Gratitude

A very special person sent me a link to a video about Gratitude.

It was a very uplifting and positive video encouraging us to open our eyes to the tremendous gifts that are all around us. It was a call to gratefulness and gratitude for those endless gifts that we often take for granted.
For me, however, the video missed a couple of vital points.

The first point is that there are times in life where you pass through valleys and dark shadows that are so deep you cannot see the beauty around you. Think of being locked in a prison cell and tortured daily because you believe differently to the masses. This has happened to countless millions of people throughout history, and it is happening right now, at this moment.

When you are sitting beside a hospital bed where a loved one is living the last moments of their life or a precious child is taken in a car accident there is no consolation in seeing a beautiful sunset. Only those that have experienced this darkness can know the depth of despair.

The second point missing is the WHO.

The meaning of gratitude and gratefulness is to show appreciation or to express thanks to someone for what that person has done for you.

To be grateful and give gratitude requires a person.
We must know the one who gave us these great and precious gifts or how can we give them gratitude?
Who am I grateful to?
Who can I show gratitude to?

We need to look much deeper into the WHO if we are to experience real peace and joy in this life.

The following words from the book of Genesis in the bible are all sufficient. ‘And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’ Genesis 2:7.

That beautiful, simple, moving, deeply mysterious and wonderful text has satisfied millions who have found God but there are many millions of others who simply must have facts about ‘life’ before they will admit there is Someone who gave that life.

As I look with wonder and enjoyment at the great beauty that surrounds me, I cannot help but see the hand of a great and all powerful Creator.
In the greatness of creation, I see design and I see beauty.

Even in the depths of the darkest ocean there are plants and animals that, even though very rarely seen by man, are exquisitely beautiful.
Likewise, in the smallness of the micro systems where the eyes of man cannot see even through electron microscopes there lies beauty and design.

In the vastness of the macro system throughout millions of light years there is the same design and beauty.
Whether infinitely small or astronomically large every part works together in a complexity far beyond human imagination.

To me the One that deserves my gratitude, my gratefulness and my thankfulness is none other than God, the Almighty Creator of the universe.
When we know the One who gave us this wonder and beauty, we also learn that it is Him who upholds us in our darkest moments as well as our good times.
He will never leave us or forsake us, and He is with us even to the end of the age.

Not only is there an Almighty Creator, that would be enough to justify our gratitude and gratefulness, but this Creator loves each one of us with a love far beyond our comprehension.
While we were his enemies and were in rebellion to Him, he made a way through the death of His Son, Jesus the Christ for us to be reunited with for an eternity.

While this world will constantly hold challenges, trials, and tribulation for every single human, those that trust in the Lord will learn that this world is temporary and the one to come is eternal and those who have trusted and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ will live in this perfect world forever.

I have included a wonderful book in the section below called The Seal of God.
It will give facts, figures, and proof for the honest searcher. Only those that willingly force themselves to reject the obvious will not see.