Count Your Blessings and Praise God for Them!

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Bill Keller wrote a devotional today that I
recommend to you.  He has given me permission to
copy his e-mails, and I'm sure he would be happy if
you would share this with people you know as well.

Do you have problems?  Probably.  Most of us do.

Do you ever spend so much time worrying and working
on your problems that you don't take the time to
count your blessings and praise and thank God for
those blessings?

I make it a practice to spend time counting my
blessings and thanking God for them twice a day.
It's a great experience.  I commend it to you.

Please read on.

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL    SATURDAY MARCH 18, 2006
(James 1:17)

The good in the world and in your life.  Every time you
turn on the television, pick up a newspaper, or go to
an online news source, you are confronted with the evil
that exists in this world.  In dealing with the day-to-
day issues of living in this world, the Daily Devotional
often focuses on the evil we face in our lives.   It is
very easy to get so focused on all that is bad in the
world, that we forget to take a moment and reflect on
all that is GOOD in the world.  Does evil exist?
Absolutely.  However, there is also much GOOD in the
world we live in as well.

Sadly, we can fall into that same trap in our own
personal lives.  It is so easy to spend our time and
energy focusing on all that is wrong with our lives, we
rarely take the opportunity to sit back and see all
that is right with our lives.  Because our problems
always seem to be before us and dominate our thoughts
and prayers, we forget that there is also much good in
our life as well.  Today, I want to encourage you and
challenge you to take a few minutes and look at all the
GOOD that is in our world and just as important, all of
the GOOD that is in your life!!!

In discussing the evil in the world, I have shared with
you that the root of evil is the hearts of men who
choose to live their lives in rebellion to God.  Evil is
NOT from God, but those who have chosen to rebel against
God.  The bible tells us that "every good and perfect
gift is from above." (James 1:17 NIV)  Whatever is good
in this world comes from God.  Let me put this in a very
personal way for you.  When you live your life in
rebellion to God, you are contributing to the evil in
this world.  When you live your life in obedience to
God, you are contributing to the good in this world.
YOU literally become a vessel of evil or of good.

That is a very heavy statement I just made, so I am going
to repeat it for you and I want you to take time to
meditate on these words today and ask God to help you
understand the power and importance of what this means.
YOUR LIFE IS EITHER A VESSEL OF EVIL OR A VESSEL OF
GOOD.  When you live in rebellion to God, you are a
vessel of evil.  When you live in obedience to God, you
are a vessel of good.

I want you to take some time today and really reflect on
all that is GOOD in our world.  Rather than focusing on
all that is bad in the world, I want you to take some
time today and simply look at all the good there is
around you.  Every day people all over the world are
coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.   So many
people all over the world give of themselves to help
others who are less fortunate.  This planet has so many
tremendous resources that allow the vast majority of the
people to sustain a wonderful standard of life.  We have
many tremendous scientific and medical advancements that
help us enjoy our life.

Most important, we have the incredible blessings of God
that allow us to not just live our life, but live it
abundantly.  He has given us His Word to guide us and
direct us through this journey of life.  We have the
precious promises in His Word that we can count on to
sustain us throughout our life.  We have the incredible
opportunity to not only have an intimate relationship
with our Creator, but to know His love for us.  We can
wake up each morning knowing that our life is not an
accident or coincidence, but God has a plan and purpose
for each of us.  My friend, there is SO MUCH good in
this world if we will simply take the time to acknowledge
it.

I also want you to take some time today to reflect on
your own life.  Again, it is so easy to focus on what
is wrong with our life, we forget to focus on what is
right with our life.  Because we have to wake up and
face the battles with our finances, with our employment,
with our marriage, with our children, with our health,
or whatever your battles may be, we tend to forget that
there is actually much GOOD in our life.  My friend,
don't let your problems keep you from your praise.
Here we go again.  I know many of you just missed that,
so let me say it again..slow.  DON'T LET YOUR PROBLEMS
KEEP YOU FROM YOUR PRAISE!!!

I am not saying that your problems aren't important, or
that you should just forget your problems.  What I am
saying is to not let your problems overwhelm you to the
point you don't take the time to give God the praise
for all of His blessings in your life each day.  We all
have problems in our life.  That is simply part of life.
However, we all have blessings as well.  As a matter of
fact, we have blessings in our life that we take for
granted and don't even thank God for.  That great old
hymn said to "Count your many blessings, see what God
hath done.  Count your many blessings, name them one
by one."  You need to take some time today and do exactly
what that great hymn writer suggested, and COUNT YOUR
BLESSINGS!

I love you and care about you so much.  It is so easy to
fall into the trap of focusing only on the evil in the
world, the problems in our life, that we lose sight of
all the good in this world we live in and the MANY
BLESSINGS God bestows upon us each day.  I pray that
today you will take a few minutes to reflect on the good
in the world and the blessings in your life.  God loves
you so much.  Jesus said He came to "give life, and give
life abundantly."  Sit back today and look at all of the
good in our world.  Take a few minutes today and reflect
on all of the wonderful blessings God has given you.

I want to leave you with the words of our Lord, who just
hours before going to the cross told His disciples that
in this world they would have trials and tribulations,
but He also told them to, "be of good cheer, for I have
overcome this world."  AMEN!  One day the evil will be
gone and all that will be left is good.  If you know
Christ as your Savior the Bible says that when this life
is over, "there will be no more death, or mourning, or
crying, or pain."  Take time today to acknowledge all of
the good that is in this world and in your life!!!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

***If I can help you in any way you can contact me
through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND
ETERNITY?  The fact is you will die one day.  At
that moment, you will either spend eternity with
the Lord or be cast into everlasting darkness
forever separated from God your creator.  To know
for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html

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(C) Copyright 2006, Bill Keller Ministries.
All rights reserved


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May God bless you as you learn from this message!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2006 Donald W. Mitchell