Thank you...?

Philippians 4:6-7 -- Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.


I always "tell God what I need", but I manage to forget the next step (which is so much more important). I often forget to "thank him for all he has done". I am so caught up in the GIVE ME GIVE ME GIVE ME attitude that I forget to give him the glory his name deserves.


I say to him, "because of all that you have done for me I know that you can do these things". But why would he want to do anything for me if that's how I treat him? That's treating him like a very high end vending machine...Put in the request...get what I want...walk away....come back when I need something else.


What a disgusting attitude to have.


Ephesians 2:5-8 -- You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.


Wow. He deserved everything in the world because he was God, but he took the humble position of a slave. I deserve nothing and yet I have trouble taking the humble position of a slave. 


He did all of this in response to his love for US. His love for me...yet here I am slapping him in the face and treating him like Santa Claus. I'm appalled at my own heart.


Romans 7:21-15 -- I have discovered this principle of life-- that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.


May he continue to free me and work in my heart despite the impurities and wrong motives. But he can clean, restore, and create a new foundation.


Psalm 51:10 -- Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.


He is bigger than all of my sins, in fact, they have nothing on him because his Son already took care of them. His grace is enough.


Romans 8:38-39 -- And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels more demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.