Sunday Mornin' Hope : What if...

1Th 5:18 -
in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.


2Th 1:3 -
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;


2Th 2:13 -
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.


Heb 13:15 -
Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.


Re 4:9 -
And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,


What if you didn't have that great bike, would you still be content? There's nothing wrong with wanting to upgrade your ride. You might be tired of that cruiser or highway geezer (Tupperwing), and that's fine. Would you be content if all you could afford was a 'Waterbuffalo'?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzuk...item2ec1de28dc


Suzuki Put these out and they were pretty cool for the day. What if you were stuck with one of these only, for a year; would you be thankful? Would you be thankful if you had to downsize your living conditions to a 10x20' apt? What if your biggest meal was rice and beans, would you be appreciative? What is your attitude like right now? Have you been fussing at people and yourself?



A few nights ago my wife and I had a coupon for Chili's. So we rode out there and split a meal. While there, we watched a mom and her two small aggresive boys. One boy was very obedient. The other was on a mission from hell to destroy any and all sanity mom walked in with. He would scream, yell, pull, throw, (you name it) just to get attention. You couldn't please him. He left in about the same way he came in. Is it possible to remain thankful after living in something like that? Sure! ...But's it's not east. After all, we were there once. I remember (a very long time ago) telling my wife in hushed tones "Our kids will never do that!" Then a few years later my son jumped out of the balcony with his Batman cape on. He broke both ankles and never jumped again. We closed that part of the balcony.



Again, what if you lost your income, Would you still praise Jesus? It was a cold February night in Springfield. My music store insurance expired two weeks earlier. Our sales were down and couldn't afford it. The phone rang at 2 a.m. My wife said "Take two deep breaths. Our store is on fire and it looks like everything is burned up." I threw on some clothes and jumped into the old Chevy wagon.

It wasn't this nice. Once I got there, the place was in smoke and flames. Our store was at the far right end of a four-plex. There was a lady from the radio station doing a live remote. She asked me "What was your first impression when you saw your building on fire?" I looked at her and replied "I forgot my marshmellows." She walked away. A fireman came out of my 'store' and asked me if I wanted my guitars. Jokingly I answered "Sure, I'll get my shovel." He responded "Really, all the guitars and amps are fine except some smoke on them." So he and some of the other fireman carried out about 40 guitars to my wagon. They draped all the amps and hosed down the room. The other three businesses lost all inventory. I believe angels were holding back the fire from destroying our business. I thanked him and his crew for their hard work.



The Lord gives and takes away. I think He watches us to see how we react to catastrophe and blessings. It's not easy to give thanks all the time, but it's possible to give thanks if you cultivate a grateful heart. I truly hope you get all you want for Christmas and some of what you need. Begin now to have a good heart before the AVALANCE of sales start. Have a fantastique week and get some great riding in. Remember I'm praying for you.

1Th 5:18 - "in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." This is very hard to do when so much has been taken. I have not been able to do it yet, but I am not bitter towards GOD. Thanks for praying for me.

Trip,
You are an overcomer. It's true, no one will ever understand the loss of a best friend until they go thru it. Why does God take 'angels' away so soon? I don't know. But I'm glad that it's going to get greater later. I'm praying for you this morning.
Dino

thanks dino , life is sure full of hardships and ups and downs