Finding Joy By Being Thankful

It has been a while since I have had a chance, or taken the time to actually blog anything.  I have been involved with other projects and time just seems to fly by.  However, today it hit me that I needed to do something on here. One of the main reasons was that when I thought of this particular blog of living life with joy, I immediately thought of the fact that I have so very much to be thankful for.

Being able to live life with joy, in my opinion, is made possible mainly by being able to recognize acknowledge and give thanks for the things that I am thankful for.  This is something God wants us to do.  Today I am thankful for just being able to breathe on my on. As simple as it sounds, you and I both know that there is someone out there right now that can not breathe on their on and their breathing is being done by a machine. The fact that if that machine was removed, that person will die really drives home the point that I am blessed. I am also thankful for other things like I can see, talk, walk, run, exercise, hear, and eat.  I may not have all the things that I want, but I have the all the basic things that I need for this moment.  Any needs that I still have, I am confident that they will be granted as well.  Why?  Because I am confident that God exists, He is in control, He has a plan and will take care of me if only I believe in Him and his son Jesus Christ who died for my sins.

Many may ask, "how do you know God exists?"  Well my answer would be that I believe even though I have not seen him because I have faith.  Faith is what he asks that we have in order for Him to work in our lives.  It is believing without seeing. I guess you can say that faith is on a bigger level but similar to trusting and having faith in the pilot flying a plan.  While we are flying, we can not see the pilot flying the plan behind the cockpit doors, but we know that he is there and we trust that he will get us to where we are going safely.  We don't know anything about his credentials, his education, qualifications, what kind of grades he made, if he passed at the head of the class or just barely made it.  It is a kind of blind trust and faith without knowing.  Well, I look at God as my pilot. I not only trust that he will get me to my destination safely, but that he will keep me safe along the way and that he knows exactly where I should be going.  Just as we have experienced flying safely on a plan and have seen other people fly on a plan and make it safely to their destination.  I have experienced making it safely through various situations, I have seen other people make it through a lot of situations, and I have read many things in the bible about people who have been helped, protected and blessed by God. Therefore, I have faith in God as much as, well even more than I have faith in the pilot that I can not see flying a plane.

So today, I am living life with joy by remembering, acknowledging and giving thanks for the things that I have and can do. Now, here is something that I felt would be a good addition to this blog, ending with a relevant bible scripture or two.  So here are the scriptures for today:
*Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen
*Phillipians 4:6 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

Have a blessed and joy filled day.