Gratitude for Others - 28 Day Joy Challenge – Day 2 – Purity 1058

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a view along the river that features bright orange flowers in the foreground and a mirror-like reflection of the green trees and the blue sky above on the surface of what is presumably the Hiawassee River somewhere near Murphy, North Carolina. Comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who shared this oasis-like scene yesterday on social media. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and although I have things to do today, I'm appreciating the oasis-like splendor of my last official day of this Memorial Week vacation that will provide me with the time to get them done. As I have walked through this week that has been a combination of rest, work, and learning, I I have come to the conclusion that time off is an illusion, as even in the most laid-back circumstances, there are inherent needs and responsibilities that need to be addressed if we seek to maintain any semblance of balance and peace. While we are free to choose to do nothing, uh, we are not free of the consequences of doing nothing, as the impermanent nature of this world requires that we be diligent and paying attention to the things and systems that surround us that need regular maintenance and care to operate as they should. As much as I was rejoicing over this silence that I found in Nemirod Cabin just a few days ago, noting the lack of sounds of— the sounds of lawn mowers, I am facing the fact that I will break the silence around my house down by the river today, as I will choose to mow my own lawn. Preferring to keep my lawn short and my chore less taxing but more frequent rather than letting the grass grow thick and long, making the mowing more challenging. I also will be choosing to get an oil change even though the mileage isn't quite to the limit yet because I would rather do it now rather than trying to sneak it in after work someday next week. Yeah, time off is an illusion to some extent because we are called to do to be good stewards of, to what the Lord has provided us with. And we experience negative consequences when we don't do what is right. This principle extends to our homes and things and even our bodies. If we overindulge in our flesh with too much food or too much rest, we begin to suffer under the weight of our own bodies or from the weakness that results from a lack of physical exercise. So even though it was my week off and I made some compromises on my food choices in the spirit a vacation. I have continued my normal exercise routine and have righted the ship of my food choices knowing that the occasional indulgence may be allowed. While it may be allowed, it isn't wise and it shouldn't be repeated for long. So no more ice cream. Why does a half gallon cost less than 2 pints? And no more large buckets of popcorn at the movies for a while anyway. And similarly, uh, we don't really get any time off from our relationships either. When we avoid people or take people for granted, there are negative consequences. We feel alone. The enemy comes in to encourage our isolation by causing us to think on the negative aspects of other people, and we feel, uh, anxi— uh, even more anxiety over reconnecting, uh, because We haven't been exercising our social skills that may require forgiveness and patience. So today I'm encouraging myself and whoever gets this far in the message to be grateful for the other people in our lives. I know some people right now who are grieving the loss of loved ones. I know some who are suffering medical problems, some quite sudden and traumatic. I know some people who are struggling to make ends meet because of a lack of work or a sudden change in— of employment status. And while all of these people's problems are different and highly personal, I believe all of them could benefit through the care and concern of others. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 tells us, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up." Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm, but how can one warm— be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. We are called to love one another, and Solomon points out how we greatly benefit from having others walking with us through life to help us. And so we should be grateful for the people in our lives and seek to form wholesome and godly relationships with others in our lives based on our mutual faith in, in Christ if we find ourselves alone. Easier said than done, I know, but God calls us to be loving, bold, and courageous. So don't give up hope of finding good relationships, and don't stop giving yourself to others who may need a friend like you. Anyway, that brings us to our current series where I am taking, walking through the 28-Day Joy Challenge, which is based on Dr. Marcus Warner and Chris Corsi's latest book, The Four Habits of Joy-Filled People. You can sign up for the 28-Day Joy Challenge for free and purchase a variety of books from Warner and Corsi on the topic of joy by going to 4habits.org. That's the number 4 and and then habits.org. The link is on the blog. So let's jump into Day 2. And Day 2 is, uh, gratitude jumpstarts our joy. Welcome to Day 2 of the 28 Days to Joy Challenge. Um, today's