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by Graham MolI asked my kids, "What should I write my blog about today?" to which my daughter simply replied, "Well it's not my blog."Sooo... that didn't work out.It's a good thing that I do have something on my heart to share with you after all. I'd like to ask you when was the last time you took a moment to think of all the things that God has given you and done in your life and give thanks to Him for it all? If it has been while I'd encourage you to take the time as it is one of the most joy-giving practices you can do. We all have a lot to thank God for, if we stop to think about it. Even in times such as these. If you ever want to feel blessed just start counting the blessings that you have received from the Lord and the blessings you have in Christ. The Apostle Paul writes this incredible word of encouragement to believers:Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:15-17, my emphasis)Three times in three verses Paul mentions thankfulness. Gratitude should characterise our Christian lives. We, after all, have the most to be thankful about for our future in eternity is secure, we are forgiven, we know that we are loved and, if we take the time to notice, we see God's blessings all around us.You may find yourself in a difficult place right now where you are struggling and maybe the last thing you feel like doing is giving thanks. The enemy may be saying to you that you've got nothing to be thankful for. It's not the truth. God is good, His love endures forever. He has given you good things, He has been faithful, He has never abandoned you. Even in trials we can give thanks to God. So start with one thing. Ask yourself, what is one thing that, no matter what, I can be thankful to God for? Start there and you will be amazed at how many more things come to mind.Through thanksgiving we find our perspective about ourselves changing. Such joy fills our hearts when we begin to see that we are not destitute, we are in fact blessed beyond all measure. God BlessGraham 

by Luke KincaidBefore Seth was born Cammie and I tried to get as much info as possible in regards to being good parents and about what we could expect from our little one. Out of all the research we did and questions we asked there was one little bit of info that I only discovered after Seth was born and had became a lot more mobile. This discovery was how often your little one can accidently hurt you physically. Since Seth has been up and about I have been poked in the eyes on numerous occasions, I have almost received a black eye thanks to a pretty solid kick and yesterday I was on the receiving end of a head butt to the nose! Now these often happen when Seth and I are having a bit of a wrestling match or playing around and they are not intentional from his side – but they still hurt!The reason I wanted to share this with you is because this ties into something that I was reading yesterday in one of my favorite books “Radical” by David Platt and the fact that any hurt that I have felt as a result from my son is superficial and forgivable compared to how our sin hurt Jesus, the Son of God, in a way that none of His disciples will ever have to experience – the fact that Jesus received the full wrath of God for our sin.  David Platt writes about an observation he has made about many Christians in that we are often quick to focus on certain characteristics of God more often than others. We are often more quick to stress the fact that God is a loving Father (which He is) but we are not always comfortable speaking about the fact that He is also a wrathful judge who hates sin.The following excerpt from his book really hit hard yesterday in what Jesus went through for us:“Picture Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. As he kneels before his Father, drops of sweat and blood fall together from his head. Why is he in such agony and pain? The answer is not because he is afraid of crucifixion. He is not trembling because of what the Roman soldiers are about to do to him. Since that day countless men and women in the history of Christianity have died for their faith… Many of them went to their crosses singing… Did these men and women in Christian history have more courage than Christ himself? Why was he trembling in that garden, weeping and full of anguish? We can rest assured that he was not a coward to face Roman soldiers. Instead he was a Savior about to endure divine wrath... This is what Jesus is recoiling from in the garden. All God’s holy wrath and hatred towards sin and sinners, stored up since the beginning of the world, is about to be poured on him, and he is sweating blood at the thought…

by Calven CelliersA friend of mine recently sent me a WhatsApp devotion that included the following little story, which I thought was well worth sharing with all of you.A teacher once brought a whole lot of balloons to school, told her pupils to blow them up and write their name on one. After the children tossed the balloons into the classroom, the teacher moved through the small classroom and shuffled them around. The children were then allowed back into the classroom and told they had a couple of minutes to find the balloon with their name on it. There was great excitement as the children frantically searched, very few, if any of them actually found their balloon. The teacher then told them to all stand still, to take the balloon closest to them and to give it to the person whose name was on it. In less than 2 minutes, everyone was holding their own balloon. The teacher went on to explain that the balloons are like happiness. We won’t ever find it when we’re only searching for our own. But if we care about someone else’s happiness, it will ultimately help us find our own.I can’t vouch if this is a true story or not, but it certainly got me thinking about the apostle Paul’s words to the Philippians – “3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2: 3 & 4NIV) Permanent, ongoing happiness only comes when you give your life away in service. God wired you to give your life away. Why? Because God wants you to be like Him.You’ve got to get your mind off of yourself. The more you focus on yourself, the more miserable you will become. To find real joy, you must shift from an inward focus, “It’s all about me”, to an outward focus, “It’s all about God and serving others”. Of course, this is countercultural. Our society screams that it’s all about you. However, I’ve come to see that the most helpful, giving people are normally the happiest people as well.I’ve learned that you can’t be both selfish and happy. As Christians, we’re destined to be molded into the image of Christ, and Jesus is the greatest example of what it means to love others and not live a selfish life. The following Scripture shows us that Jesus gave everything when He demonstrated His love for us –“16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (1 John3:16NIV)Now I realize that loving others is not always easy, and it usually costs us something, but through our relationship with Christ, we can find the strength and ability to love others, even when it seems to cost more than we think we can give.  God is faithful to give us His…