​Gratitude is a posture.  A choice.  We often overlook this truth and blindly believe that gratitude and thankfulness is a response to overflowing blessings.  But Paul resets our perspective when he wrote to the Thessalonians:

​Over on my Google Plus page* I’ve been sharing a few A.W. Tozer quotes which have encouraged and challenged me as I’ve been reading through Warren Wiersbe’s compilation titled “The Best of A.W. Tozer (Book One)”.  One of the quotes I shared last week reads as follows:

“When God’s sheep are in danger, the shepherd must not gaze at the stars and meditate on ‘inspirational’ themes. He is morally obliged to grab his weapon and run to their defense.  When the circumstances call for it, love can use the sword, though by her nature she would rather bind up the broken hearted and minister to the wounded.  It is time for the prophet and seer to make themselves heard and felt again.  For the last three decades timidity disguised as humility has crouched in her corner while the spiritual quality of the evangelical Christianity has become progressively worse year by year.  How long, O Lord, how long?”
-A.W. Tozer

​Father’s Day was two days ago.  Did you shower blessing and honor upon your father?  Did you express how much you love and appreciate your daddy?
 
Just as our earthly father likes to be called daddy, so also our heavenly Father longs to hear the word spring from our mouths.  Just as the toddler runs full speed towards his daddy, so also God wants us to always run straight towards Him.  Just as a child turns to her father for every need, want, and desire, so also God wants us to turn toward Him.  He wants us to view Him with the same trust, feelings of safety, and love that we associate with our earthly daddy.  So He gave Himself a new name.

As we continue to march through the days of June and prepare for summer, I look outside and am astounded by the abundance of greenery and beauty that accompanies spring and early summer.  The songbirds have returned from their winter migration and fill the skies with their graceful aerial acrobatics and complex melodies.  The deer and other wildlife have little ones by their sides, and the trees are budding forth with new leaves.  All these speak loudly to me of one thing:  LIFE.   

​We see this verse a lot.  But what exactly are we asking when we quote this promise?  Are we asking for a return to America’s former prosperity and season of blessing?  When we think and pray this passage are we focused on the “then I will forgive their sin and heal their land” part of the equation?  What are our motives?  Do we just want the material, social, and political success of former eras? Or are we truly desiring the humbling of God’s people, repentance, and seeking of God?  

​The other night my family and I were discussing what Scripture meditation actually means, what it looks like, and it’s place in the Christian life.  Personally, I believe that Scripture meditation is simply opening God’s Word, reading a passage of verses, and then being still before God.  It’s a time when I ponder the meaning and significance of the passage in front of me, the biblical importance and background, and the personal application.  

As a young adult, I often get questions like:  “What are you doing with your life?”  “Are you going to school?”  “What are you interested in?”  And so on.  My response as of late tends to be “I’m interested in ministry and currently keep a devotional blog called So I Fix My Eyes…”  However, after a recent conversation with my mom about future life goals and passions, I began pondering what ministry actually means.