Bible Reading: Revelation 5: 11-14
Focus Verse: And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Revelation 5:13 (NKJV)
I was recently talking to a friend and I confessed that I had to ask God for forgiveness. Lately, I haven’t been giving God the proper praise for the amazing things He has been doing in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I would thank Him, but it was nowhere near the thanks I knew He deserved.
My expression of gratitude was limited because I had been so focused on what I didn’t have and where I wasn’t. Because of this, I couldn’t praise Him for what I did have and where He had been taking me. I had been so caught up in my own selfishness and self-centeredness that I had been blinded, and couldn’t see the amazing things God was doing in my life. And He has been doing some pretty dope things in my life!
How could I be so spoiled? In a funk and internally complaining about what I don’t have all while God has just blessed me with another year of life, has been faithful with providing some amazing opportunities for BWT and has done some great things in my life financially. But all I could focus on was want I wanted and didn’t have.
As much as I would like to be able to blame it on the devil for not allowing me to give God praise, I can’t. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 26:3 that God will keep up in perfect peace when we keep our minds focused on Him. The problem was my mind hadn’t been focused on Him, it had been focused on me. So I wasn’t proclaiming His goodness and reflecting His glory back to Him. Which resulted in me not having joy and contentment but instead unhappiness and discontentment.
Have you ever been there? Where, unlike the angels in Revelation 5, you couldn’t properly declare blessings and honor, glory and power to the only true living God. Have you ever been so focused on yourself that it kept you from glorifying God for what you do have and what He has blessed you with?
Prayer: Most gracious and almighty God, thank You! Thank You for being all powerful. Thank You for being worthy of all the Glory and the praise. I haven’t always given You the praise that You deserve and I ask You to forgive me. As I continue to walk with You, I ask You to help me to remember to keep my mind focused on You, and I will praise You forever and ever. In the might name of Jesus, Amen!
[…] a conscience effort to incorporate gratitude into my daily life and looking for opportunities to be thankful, I kept a daily journal to record everything, I recognized a significate change in how I viewed my […]