poor self-image. It's not healthy; feeling inferior is self-defeating. God cares about you. The big things to you are big things to God; the small things to you are big things to God. God has the ability help all of us at the same time. No one is more important to God than you are.

True humility is defined as being lowly of heart, not arrogant or boastful, ready to serve, and teachable. If you are truly humble it means that you do not think badly of yourself. Let’s begin to think better. God cares about me and is interested in helping me. He doesn't see me as a nuisance or someone who is bugging Him. He doesn't say, "Don't they know I have bigger issues to deal with?" God cares about every aspect of your life, so be encouraged! God wants to help you and be your friend. Whatever you are dealing with, large or small, God is your source. He will help you if you pray and follow His instruction manual, the Word of God (the Bible). God cares.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Focusing on one thing can help us accomplish our goals faster and more often. The best multitaskers can really only give their full attention to one thing. Even the best of them cannot concentrate on everything with the same degree of attention, at the same time; something will lack or not be done as well as something else. We must learn to focus and maybe even focus on one thing at a time. People today might have a huge goal or a dream, and it may be big. The way to accomplish it is to take one step at a time, one bite out of it at a time. Sometimes we set the goal so high that at times, if we are not careful, we get discouraged before it ever gets accomplished. What if we were to concentrate on only one thing? Focus on one step at a time towards the ultimate end. How much more could we accomplish? A study done on incoming freshmen, conducted by Columbia University, found that when given seven goals that were thought to be attainable, out of 2,312 students, only 719 students achieved one of the goals. Later, they conducted a similar study. This time they only asked the freshmen to choose one goal. They asked them to write it down and keep it in a place where they would see it every day. The results that they found, at the end of the school year, were astounding. Of the 2,371 students surveyed, 2,040 (86%) achieved their goal. The study showed the power of learning to focus on one thing at a time in reaching our goals, our dreams. We should get one thing done and then move to the next thing. As we look at our lives and see a need for improvement in some areas, or maybe it’s a desire to learn something, remember the power of focus. Focus on one aspect at a time. I believe that you will find, when looking back, how far you've come and how much you have accomplished.

Just a Thought,

PSS