Friend, it is a "good thing" to be thankful to Holy Triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Recognizing what He has done for us blesses Him and strengthens our faith in Him which in turn blesses us.

It's true, like the old saying goes, "Count your blessings!"

Enumerate to the Father now why you are thankful.

For His Son; the Plan to redeem you; the new path you are on; His Love of you and yours; the peace He brings; the joy in your soul; the knowledge He bestows; answered prayer....

There's so much. Break them down and you will find many small things He has done that you haven't paid attention to previously.

All good things in your life and the life of others come from Him. Praise Him!

Has He been Merciful?

The Book of Psalms is a wonderful area to start reading to find the words of praise that are acceptable to God.

Praise takes our mind off our worries, concerns, and fears. It focuses on God and what He has done, and is going to do.

Giving thanks gladdens the Heart of God and always benefits us as well.

It is a privilege to praise Him. A Pure and Holy God accepting praise from any one of us is truly the most gracious and loving gesture - that of a Father encouraging His child, you.

Words spoken by Jesus as recorded by the Disciple Mark (second book of New Testament)

Hearken unto Me everyone of you, and understand.

There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

And when He was entered into the house from the people, His disciples  asked Him concerning the parable. And He saith unto them,

Are ye so without understanding also?

Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

That which cometh out of the man; that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, laciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile a man.

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The Word of God clearly speaks to all men and women as to what God sees in us that is evil and asks us to understand that the evil that is in our hearts is not acceptable to Him.

We must be on a course to rid ourselves of that evil that comes out of us. 

However God knew we could not do this without His help.  His Son had to be Sacrificed as a payment for our sins. Those of us who would accept His Sacrifice, are to thank Him for the Blood that washes us clean, and for releasing the Holy Spirit into the world for us to grow and learn the spiritual reality of life.

Our hearts influence our mind.

A dark and evil heart will have dark and evil thoughts and dark and evil actions will be the engine that drives our life; revenge, anger, hate, jealousy, cunning, suspiciousness, covetousness, maliciousness and all the other foolishnesses that bring mayhem into the world.

We allow the evil demons to infiltrate our hearts and show us the things which God does not want us to see and we get hooked and rationalize to ourselves that we are justified in thinking "this" way, because of; my childhood, my parents, my job, I deserve, me, me me, I, I, I and etc.

No, read again the Words of Jesus. The devil and his army of demons are WRONG!!!

Get out of their entrapment NOW!!!

First step. Tell the Father that you need a Saviour and accept His Son Jesus as your Redeemer God.

Second step. Accept the Word of God as your Guide Book for Life, and read it. (Begin with New Testament)

Third step. Speak to God any time. He is with you always.

Fourth step. Stay the course and grow from a baby believer to a mature knowledgable believer able to show others the Way.

Fifth step. When death comes be ready for a joyous reunion of your soul with Holy God. No need to fear death for any believer - baby or otherwise.

Friend, are you struggling with something and unable to turn your back to it?

God will make a Way for you; actually He has already prepared the Way!

He knows what you are struggling against. He has allowed it and when you are sick and tired of it, and make a choice to believe He can help you, He will.

Until you step aside and humbly give Him the Power over the situation, you are limiting Him by your own desires.

Maybe you like being the victim - it suits your view of life and you benefit somehow.

Maybe you want to be the strong one who overcomes by yourself.

Maybe you just don't believe in God, but you place idols before you as gods ( animals, statues, ideas that don't include Jesus as God.)

All these choices and more that are not directly focused on God as your Provider, Healer, keep Him from being the Waymaker. 

But, friend, God will make a Way for His believeing children when they are ready to hand over the reins to Him. He waits for us to allow Him to lead us through the maze of life into Eternal Love.

Choose Jesus as your Saviour Redeemer and tell Him you need His help. Make your whole waking hours one open prayer of communication so you are aware of His Presence all day. A Spiritual Presence by your side Who loves you, will guide you and Who has your best interests at heart.

There may be a lot of correcting but as you grasp the new Way and stay committed, you will come to know the essence of Jesus, that of Peace, Love, Truth, Wisdom, Discernment, and Joy.

