Bliss

While there are so many things I could write about, so many things God is doing in my life and so many things He’s about to do in my life, I’ve discovered that all that’s on my heart to write about today is praise for what He’s done. Praise has been much on my mind lately. Here at Ellerslie, we’re constantly searching the Scriptures and wanting more and more of God in our lives. It’s wonderful! But one thing I don’t want to forget while asking for more of Him is the things that He already HAS done.

First of all, I’m thankful for the gospel. Chase Collins gave a wonderful devotion this last week and one thing that really jumped out and grabbed me was the fact that we should be preaching the gospel to ourselves and to our fellow believers daily. Daily. That’s a lot. One would think that to talk about and listen to one subject that much would cause the subject to get tiresome and boring. That may be generally true, but the gospel is a subject that only increases in beauty and delight the more one reflects upon it. That is becoming more and more of a reality for me. The God of the universe came to one of the most humble and lowly places on earth, to die for ME, to rise again, to go to the Father, and to send His Spirit to live IN me so that I can live out the commission that He has given me. How magnificent.
I’m thankful for being here at Ellerslie. I cannot say that Ellerslie is an easy environment to be in. Spiritually speaking, it’s very intimidating, even after about 7 months of being here. However, being here has caused me to realize how much more of myself I can give to my Jesus and how much more of Himself He wants to give to me. That is priceless.
I’m thankful for who He is. I was reflecting on that a few days ago. We could be serving a dark, evil, confusing, mean, harsh, and selfish entity. That’s not who our God is. He is full of light, He gives us answers, He’s the epitome of selflessness and love, He is good and as His children, wrapped in the blood of Jesus, we know that we will be safe in His embrace. That is awe-inspiring.
I’m thankful for snow. One morning this week I woke up to a beautiful scene outside my window... Snow. Covering everything. I had previously been saddened by the fact that everything was brown, not that brown is always a bad thing. But quite frankly, I saw brown for 21 years and I was ready for a change. What a gift. Not only that, but it gave us the opportunity for an epic snowball fight with the His Little Feet kids on Friday. He’s a God that cares for the little things.
I’m thankful for sunshine, and what beautiful sunshine He gave us yesterday! All the snow had melted, and even though everything was brown again, the weather was so beautiful that it more than made up for it. Yesterday afternoon most Ellerslie inhabitants migrated outside and spent time with the precious Haitian children. There we sat with hardly a breeze, the warm light beaming down upon us and our hearts being warmed by the sweet fellowship we had all been longing for. If that’s not something to be thankful for, I don’t know what is. He is a God that gives us our heart’s desire.

That’s what I experienced about my Jesus this last week. He is magnificent, priceless, awe-inspiring, caring for the little things and always wanting to give me my heart’s desire. Who wouldn’t want to serve such a King?