December 31

Sometimes it can be hard to recognize our blessings. When we are in the middle of a trial, tough time, or illness that we can’t see the end of, or that brings much pain, we can be hard pressed to remember the blessings we have. No matter what kind of year you had in 2024, remember that you are blessed beyond measure. It is healthy for us to get our eyes off of our misery and on to what God has done for us, who He is to us, and how He feels about us.

Let today be a day of praise and thanksgiving for our many blessings. Train your brain to recognize the blessings all around you. Rather than seeing the negative, the problems (all of these can be obvious) we need to train ourselves to see the ways that God is providing for us, the way He loves us, even the dangers that He prevented. You have heard the saying, “It could always be worse.” Sometimes it doesn’t seem like that, but it is true, and God only allows us to experience what we can handle WITH HIM. We may be in a season of pressure being forged into a diamond, and that can be incredibly tough, but the end result is beautiful. We must be grateful that He counted us worth His investment. We are blessed that He is close enough to feel His breath and that nothing can touch us without His knowledge. Even the consequences of our own choices and actions affect Him and break His heart too.

We are blessed that He pursued us and gave us the chance to respond to His love and the gift of salvation. We are blessed, with breath and life. We are blessed to have the scriptures at our fingertips any moment of the day. We are blessed to have families (even those that drive us nuts) and to have a place to sleep and clothes to wear. We are blessed in this country to have religious freedom that we certainly take for granted right now. We are blessed to have work available to us that we can actually get paid for rather than being forced to work for pennies or be slaves. There is no end to the blessings that we as Americans have and even more so that we as Christ-followers have every day.

Psalm 103:1-5 “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Today let’s not worry about what the year ahead looks like and instead be grateful for our blessings over the year behind us.

I am blessed with……

You fill in the blank. I challenge you to make a list of at least 25 ways that you have been blessed in 2024.