i also find this attitude of constant gratitude very helpful while 
going thru things.

i am also grateful that scripture says to be thankful in all things 
though not necessarily for them.

for example, i do not think the lord expects me to be thankful for my 
diabetes - nor for my blindness- but i can defininitely see how i 
have been blessed thru both or in both. already with than before I 
was diagnosed and went into the hospital.

In his loving grip!

Doris






my diabetes, i came out of the hospital being able to eat and 
tolerate so many more foods than I ate before. i eat so much 
healthier, enjoy At 04:09 PM 3/10/2014 -0500, you wrote:
>I agree that Angel gave us a wonderful way of looking at things to 
>be thankful at all times for what we do have. I, too try and make it 
>a habit to offer thanks, especially at the end of the day, for 
>everything good that happened to me that day and for the things I am 
>always thankful for. I was  just reading a devotional about how 
>scripture tells us we should give thanks along with our petitions to 
>the Lord.  The writer was saying that as we petition for things, we 
>need to make a practice of thanking the Lord for His answers to our petitions.
>God.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>Pat Ferguson
>To: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>Sent: Friday, March 07, 2014 11:20 AM
>Subject: Re: How to pray
>
>Hi Everyone,
>
>I like that.
>
>One thing I neglected to mention and should have mentioned, is that 
>I really try to Thank God every single day for the many Blessings He 
>has given us.
>
>We are truly blessed, and shame on me for not even mentioning that 
>in my last email.
>
>I also try to thank God for things, even before He provides them. I 
>think He loves that when we do that.
>
>One thing I try to do every single morning when I get up is to say:
>
>Lord, This Is The Day That You Have Made, I shall Rejoyce And Be Glad In It.
>
>I'm praying for all of you, and loving each of you, as well.
>
>
>Thanks much.
>
>Many Blessings,
>
>Pat Ferguson
>"I can Do all Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me." Phillippians 4:13.
>
>At 07:35 AM 3/7/2014, you wrote:
>>It seems to me you are on the right track regarding prayer.  I have 
>>found a basic problem with receiving what it is we should have from 
>>God is that we don't recognize God's time isn't our time.  We often 
>>grow impatient when our prayers aren't answered as quickly as we 
>>feel they ought to be.  Many of us lack patience.  Which God 
>>understands.  As we are children compared to his great 
>>knowledge.  A lot of help to me regarding this as well is to look 
>>at our children for help to pray effectively.  Look at how they ask 
>>us for things, and what it is they expect from us.  We prey in much 
>>the same way to God as they ask us for what it is they want.  In 
>>the same way we never fail our children God never fails us.  He has 
>>already promised we will have all we need.  So what else he gives 
>>to us is frosting ion our cake, so to speak.  Sort of desert after 
>>we have eaten our spinach.  Of course, I am different than most, I 
>>believe, in that I truly want no more than what I have, or am 
>>given.  Even when I was a child, I never at all asked for anything 
>>my parents didn't give to me.  I never even went in to their 
>>refrigerator for snacks without their express permission.  Of 
>>course, there are convenient things I want, such as space to do my 
>>laundry with older laundering machines with knobs I might more 
>>easily use.  As I enjoy independence.  When I was faced with the 
>>prospect of moving, I told God this was a concern of mine, and was 
>>a preference.  I was able to afford not to live in those subsidized 
>>apartments with the inaccessible laundering machines.  So this 
>>example is one of how I prey.  I tell God of my concerns, and ask 
>>him to either give to me what it is I believe to be the most 
>>effective thing to promote thriving either physically or mentally. 
>>Or to demonstrate to me how to deal with what doesn't seem as 
>>convenient for me at a given time.  Or to show to me how my 
>>thinking is wrong regarding the best way to accomplish things.  It 
>>has worked for me.  My late husband didn't suffer when he was 
>>preparing to go to live with God.  He left us peacefully.  Though 
>>he inconvenienced our household when his mind left him, we weren't 
>>too terribly disrupted to the point we weren't able to function.  I 
>>find, if we are faithful to do as best as we can to follow God's 
>>prescripts, and understand his promises to us are always kept 
>>regarding us, and how especially he wants to give good things to 
