Count Your Blessings

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV) This morning, I got an email from a friend who’s had some real major losses in the past year. He recounted the deaths of some significant family members and talked about his aloneness and depression. I felt bad for him but was able to use this as a teaching opportunity, pointing out to him how to look at the “flip side” of life scenarios that have the potential to bring us down. It’s actually quite easy to come up with a pretty long list of the bad stuff we’ve faced, endured, and come through. The natural way for us to address a negative situation is to make a checklist of all the losses and hurts we’ve had in life, and focus on a few of these, rather than on the positive things that God has put in our lives. A far more constructive and healing approach is to crumple that list up and create a new list that features all the good things that God has brought us — the good things that He is doing, and the good things He’s planning in our futures as we allow His work in our lives! Instead of listing our losses, we end up with a much more balanced and positive perspective when we COUNT OUR BLESSINGS! — Kene Jackson   Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website. Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org