I am thankful.

Today is Thanksgiving and over the past few days I have been reflecting on what I am most thankful for...

1. I am thankful for my daughter. She is beautiful inside and out. She is kind. She is passionate. She is smart. She is innocent. I could not have wished for a more wonderful blessing than my daughter.
2. I am thankful for my parents. They are generous. They are loving. They are forgiving. My life as I know it would not have been possible without the support my parents provide for me. I am a good parent because I learned from the best.
3. I am thankful for my sister and her wonderful husband. They are faithful. They are fun. They are determined. I love them for so many reasons and I miss them terribly.
4. I am thankful for my house. It is a struggle to live on my own, but it's an answer to many prayers.
5. I am thankful for my job. Not only am I blessed to have a stable job that provides for me and my little family, but I am honored to be a presence in the lives of many, many teenagers.
6. Finally, and definitely most importantly, I am thankful for my beautiful, loving, faithful, forgiving heavenly Father and his perfect Son, my Savior, my Jesus. My God is so amazing that He sent His son to die for me. I was hopeless, but I have been saved and the concept of this is sometimes too hard to fathom...

I came across a passage in the Bible that expresses my thanks better than I could ever articulate.

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Salvation by faith...

At the very beginning of my spiritual journey my sister bought a Bible for me. I actually didn't even own one before then. The Bible she bought for me is totally awesome! It is a New International Version Life Application Study Bible. Basically, within the Bible there is commentary that explains certain things, gives historical background information, and biographies and insight. I love reading all the extra information along with my daily scripture reading.

A few weeks ago as I was reading through Colossians, I came across a very interesting chart that explains the differences between trying to obtain religion through self-effort instead of gaining salvation through faith. I think this is something many people struggle with - thinking, "If I can only change this about myself then I will be good enough." But that is exactly the wrong type of thinking. It is not US who changes ourselves, it is the Holy Spirit through our acceptance of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Here's a little of what the chart says:

Salvation by faith in Christ sounds to easy for many people. They would rather think that they have done something to save themselves. Their religion becomes one of self-effort that leads either to disappointment or pride, but finally to eternal death. Christ's simple way is the only way, and it alone leads to eternal life.

Basically, through religion by self-effort, this is the process:

1. Goal--> We try to please God through our own good deeds.
2. Means --> We practice diligent service, discipline, and obedience in hope of reward.
3. Power --> We put up a good, honest effort through self-determination.
4. Control --> This is done through self-motivation and self-control.
5. Results --> From all of this, we often feel chronic guilt, apathy, depression, failure, and a constant desire for approval.

However, through salvation by faith:

1. Goal --> We trust in Christ and then live to please God.
2. Means --> We confess, submit, and commit ourselves to Christ's control.
3. Power --> The Holy Spirit in us helps us to do good work for Christ's kingdom.
4. Control --> Christ is in us; we are in Christ.
5. Results --> From all of this, we will feel joy, thankfulness, love, guidance, service, and forgiveness.

I fully admit that I am guilty of thinking that I need to do something to change. I need to stop judging others, I need to stop having one to many drinks, I need to be more responsible at work, I, I, I, I... But it's not I. I am not in charge. When I accepted Christ, I accepted the Holy Spirit into my body. It's not by what I do that will change me but by the Holy Spirit.

Paul says in Galatians:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. ~ Galatians 5:22-26

So, in essence, we can do nothing, change nothing without the grace of our Lord. He is the one who is in control. The fact that I am even writing this post about salvation by faith is a testament to how much God is in control. I mean, who would have ever thought that I would be writing a very spiritually based blog?! I NEVER would have even considered this a few years ago. But God has been working in me, changing me, tweaking me, sanctifying me. And oh wow do I have a LONG way to go... but I thank the Lord every day for his unending love and grace.

And finally, our salvation through Christ Jesus is summed up again by Paul in Romans:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ~ Romans 5:1-2

Contentment

I know in my last blog post I said I would continue my thoughts on Ephesians... but time simply got away from me. I still am in love with the letter that Paul wrote and I think about it often. So now I would like to talk about another of Paul's letters. This is from his letter to Timothy, who was like a son to Paul. Timothy was in Ephesus and Paul wrote this letter to him to encourage him in his leadership role. The following is something I read today that really stuck with me.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. I Timothy 6: 6-10

I love the first line - "But godliness with contentment is great gain." If we combine godliness with being content in life then we will experience great gain! I feel so encouraged from this.

"For we brought nothing into the world, and we take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." How true is this?! We can not take ANYTHING with us when we die so why waste contentment with anything besides our basic needs?

This next line is powerful - "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." Wow. I am guilty of this... I've wanted to get rich. If I'm honest, I still feel that if I had more money or even an unlimited amount of money my life would be much easier. But that's exactly the opposite of what Paul is saying. Money is not contentment. In fact it can really lead us into destruction.

And here's the most famous line, one that is often misquoted - "For the LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Money is not evil. Having a lot of money doesn't make one evil. It's the LOVE of money, making money the most important thing, making it an idol that is evil.

And the last line - "Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." This is something I do not want to ever do, wander from the faith. It took me so long to get here that I can't imagine wandering from faith, but it can happen so easily. It only takes a slight change, a slight exception, etc. and wham, faith is far from you.

So I'm going to remember this - "But godliness with contentment is great gain." I am content and I am living by the Spirit therefore by the grace of God I am in possession of great gain!