The Be One Life

Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength together a one.

Gratitude- Life Debt to Jesus

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Have you ever read a book or seen a movie where the hero saves someone’s life, and then in gratitude the saved person dedicates her life to serving the hero? This life debt concept is highlighted in many stories, including Star Wars and Harry Potter to name a couple. The greatest story ever told also has the life debt concept, but what sets it apart from other stories is that it is our story and it’s True. The redemption story features Jesus as the greatest hero to ever live. God loved this world so much that he sent Jesus to save the world by taking the punishment for the world’s sin. Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice to God for us all. If anyone has reason to be grateful, it is us.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus, used this same type of life debt concept when describing the relationship those who follow Jesus have with Him in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. He says, “Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive this new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” Those who believe in Jesus are given a second chance with a new life free of the guilt of sin. How great is that?! Does knowing you are forgiven of every wrong thing you have done in your life make you feel grateful?

As followers of Jesus, we live in service to God out of gratitude to Him for his love, mercy, and grace. We are not working to earn our salvation, but because we are already saved by Jesus’ sacrifice. Romans 8:7-11 gives an excellent explanation of how God’s love, mercy, and grace produces gratitude in everyone who believes in Jesus.

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”

Our gratitude for God and desire to spend our lives serving him stems from the love God first showed us. Through our restored relationship, we can rejoice and gratefully give God all the glory. This month, join us as we explore what the Bible says about living in gratitude and how it flows into our relationships with our spouse, children, extended family, and friends.

Be One, Beloved

Grief and Gratitude

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Griefandgratitude“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” –Jesus via Matthew 5:4

Can I say it out loud? This hurts!

It hurts to live during such tumultuous times.

It hurts to have what you already knew confirmed.

It hurts to have people express and confirm that they think you and your people are “other than” and “less than.”

It hurts to see so many people motivated by fear.

It hurts to have your life be one so use to discrimination that this doesn’t even surprise you.

I hurt for my husband, a black man.

I hurt for my two black daughters.

I hurt myself as a black woman.

I hurt for my friends and family of color.

I hurt for the people who are so driven by fear that they would do anything to hold onto their power. That is scariest part, no?

I’m also grateful.

I am grateful that as a black woman I stand on the shoulders of generations of women that have risen through slavery, rape, misogyny, and other forms of discrimination to hold our families and communities together.

I’m grateful for my husband who is a man after God’s own heart.

I’m grateful that through all of this, my family has had so many opportunities to introduce our kids to the ways that love and fear and grief and gratitude can all be experienced at the same time.

I’m grateful to have voted and experienced this election from outside of the States. It allowed me to step outside of the bubble and shift my perspective.

I’m grateful to live in a country where I have the right to speak up, the right to vote any way I choose, and the right to worship God freely and openly.

Most of all, I am grateful for a Savior who tells me that it is okay to grieve. As a matter of fact, I am blessed when I do so.

So I encourage you, dear sisters and brothers, to grieve out loud. Grieve in your notebooks, around your dinner tables, in your churches, on your porches, and in your prayers.

And also express gratitude in those same places. Be grateful that you are not grieving alone. Be grateful that our people are known to be strong beyond belief.

Grief and gratitude can co-exist. Our hearts are big enough for both. Allow your heart to fully feel your sad surprise and to fully feel the joy of knowing a God who is fully in control.

And know this: We are worthy. We matter. We are loved. We rise…together.

Gratitude

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gratitudeLet all that I am praise the Lord. O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty. -Psalms 104:1 (NLT)

How great is our God! He is the Creator and sustainer of this world and everything in it. He spoke it all into existence, without having to left a finger. He is eternal and has infinite wisdom. He carefully crafted each one if us, and knows us right down to the hairs on our head. The best part? We are his most prized creation because He made us in his own image.

How can we not be grateful for such a wonderful creator? We are good because he made us good.

We are blessed because He left his place in heaven to come to earth to rescue us from yourselves, from our sins. We are blessed because Christ has set us free from our sins to live a life of gratitude in worship to him. Every day that we wake up, breathe, and move is a day to be thankful to God.

The beautiful thing about being in the kingdom of God is that we don’t have to work for our salvation. Our salvation is a gift–through grace by faith. For that reason alone, we get to be grateful to God. That’s right, friend, our gratitude is a “get to.”

If you are in a dark place right now and are finding it difficult to be thankful, remember this: the Lord our God is faithful and He will never leave you. There is NO place that His light cannot reach. There is nothing powerful enough to separate us from God’s love. Stay connected to him through prayer and His word–it will light your path out of the darkness. You are redeemed, and are set free.

This month our focus will be on gratitude. So let each of us live daily with thankful hearts for our Creator. Instead of working to earn the salvation that God freely gives, let’s serve Him and one another wholeheartedly.

The Be One Life

The Be One Life

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