>>those who please him, as Jesus said.  Why should we worry.  We 
>>shall be satisfied in the end.  Because, in the end, we will all be 
>>brought to live with him.  What else could we even want I ask?  I 
>>know I want nothing from God except the chance to thank him for all 
>>he does for me each day.  Which I do constantly.  I am among the 
>>most fortunate of people to live in this great land of the free, 
>>and the home of the brave.  Where so many have sacrificed that I 
>>might benefit myself of all sorts of technology to make my life 
>>easier as a blind person.  When I could just as well have not lived 
>>at all.  If I had been born in a less well developed country.  I am 
>>healthy, without having to take medication.  I have a secure home 
>>in which to live.  Food to eat for more than one day.  When God 
>>only promised food for each day as it comes.  So having more than a 
>>single days worth of food is a plus right there isn't it?  I truly 
>>would be benefited if I lost a few pounds in any case;   and 
>>clothes enough to ware  that I don't freeze in the winter.  Plus, I 
>>have a computer to write to all my fine friends as are you.  As God 
>>knows it would be difficult to get to the library to use the 
>>computers there.  With good friends who love us, and Gods love to 
>>reassure us through his word what else is there for any of us to 
>>want.  At least there isn't for me.          So perhaps I am an 
>>exception to the rule.  But, that is how I look at things.
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>Bev
>>To: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>>Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 10:10 PM
>>Subject: How to pray
>>
>>Hi All!
>>
>>Something I've always struggled with is how to pray. What I mean is 
>>I've always struggled with should I keep on praying about something 
>>until I get an answer, or should I pray about something and then 
>>try and leave it with God? I've been taught both schools of 
>>thought, which has confused me over the years.
>>
>>One concept I learned recently that has helped me tremendously is 
>>the idea of asking God to show us what He wants for us and then ask 
>>Him to help us to want what He wants for us. I had the opportunity 
>>to listen to a really neat seminar while at my Mom's house over the 
>>holidays that her pastor did. It is called, "Discovering the Real 
>>You." It is all about how salvation through what Christ did on the 
>>cross isn't just for our eternal well being, but it is for our 
>>peace and well being here on earth. One of the main concepts my 
>>Mom's pastor taught in this seminar is that the basis of our sin 
>>nature is selfishness. we are all  selfish to some degree and 
>>because of our selfishness this is why we've gotten ourselves into 
>>some of the messes we've gotten into. Satan wants us to be selfish, 
>>because that's how he gains the upper hand with us. According to 
>>Pastor Ron, the key  to working through our selfish nature is to 
>>ask the Lord to help us not be selfish by showing us what He wants 
>>for our lives and then asking Him to cause us to want what He wants 
>>for us. If we know there is something God wants us to be doing, but 
>>we don't necessarily feel like doing it or want to do it, then the 
>>key to joy and well being is to ask God to change our attitude 
>>about what it is we know He wants us to be doing. Along with this 
>>we should continuously ask the Lord to show us our short comings 
>>and when He does show them to us we then ask Him to help us with 
>>those issues. I started putting this into practice as soon as I 
>>heard the seminar and I can tell you when you let
>>God have that kind of control in your life things do start to 
>>happen. God immediately began to show me things about myself that 
>>needed changing, and that wasn't easy to take. He also, because of 
>>my prayers, began working in the lives of people around me, showing 
>>them what they needed to change in their lives. It's difficult for 
>>me to explain the gist of the entire seminar, but I hope to 
>>eventually hold a phone conference where people can all participate 
>>and listen to and do a study on it together as soon as I get the 
>>work book scanned. The concepts he shares in that seminar have 
>>worked wonders in my life in just a short time.
>>
>>Bev
>>
>>John 5:24 Jesus said, "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the 
>>person whose ears are open to My words, who listens to My message 
>>and believes on Him Who sent Me has now eternal life." "And he does 
>>not come into judgment and will not come under condemnation, but he 
>>has already passed over out of death into life." )Amplified Bible)
>
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