In the days of gloomy and chaotic times, I think we have become a culture that sees and perceives the above as real, that all blessings are tangible things we can see and touch.  Many think that God’s blessings come only with a higher paying job, a larger home, a nicer car and if all our debts are paid off.

God is a good God that is capable of the above, even when we can’t see those possibilities.  However, God’s blessings are so much more and many of the continual blessings are the ones we do not see.

We woke up today, alive and under a roof of our own!  That’s the first blessing of each day to be grateful for.  We woke up in a bed we own!  Don’t think that’s a blessing, go sleep in your car or a friend’s couch for a week and picture what you’d do if you lost your home in a foreclosure or were evicted from your apartment and all you had was taken away.

You are blessed by God’s grace to have the financial ability to keep that roof over your head.  Whether you own your home or rent an apartment, let us thank God for that blessing today.

If you woke up like me this morning, to the sound of my wife and my child next to me to say good morning, then I’m sure you know of the unconditional love that you are blessed with being a parent and a spouse.  That didn’t happen by chance.  God blessed you and appointed you as a parent.  So many people desire so badly to become parents and live a life missing the experience of that blessing their hearts desire.  Let us not take that for granted.

As a husband, I’ve been blessed with a loving wife that nurtures and cares for our baby better than any.  Our daughter is so loved and loving.  Her smile is the light of my darkest day.  That’s a blessing that I thank God for and need to thank Him even more each and every minute of the day.

If you’re off to work or already at work today, thinking you can’t wait for this week to be over because you can’t stand your job and you don’t like your boss and on and on and on… guess what:  some 10% of our work force ain’t got no job!  Tens of millions of people have no income.  They have no need for a bank account, because they have no check to cash this Friday.  They can’t pay their mortgage, they can’t buy food to feed their family.  They just don’t have it!

Before we all complain about the desires of our heart, wanting the bigger and better, let’s instead come to God with a humble heart giving thanks for what we do have and what he has blessed us with.

On this Friday morning, let us wake up our minds and hearts to an attitude of thanksgiving and praise.

Give God thanks for your life and the life of your family and friends.  Give God thanks for the roof that’s over your head, the food in your fridge, the clothes in your closet.  Give God thanks for the 2 legs, 2 hands, 2 ears and 2 eyes you got that work today.

Give God thanks for what you have and not what you want!  Give God thanks for the paycheck you’ll get directly deposited into your bank account today!    Give God thanks because his mercy and his grace has provided you love today, by way of a family, friends, a spouse and kid(s) that you are able to share and teach God’s love today.

Let us give God thanks for the peace and joy and love and freedom we all have.  These are the blessings that material things can’t provide.  We can’t take the material blessings with us but we can take these.

And let’s be so happy and grateful for the one blessing that God gives us that will allow us life eternal in his son Jesus Christ:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 6:23

Let us remember that our blessings come from God, not because we are deserving, but because God loves us despite our deserving his love:

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” –Romans 5:8

Have a blessed day and an awesome weekend.