encouragement is just as with practicing a sport or instrument, we don't start out as experts. The goal of this journey is not perfection. But rather to gain awareness and grow over time. If any of these exercises don't come naturally or easy to— easily to you, that is okay. As you practice, you will grow. Today's practice exercise number 2. Today we will learn to use gratitude to jumpstart our joy. How this exercise will benefit you. Gratitude jumpstarts our joy and activates the joy switch in our brains. S-spending time remembering the things we are grateful for retains our brains to focus— retrains our brains to focus on life's blessings versus life's problems. The more we practice gratitude, the more we remember, see, and anticipate good things in life. Exercise steps: Identify a person you feel thankful for today and write out specific reasons and examples of why you appreciate this person. Then take this skill to the next level and let them, let them know how much you appreciate them, or well yeah, and tell them how much you appreciate them. If they are unavailable, practice with someone else. Have fun with this exercise. We pick up tomorrow with more joy practice. That's from our good friends at poorhabits.org. Anyway, I reviewed Day 2's instructions last night to prepare myself for what I would be in for this morning, but I do enjoy intend to actually— because I do intend to actually practice what they instruct and report on my experiences with them. I had thought of a few people that I could be grateful for, for a variety of reasons, but when I sat down to do this practice, the practice this morning, I was moved to focus on my wife, Tammy Lynn, and to be true to the instructions on actually writing out specific reasons and examples of why I appreciate her. Also, by blogging and podcasting this, I will be faithful in telling her how much I appreciate her. But if for some reason she doesn't read or hear this message, I will be seeing her tonight and will have my little notebook of reasons to present to her in person to let her know how much I appreciate her. Luckily, we already practice appreciation for one another by letting each other know how much we love one another and how we appreciate the things we do and the people we are to one another quite regularly. And there seems to be no limit on how much we appreciate reporting and hearing these things from one another. But just because we do this on the regular doesn't mean that I am going to neglect doing today's Joy Challenge in earnest. So this passage is straight from my scribbled notes Unedited mostly, because it'd be, yeah, might be undecipherable gibberish if I just read it verbatim because my thoughts were there and the words didn't quite all make it on the page. So we rounded out a little bit, um, and so we present this to Tammy Lynn. Uh, I am grateful for you because— now this is actually added as I more or less wrote a list of sorts. So anyway, I am grateful for you because of your tenacity. You never gave up on me when you felt you needed me in your life, even though I was unsure, fearful, and resistant to the idea, even though I felt drawn to you the moment I first saw you. I am grateful to you for your faith. Your faith in Christ is genuine, and the evidence was there and real. I am grateful to you for your determination. While I think you were prone to perseverance, endurance, and acceptance because it, quote unquote, was what it was, you increasingly seem to have become determined in pursuing, uh, pursuing the things you need, pursuing the things you need, um, to accomplish and realizing your full Full potential. Wow. Yeah, maybe I should have edited this. Anyway, um, the next thing I'm grateful for, Tammy Lynn, is your care. You care for your kids, your pets, your students, me, and others, um, in countless ways, and putting the needs of others above your own. As I continue to not edit the things I'm writing. I am also grateful for your love. I have never felt loved for like the way I feel loved by Tammy Linton. I feel joy in her presence as I feel like I am the quote-unquote sparkle in her eye, and she seems genuinely happy to be with me. As I continue to demonstrate my need and lack of perfection. To be with me. Yes, she does. Anyway, the last thing I'm grateful for in Tammy Lynn is her character. She may be perfect, but she may not be perfect. Yikes. She may not be perfect, just like me. But since I have known Tammy Lynn, she has done what is right and stood for righteousness, isn't ashamed of it, and will even suffer because of it at times. So this is my cleaned-up version of my notes, which I had to literally clean up as I read through them. Um, after compiling the list, I'm obviously very grateful for my wife, but I also recognize that of the other people I had thought of as other possible people to be grateful for in this practice, I noticed that they had the same attributes in varying degrees. The people I could think of to be grateful for were also tenacious, determined, caring, loving, and faithful people of character. