May 2019 – Allie's Way

Count Your Blessings

Just as I have said in an earlier post about this song sometimes a song just has impact and this one continues to linger with me as I live in a world of turmoil. We all need to Count our Blessings. So bear with me as I explore this song once again.

Count Your Blessing

Rend Collective

I was blind, now I’m seeing in color

I was dead, now I’m living forever

I had failed, but you were my redeemer

I’ve been blessed beyond all measure

Blessed

If there is one thing I am fully aware of is that I am blessed. God has given me the time to focus on Him and all he has provided for me. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17. God is Good, and through all his blessings for me he still is asking me to really look and appreciate all that is around me. Maybe the words “I was blind and now I see in color” reflect one being saved, for me I really see the colors of God’s world. I see what is important. I am living and want to continue to live both here and forever with you. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” 1 Peter 5:6.

Treasure

I was lost, now I’m found by the father

I’ve been changed from a ruin to treasure

I’ve been given a hope and a future

I’ve been blessed beyond all measure

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Letting go and trusting when I cannot see

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Surely every season you are good to me

Oh, you are good to me

God is showing me the treasures he has stored up for me. “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” Luke 12:33. I want to focus more on trying to live out this verse. How do I live for God in order to experience God more and have less to distract me from His Grace and Glory all around me. He is allowing me to taste heaven here on earth, and I am thirsty for more. I want to experience more of his beauty and grace. I want to not just count my blessing but enjoy my blessings. Luke 12:34 states it best, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Strength

You were there in the valley of shadows

You were there in the depth of my sorrows

You’re my strength, my hope for tomorrow

I’ve been blessed beyond all measure

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Letting go and trusting when I cannot see

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Surely every season you are good to me

Oh, you are good to me

I have walked through valleys and across mountain tops and I know that my life will be filled with both. Yet, I have hope in God’s strength, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. As I walk through the life God is giving me and count the many blessings, I know that I continue to need his strength to make decisions to walk his path. I know that the only strength I can rely on is that which the Lord provides. Listening to this song, I feel my Lord’s strength which I will need and promised to me in 1 Chronicles 16:11, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”

Surely your goodness pursues me

Surely your heart is still for me

I will remember your mercies all my days

Through every storm and gale

Closing Verse: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31.

Challenge: Count Your Blessings

Songwriters: Gareth Gilkeson / Chris Llewellyn / Bridget Herron / Ali Gilkeson / Will Herron / Steve Mitchell / Patrick Thompson

Thanking my Father

In such a turbulant world that seems to be full of people who are unable to accept each other and their differences more than ever today, I find God’s Word a comfort. I read a devotion this morning about how the things we believe are important, even the fights with have with others are not always honoring to God because it is trivial. I stop and think about fights my husband and I have had and were they worth the effort when we could have been glorifying God with our actions. All that is important is sharing our life and our Lord with others. For some reason reading this brought the song Good, Good Father by Chris Tomlin to my mind. I find that God is where all the answers really lie. “But test everything; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think you’re like
But I’ve heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night
And you tell me that you’re pleased
And that I’m never alone

Searching for Answers

I walk in a world that can seem fatherless. I walk in a world where so many people are seeking something, but have no idea why they feel empty. I pray that I can be an example of God’s joy and a light for someone’s path. I pray that those who need a Good, Good Father may find the peace of God sooner in their lives. “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” Jude 1:2.

I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide
But I know we’re all searching
For answers only you provide
‘Cause you know just what we need
Before we say a word

You’re a good good father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am

Love Speaks Louder Than Words

Thinking back on my devotion. May I choose the words from my tongue carefully and the expressions from my face in order that God shines through and not my flesh. May Love speak louder than words through my actions. As a former educator, I used to watch students walk through a day with little love in their eyes and in their lives, I knew that I might be the only person to call their name or smile at them that day. This is a reality for many children. 1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” Oh, it’s love so undeniable

I, I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable
I, I can hardly think
As you call me deeper still
As you call me deeper still
Into love, love, love Because you are perfect in all of your way You are perfect in all of your ways You are perfect in all of your ways to us

You’re a good good father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am

Closing Verse:

Challenge: Share the Good Father with those who need Him.

Allie's Way

…and to Walk Humbly with Your God…Micah 6:8

Month: May 2019

Count Your Blessings, Name Them One By One.

Count Your Blessings

Blessed

Treasure

Strength