Soon you will see that God made a Way for you where there seemed to be no way.

Friend, we're all living on one of the many waystations along the road to Eternal Divine Life.

Which one are you on is the question.

God has pointed us all in the right direction. But, we have made choices throughout our lives that have put us on the wayside and not kept us on the Track to Heaven.

Evil has tempted us. Evil has taken from us. Evil has given us a bauble to admire. Evil has lied to us. Evil has cheated us. Evil has filled us with diseases. Evil has made us fearful of God. And on it goes the amazingly dangerous and spiteful things evil has done to God's created.

But, God will use those things to gather you to Himself if you allow Him.

Look around, the wayside you are on is getting overcrowded. When you've had enough, look for Him and when you find a glimmer of Who He Is, move on and follow Him.

Let Him purge you of the falsities that evil has ensnared you in. Be open to admitting you have been wrong in your thinking; in the way you have acted and accepted things.

Today is a new day! Walk in Freedom and Love!

Scripture.  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which would afterwards be revealed.  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.  Galatians 4:23-25  KJV

Here we find a description of faith and the law.  It tells us the Law came first after sin entered.  God established the Ten Commandments for the Jewish people to abide by.

When it was proved to them that they could not obey the ten simple commandments, but they had to make their own laws to prop up God's Law, He sent His Son to fulfill the Law.  Only Jesus fulfilled every commandment, and He came that all people might be reconciled to God.  God says so and He does not lie.

God speaks of the Law as being like a schoolmaster.  That was man's elementary schooling and man flunked!

God foresaw this and had a Plan from the outset of our fall from perfection.

God knows the depth, width and breadth of evil and is able to see far beyond our limited view.  He will never be outsmarted by evil.  Evil will never overcome God.  God cannot be brought down.

Now all that is required is to have Faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God who came to Save us from eternal life separated from the Goodness of God.

Prayer

Lord, thank You for the blood shed for me to have faith.  You paid the price.  What greater Love!  Give to me words that can express who You are and what You have done for me, to others.  Amen.

Friend, when God considers your mind, will He find it narrow and confining?

Be honest.

If your heart is cold or hard, your thinking will be narrow and confined.

If your heart is enlarged towards others and all that God has provided for us, then your thinking can be enlarged also.

The place to start is with the heart.

Forgiveness is key. The past must be let go, daily until it no longer plays a part in our thinking.

Think about God, how giving He is, how He loves us - sending His Only Son to suffer; shed blood as a Sacrifice for our sin. What kind of Love is this?

We must ask ourselves, "Why?"

He must have a Plan for each of us!

He must Love us with a Holy Love; pure and unadulterated.

Therefore it is wise for us to control the mind. Don't allow it full roaming power to destroy your soul or spirit. He has given us the power over our mind, to control it and the Bible tells us we must do this continually, in order to grow into mature believers.

Speak forcefully to it to show you mean business. Begin today to clean it up, and do not allow with the Spirit's help and guidance, any more demonic, negative, unacceptable thinking to take hold in your mind.

Look out on the world with a happy and loving heart, be a willing soul and allow God's Spirit to make a Way for you where before there seemed to be no way.

The past is the past and you are "here" now!

Take that first step joyfully, into the future knowing that He loves you. He died so you could!

Friend, don't worry about having all the glory for what you have achieved or are doing like the world does.

The world is constantly giving themselves awards and heaping glory on themselves and being jealous and envious when another gets the award or glory they think should have been theirs.

There is only One who deserves any Glory and that is God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

All Good comes from the Trinity of God. 

Evil has a form of goodness but it has been distorted and is clearly visible when it causes people to lash out in pride about results of awards and accolades.

To crave honor and glory from the world is to seek glory for yourself and not for the Lord.

Our lives should honor and glorify Him and this should make us happy.

He asks us to strive for this - to seek Glory for Him. To live lives dedicated to glorifying Him and His Works.

Luke 14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

In the afterlife, we have a reward according to how we lived our life on the earth that directly correlates to our thoughts, daily living, how we treated others, what our beliefs were - everything about our total soul and spirit while alive in the flesh.

Learn this lesson now and go forth with a new view of life.