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of people I could think of— think on that had these qualities are Christians, as they reflect the one they are called to follow, Jesus Christ. And for those of you out there that may be struggling to think of anyone you can be grateful for, let me suggest you make friends with Christians. But also remind you of the friend you have in Jesus. As much as these joy exercises will lead us to try to increase our joy through the things around us, let's not forget that true joy is a fruit of the Spirit and is not contingent on positive circumstances. Tammy Lynn could change. She could become bitter and angry. She could lose her mental faculties and forget who she is. She could and will someday die. So if my joy in life is only based on her, I'm setting myself up for real disappointment. However, God doesn't change, and our relationship to Him through our faith in Jesus Christ is sealed for eternity. If I am worshiping Tammy Lynn more than the Lord, I got something really wrong. I am worshiping the created over the Creator. That's idolatry. And that's a sin. While we should be grateful for all the people, places, and things in our lives, we need to remember that they have all been provided to us, um, by a tenacious, determined, caring, loving God who defines what a righteous character is. Um, so thank God, uh, for the people in your life. Show them appreciation because they may not always be who they are now or be present in your life. But remember that when you have faith, your faith in Christ, you are never alone and can be grateful for God. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men, and this morning's meditation verses are Numbers 6:24-26. And the word of God says, may the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace. Today's verses are the Priestly Blessing delivered from God to Moses, to Aaron, to give to the, to give to the people of Israel. Well, to give the people of Israel a special blessing, and it relates God's love for his people. And when we speak it, it relates it relates our selfless love for others. Instead of asking for what can we get, this prayer selflessly directs the Lord to bless others with his grace, his favor, and his peace. I love how the Lord arranged to put this before us on the day we are practicing gratitude and appreciation for other people in our lives. It says if— it's as if he's giving these words to to us to bless those we are grateful for. And really, there is no "as if" about it. He did give us these words to bless those we are grateful for. So thank God for the people you are grateful for and let them know about it too. And while you're at it, use this Priestly Blessing to pray for them as well. As always, we invite all to go to mtforchrist.org where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from and concluding, uh, well, sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit as we continue sharing from chapter 6, which is the Holy Spirit during the Old Testament ages. And we're concluding chapter 6 today, uh, as it is in relation to the nation Israel. So there's a short, very short passage basically on that. That concludes chapter 6, and if you want to see it, you go to mtforchrist.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. Well, time is slip-sliding away on another day off. As I'm beyond the normal time I would normally be out the door for work, so I feel compelled to pray because I do have things to do. Um, and, uh, I wanted to get them done early, but we'll see about that. Anyway, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we think— we are thankful for you, um, for being a part of our lives, because you, you broke through the veil, exposed the truth of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and invited us to be part of your eternal kingdom and royal family. Lord, thank you so much for welcoming us when we, you know, were far from worthy of your grace. We thank you so much for what you've done for us and how you blessed us with other people in our lives. And so we pray today that special blessing, that the Lord would— I'm going right to it— the Lord would bless and protect those who are listening today, that they— that you would smile on them and be gracious to them, and that you would show your favor and give your peace to anyone who's reading or listening to today's message. As we speak those words of the High Priest— well, the Priestly Blessing over them, Lord, we just pray for you to come alongside them and their prayer requests and come alongside them in their walk of faith and help them. Um, Lord, we just We thank you for their faithfulness, and, um, we just pray for, you know, good things to come their way. And Lord, as always, we pray for you to go before all of us today. Um, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead our path in the way we should go. Uh, help us to appreciate what we have in this life and appreciate the other people that surround us. And while we're at it, let's show our appreciation to you by telling others of the goodness of God and the life everlasting that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Because, Lord, all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, uh, and to be representatives of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, by the way we live, not just by the way we, we talk. So help us in that today. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.