I Choose Today

I Choose Today...

I Choose Today to Thank the Lord

Have you ever woken up singing a song; a song you keep singing throughout the day? This morning was such a time for me. I woke up singing the chorus of the song This is How I Thank the Lord by Mosaic MSC (link to song added to bottom of this post). I decided to listen to the song as part of my quiet time worship. The lyrics convicted me. “So this is how I thank the Lord for saving me When I was weak, so I will sing This is how I thank the Lord for everything This is how I thank the Lord” The vocalist was showing her thanks to the Lord by using her gift and talent God gave her to glorify the Lord. So this begs the question, am I thanking the Lord by using the gifts and talents He has given me to glorify Him? One of the things God has gifted me to do is to encourage others. I wrote about God’s motivational gifts, in a prior blog, saying, “”If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging” (Romans 12). This gift is so important as it is someone who has a positive outlook

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I Choose Today to give the gift of love

”Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.“ ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Love others…that is how we will draw near to God. We draw near by expressing to others God’s true nature of love. When Christ came, He demonstrated God’s true nature of love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…” Since we are a byproduct of that expression of love, and have that love living in and through us, how can we not share it with others! So how can I share the gift of love with someone? WOW, that is a loaded question, with a lot of answers. I can love others through my words: of encouragement, words of edification, words of kindness, words of forgives. I can share the gift of God’s love by my actions: acts of kindness, acts of generosity, active and effective listening, acts of mercy. So let us be intentional in embodying love in both our words and actions. Whether through uplifting words of encouragement or selfless acts of kindness, let’s extend the love we’ve received to those around us. Remember,

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I Choose Today to know my Motivational Gifts

Have you ever watched an artist at work, marveling at their God-given talent that allows them to create incredible masterpieces? Or witnessed an elite athlete with such natural gifting that their instincts in making the perfect shot or catch seem almost divinely inspired? Perhaps, you’ve been in a church service where the speaker, impassioned by their God-given message, left you in awe of the spiritual talent they possess. Or a musician, chef, mathematician, designer, teacher? I could go on and on, but you get the point. You may even wonder how they can physically, mentally, or vision that enables them to accomplish such things. God’s Word tells us how and why these people could accomplish all these amazing things. God has gifted each person the ability to fulfill the purpose He intended. Paul talks about the seven motivational gifts God gives us to complete our mission here on earth. Romans 12 says, ”so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. “So if God has given you the ability to [motivate] prophesy, speak out with

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I Choose Today to know I have a purpose

A few weeks ago I talked about God giving us the gift of His breath in our lungs. He designed us on purpose, for a purpose. As a reminder of David’s worship to his Lord when he said, ”You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.“Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ God wasn’t arbitrary about how and why He made each and every one of us. He knit us together, as David said. He designed us with intentionality, as Paul tells the Ephesians church, ”For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.“Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This verse reminds us that He planned good things for us to do a long time ago. So when He is knitting us together and making His masterpiece with purpose and intentionality, why wouldn’t He equip us by giving us the gifts needed to succeed and flourish in the Master’s plan? He wouldn’t and He didn’t. He has given us Christ Jesus, who perfectly lived out these gifts while being fully man and fully Devine. He embodied all these gifts so

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I Choose Today to be a good gift giver

I love Christmas. I love the twinkly lights, the gathering together with family, friends, and co-workers to celebrate the birth of Christ. One of my favorite things is to buy gifts for the people in my family. I have a rule, “buy what they want, not what they need.” This gives me so much joy to give them something they want to open up on Christmas morning. It is so much fun for me to give gifts! I remember one year I wanted to buy my daughter a diamond ring for her middle finger. I wanted it to be classic, to stand the test of time, so she would want to wear it for years to come. I searched for the right one and finally found one that I thought she would like. She absolutely loved it! That was 13 years ago and she still wears it whenever she can. It brought me so much joy to give it to her. God loves to give good and perfect gifts to His children (James 1:17). I am sure it delights Him when we use the gifts He gives with joy! Gifts given by God are to be used to leave a

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