Spiritual Gratefulness:

In my free time, I have been reading a book titled, “Becoming Elizabeth Elliot.” by Ellen Vaughn.  For those who are not aware of Elizabeth Elliot,  she was a widow of Jim Elliot who was ministering to the people of Waodani in the Amazon region of Ecuador.  He was murdered by the Waodani.  These people were considered to be incredibly violent to outsiders as well as to their own people.  They both knew the risks and went to minister to them anyway.  This was because they both knew how important the Gospel was to the unreached people groups of the world. After his murder, most would assume Elizabeth (Betty) would leave the people and the country they were in.  However, Betty would find herself for years ministering to the same people who took her husband away.  

She has been a big inspiration to me for years.  I have always heard her story, so I am very happy to be reading her biography.  I am getting to learn more about her story, and her thinking when it comes to the Lord.  She, even from a young age, cared a lot about following God with all her heart.  We also get to read about Jim Elliot and how he was always very devoted to the Lord. 

One train of thought brought up in the novel was this idea of Spiritual Gratefulness. She wrote thoughts in her journals leading to this idea.  It is quoted, “As Betty Howard (later Elliot) wrote, there is a deeper, more mysterious, more sustaining sense of thankfulness: gratitude to God not for what He gives, but who He is.”   This really struck me.  I realized there are many times I am usually grateful for what God has done for me as opposed to just who He is.  I am aware of the blessings He has given me, but not for who He is as an ultimate Godly being.  

I try very hard to be grateful.  Every time I write in my prayer journal, I do spend time to write down a few things I am thankful for.  However, I am now realizing, I don’t spend time praying thankful characteristics about the Lord.  I don’t spend time thanking God for being sovereign, being loving, being holy, etc.  The Lord has amazing characteristics, so it shouldn’t be too hard.  However, I just don’t spend time thinking about this and how it can make a difference in all of our lives. 

Throughout this blog post, I will give a few of the many characteristics of who God is as a reminder for us as to why we should praise His great name in all circumstances.  There are many verses about praising God.  One of those verses is Psalm 7:17 which says, “I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness. And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.”  This verse reminds us to praise God because of His righteousness.  He is completely righteous.  He has complete holiness.  

Some other characteristics to remember of who God is: He has complete love.  God is love.  He doesn’t just possess love, but He is love.  Everything He is and does comes from love.  He created us out of love.  He gave us free will out of love, and He died on the cross for our sins out of love.  Every interaction and every action God does is through His love, even on the times we don’t completely understand it.  

God is Merciful and God is filled with Grace.  As we know, grace is being given something we don’t deserve and mercy is not receiving something we do deserve.  They work together.  We weren’t just given mercy.  We deserved death for our sins and no relationship with Christ.  However, we were given mercy because we do not have to die and immediately go to hell for the rest of our eternity.  We were also given grace because we have an opportunity to have eternal life.  God possesses both of these characteristics, giving us the Gospel story. 

He is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.  Omnipresent means He is present at all times.  He is everywhere all the time.  With that, He is also omniscient which means He is all knowing.  This means He knows everything going on with our lives and is with us all at the same time.  Then he is Omnipotent which means He is all powerful.  He has the ability to do complete miracles and do complete and powerful things.  

The challenge for this week is to spend time praying and thanking God, not for the things He has done (Although that can be included as well) but rather for who God is.  Being grateful for all He is.  This is spending time praising Him for his Power, for his sovereignty, his overall presence, his mercy and grace, and of course his love.  There are many qualities and characteristics to give praise to God over.  I hope you have a great week praising God for everything He is.