The Thanks Tank

There's been a lot said of the marriage love tank being full, and whether or not an individual's love tank is full. For those who may not know the love tank measures just how full of love you feel and receive from others. This may include love from family, spouse, friends, God, co-workers, teachers, etc. This is a great topic and one we could go deeply into, but I'm going to put that aside for now.

Back around Thanksgiving I wrote a bit about thankfulness and I just want to address that subject again. It's something we all tend to run short on from time to time. Just as we have a love tank we also have a thanks tank. Only this tank measures what goes out and not what we receive from others. This tank wells up from the attitude of the heart.

How is your thanks tank doing? Is it empty? Is it full? Is it somewhere in between?

There are so many things for which I am thankful to God for. I am alive today. I have good health, I am saved by the grace of God. I am filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. God loves me. Jesus loves me. All my prayers have been and are being answered. My church family loves me and receives me. My wife loves me and she is faithful. She's my hero!! I am thankful for being able to read the Bible any time I want in several different translations. I am thankful for the spiritual gifts God has given me. I am thankful for God using my gifts. I am thankful for toilet paper. Not every country has it. I am thankful that I live in the United States according to the providence of God. I am thankful that I am not in any financial debt. I am able to pay my bills. My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. All my sins are washed away. There are angels all around me. Nothing can separate me from the love of God. God's peace permeates my entire being. My life is in His hands. I am in my right mind (though some would argue). I have relatives whom I know I will see again in heaven. People laugh at my jokes. God has plans to prosper me and not to harm me. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world! I am redeemed. I have clothes to wear. I have a family that loves me. I get along wonderfully with my In-Laws. God has protected me in many dangerous situations. He sings songs of deliverance all around me. His promises are true. He Has Never Failed Me!!! I am in love with my Heavenly Father. He knows my name. I am not forgotten. I will never be abandoned. I am thankful that He doesn't treat me as my sins so rightly deserve. Thanks for mercy Lord! God gives me things I don't deserve. Thanks for grace Lord!

These are just some of the many, many things I am thankful for. Being thankful helps us to love and appreciate those around us, especially God.

Make a list of some things you are thankful for. Fill up that thanks tank and pour it out.

The Desert Song: Blesseings While Waiting

The Lord truly knows how to send encouragement your way! I am so thankful for those He uses to speak life to my soul. The past few days I've been feeling a little beaten up waiting on the Lord to open some doors in my life. Waiting on a perfectionist is never easy, especially when He is the Creator of all things. Even though I know the things He is going to do and is doing will be perfect for me, that doesn't make me any more patient.

In comparison though I believe the waiting periods we modern believers go through are no where as long as in ancient times. Noah waited 120 years for a flood to come. Abraham waited several decades for Isaac to be born. We American believers pare in comparison. We live in the moment. Everything is now. A quick fix. A rapid reply. We have express toll lanes so we don't have to wait in line.

Waiting is hard. It's is harder when God promised you something and it hasn't arrived yet. However, Psalm 119:49-50 give me great hope, and I can actually remind God of His promise to me. Yes, we have permission to remind God of His promises.

The verses say this:

Psalms 119: 49-50

"49 Don't forget your promise

to me, your servant.

I depend on it.

50 When I am hurting,

I find comfort in your promise

that leads to life. "

From the Contemporary English Version

To drive this point home, a precious sister in the Lord shared this song with me today and it so spoke into my life. It's called, "The Desert Song," bu Hillsong. Click on the title topic above (The Desert Song: Blessings While Waiting) and it will take you to a short video I know will bless you. Be Ye encouraged!

Funny Jokes from Joel Osteen

If not for commenter Peter, I would not have found some of these jokes. So in honor of Peter and to bring us all some fresh, clean humor. Here we go. Just click on the topic title above and it will bring your right to the youtube link. Get your funny bone ready!

How's Your Serve?

Every August on New York everyone starts playing tennis, whether they're amateurs, average or beyond. Doesn't matter if you're young or old. The courts are full of people mimicking their favorite professional players. In August every year in New York, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships are played. It tends to bring out the tennis player in everyone.

I have had the pleasure of teaching a Bible Study recently on the topic Serve as in service. Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 tell us that Jesus did not come to be served or be a slave master, but to serve others. He has given us an example of a servant's heart. We, the followers of Jesus Christ are called to serve others, whether they are nice or not, believers or not, task masters or not. We are to serve others, period. Sorry to say, this is a lost concept in the American church. We go by the mantra, "It's all bout me and how comfortable I feel." Apathy.

As I thought about the word serve, tennis came to mind. The serve in tennis has purpose, it is done with energy, it has a specific aim, it is watched by others, it can cause others to be humbled, it can inspire others, it can be done as an individuals (singles matches), with another teammate (doubles), or as a team (team tournaments).

Serving others has a purpose, to please God, to encourage/bless the person being served, to win the lost. Serving others takes energy. Service is watched by others, whether they are see or unseen. Serving others may humble you or the person(s) being served. Acts of service can inspire others to serve or seek salvation in Christ. We can serve alone, with others, or in a group.

If you aren't serving, you're faith is not being lived out. Very few will notice your witness for Christ.
Get your serve going. The game is not yet over.