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I give thanks
I give thanks to my Creator
the Most Gracious
for this day
this life
this chance—
a chance to live
a chance to grow
a chance to elevate my soul
I give thanks to my Creator
the Most Kind
for loved ones on this journey
a source of love, joy & strength
I give thanks to my Creator
my Provider
for sustaining provisions
for everything I know and enjoy
I give thanks to my Creator
my Protector
for protecting me and my family from many disasters
Praise and glory be to my Creator
best Supporter
the source of all good
* * * * *
There is more to life than just the physical world around us. We do live in a physical world and we have physical senses that maneuver us through the physical world, but when you reflect on the magnificence of everything created, you can see the intelligence of a higher existence. If we reflect on something as small as a house fly, we will see this tiny creature that travels mostly through the air. It eats by spitting digestive fluids onto a surface then sucking that back up through a tube. It can produce 100 – 200 eggs at one time. It survives scavenging on trash and feces, carries over 100 diseases, yet has the immune system that allows it to continue to live.
If we reflect on something as large as a whale, we will see these enormous animals that breathe air, yet live in the ocean. They range in size from what they label as a dwarf whale of 8 and a half feet 300 lbs. to over 100 feet 400,000 lbs. They can eat from 2,000 to 16,000 lbs. of food per day depending on their size. They are labeled mammals rather than fish because they are warm-blooded, produce milk to nurse their young, and have a four-chambered heart, like humans. If we reflect on any of the creation, we can easily see the result pointing to an existence greater and much more intelligent than the physical world around us.
Reflecting helps us be more appreciative of our own existence. There are multitudes of things about ourselves that we can reflect on. We can think about our breathing, and how it co-exists with the earth’s atmosphere. We can ponder over how our minds work to move our physical being. How much is really going on when you think to move your hand? There is a whole science with neurons and electrons that I can’t fathom. What I know is I just move my hand, I don’t even necessarily think about it. We can consider our food and how it works in our body. Reflecting on these things and many more can help us, by God’s will, be appreciative of our existence.
[80:24] Let the human consider his food!
Once God opens our mind and heart to accept a more intelligent existence, which is submission to God alone, then we can begin to see purpose for our lives.
We gain a greater appreciation for our lives and we show this appreciation to the Creator, by worshiping Him alone. Even though we recognize God’s existence and we understand our purpose to appreciate Him, we still have a lot of faults to overcome and must work hard to reach our goal of worshiping God alone.
One of my many faults is listening to the whispers of Satan telling me to plan the future or daydream. It is hard to appreciate the present when you’re looking in the future. Unfortunately, I wasted a lot of time in my younger years dreaming of what it would be like to be a millionaire. I would dream of traveling all around. I would dream of having a mansion with luxurious furniture. I would dream of eating all the best food and being surrounded by the best people. Now that I’m older, I realize I have these things without being a millionaire; I just needed to reflect and be appreciative. By God’s grace, every few years we save up and go on a vacation where we get to travel. God has provided me with a beautiful house filled with great furniture. God made my wife and myself decent cooks and we usually eat well (except when I mess up the dinner adding too much salt!). Best of all God placed me around the best people, this community of submitters. The people here understand life is about worshiping God alone. So, the moral of the story is, don’t waste all your time planning and daydreaming, live in the moment, and be appreciative of the present.
Sometimes our ego tries to make us think things are so bad in our life, we complain and forget to be appreciative of God. In these times, we must learn to make the best of a seemingly tough situation. Some years ago, my wife and I purchased our house. At the time, the two of us were making good money, praise God. We ate out a lot, bought only organic meats, and spent quite a bit on expensive entertainment, like going to the fair or going to the mall to see movies. I decided to save enough money that would allow me to take a pay cut for a year so I could change my career. Things were going well for a while, but then my wife lost her job as store manager and ended up getting a job that resulted in another big pay cut. Times got tough for us and my savings were just about gone. It was around that time God inspired us to join this community.
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