That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
Philemon 1:6

I read this and thought, “It can’t be that simple.” Sharing my faith has always been a point of concern for me. I want to live out Jesus in me, but I fear rejection. That’s a pretty scary truth to admit to you, but the truth it is.

So this morning I read this verse in Philemon. You know Philemon, right? That little 25-verse book near the end of the New Testament is Paul’s letter to a slave-owner. Paul encounters a run-away slave and leads the man to Jesus as his savior. Now, this runaway needs to make his life right and return to the owner from which he ran. Paul writes a letter to Philemon, the owner, to tell him that the slave is now a Christian.
But its verse 6 at which I paused this morning. Let me read it to you again: “That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”

I read this verse this morning and quickly scanned through as many “good things” as I could in my mind.  The list is exhaustive.  Paul says that acknowledging every good thing in me from Jesus will make taking about my faith “effectual” or sound, strong, powerful, successful! Could it be that gratitude will lead others to Christ? Yes! If I acknowledge every good thing that’s in me from Jesus, which is EVERYTHING, then people will see Jesus in me. Sharing Jesus with others can be as simple as showing gratitude to the one who gave you everything in a public way.

I have a friend, Rachel, who said once that she decided not to leave a place without sharing Jesus with someone. Even if she went to the grocery store, she wasn’t going to leave unless she told someone about Jesus. But it was her definition of “telling someone about Jesus” that was interesting. She didn’t think she had to full-on witness to a person everywhere she went. She just made sure to acknowledge God publicly every place she went. So, using that grocery store example, if Rachel ran into a neighbor and the neighbor told her about their new dining room table, Rachel would say, “Well, I think that’s terrific that God would allow you to buy a brand new dining room table. Praise God for His provision.” She acknowledged God everywhere she went, even if it was just through gratitude.  And, by her definition and apparently Paul’s definition as well, she shared Jesus in her world.

Gratitude seems like such a simple thing. I mean, I have so much to be grateful for. Just being grateful seems like a too-easy way to share Jesus with others. But according to the book of Philemon, verse 6, acknowledging who gave me these many blessings could change lives.  Who knew?

I have a devotional I use sometimes that probably wasn’t meant to be a devotional.  And yet it’s a very inspiring resource.  One time I talked to you about not overlooking a resource just because it’s not meant for children your children’s ages.  Well the same can be said about overlooking books with Christian spiritual content that could be used as devotions.  Here’s a picture of the book I’m talking about:

Yep, it’s a hymnal.  It’s an older hymal published in 1941 for youth.  It’s thin, with some hymns I’ve never heard of.  Not only are there hymns, but also a lot of supplemental readings.  There are great responsive readings at the back that are all scriptural.  There are pages entitled “Prayers and Collects” that have some beautiful writings.  There is poetry and extra readings meant for special services.  And then of course there are the hymns.  Some of the hymns I’ve never heard of, but they are beautiful and always apt.  I manage to find a reading, hymn or poem in this book that encourages me every time I pick it up.

It’s an unlikely book to think of as a devotional, but it points me to God when I read and it’s definitely inspiring.

So, don’t overlook older books that are Godly but not necessarily meant as a devotional.  You will be inspired.

I was reading a devotional this morning and my mind drifted from what I was reading. The devotional talked about a hiker coming down from a lovely vista only to be swallowed up by a sudden black storm. As the devotional continued in a different direction, I thought, “Yes, but the vista was still there, even though the hiker couldn’t see it.”

There are some days when it’s easy to be confident in who you are and the nurture of your family.  Some days, you spend the day walking around in gratitude for all that you have.  And then there are those days.  You know the ones.  There are those days where we spill the coffee in the morning tripping over the dog’s dishes that were supposed to be put away after the evening feeding.  The children wake up grumpy and getting them organized for their day becomes a near impossibility.  On those days, it is a battle to be grateful to even see what there is to be grateful for!
But, here’s the thing, the vista is still there.  Just like the hiker who couldn’t see the beautiful mountains or the colors on the trees when he was engulfed by a dark storm, that doesn’t mean the mountains and trees were no longer in existence.  He just couldn’t see them for the storm that surrounded him.

We may not feel like being grateful.  We may not even be able to SEE what there is to be grateful for!  But it’s still there.  All those things that you were able to see a few days ago when your day went better are still there.  It’s just a little too dark for you to see them right now.
And so, that’s a good reason to keep a gratitude journal.  A gratitude journal is simply a notebook where you write down a few things that you are grateful for each day.  It’s an important practice, the practice of gratitude.  Discipline yourself to write down at least three things every day that you are grateful for.  On those days when, maybe, you can’t think of a single thing to write down on your gratitude list, look back for those days when you were able to list dozens of things and remember that those things for which you were grateful last week are still here.
Sometimes, our perspective just shifts.  We are unable to see the “forest for the trees” as they say.  Your gratitude journal will help you to keep your focus on the many blessings the Lord has given you.

We had a pastor who was fond of saying, “God is good.”  To which we would all respond, “All the time.”  Then he would say, “All the time” and we would say, “God is good!”  He is good ALL the time.  Sometimes our own circumstances just make it difficult to see that.  So, join me in keeping a gratitude journal to help us see through the darkness.

NOTE:  If you’re looking for a great book about gratitude, read Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts.  I am SLOWLY working through this book.  It’s one of those books that I never want to end and I want to consume in small bites to make it last longer.  And it is one of those I could never loan to another person, but I would give as a gift over and over again.  We’re talking life-changing stuff here.

Congratulations go out to:

Michelle!

You’ve won a copy of Beverly Lewis’ The Shunning DVD!  I know you will love it.  I certainly did.

About a week ago, I told you about the CD, Furious by Jeremy Riddle.  I’m thoroughly enjoying this CD and I know you will too.  I ran a quick contest with the people who commented to my original post about the CD.  Today is the day to pick a winner!  Since there was only one comment, picking a winner was easy.  Our winner is Bobbi!

Congratulations!  You’ll  get that CD very soon.  I hope you enjoy it!