Have you ever been on top of a mountain or seen the Grand Canyons or something similar? Do you feel small, a tiny speck in such a grand place? But aren't you also filled with awe and joy when you see the beauty, the magnitude of such a wonderful place? This feeling of wonder and awe should be the feeling when we are in the presence of God. Our perspective of smallness though will cultivate a surprised wonder, "that grows gratitude, that yields joy." Sometimes it even takes getting as low as bended knees and hands open to fully grasp the magnitude of how great our God is. "The humble live surprised. The humble live by joy." The words of F.B. Meyer couldn't say it any better.
"I used to think that God's gifts were on shelves one above the other, and that the taller we grew in Christian character the easier we should reach them. I find now that God's gifts are on shelves one beneath the other, and that it is not a question of grower taller but of stooping lower, and that we have to go down, always down, to get His best gifts."
"Receiving God's gifts is a gentle, simple movement of stooping lower." The attitude of being humbled before Christ and showing signs of eucharisteo, of thanks, is how He will continue to bless you with more gifts and more of Himself and even more grace. It's like a wave out in the ocean, where you are "riding on a wave of grace and then being lifted higher and higher by grace and then a surging crest of joy comes, and then a plunging lower and lower in humble thankfulness only to rise yet higher in grace."
Living a humbled life, stooping lower, and becoming small is a challenge. Our self desires is what can kill joy and gratitude. When the finger isn't pointed to God above, but inward to me. Anger, pride, and so forth are attitudes of the self. But we can refuel the flame of joy through humbly letting go of the self desires and allowing Christ to do it. "Fullness of joy is discovered only in the emptying of will." Humbly give your life to Christ and when you do, he will fill you with more joy and gratitude. "True humility is self-smallness to the point of 'blessed self-forgetfulness'."
As I was beginning my day today, I asked Christ to help me change my perspective in becoming smaller, stooping lower, and humbling myself more to Him, so I could see more of His blessings and joys. And I can't wait to share the joys I've seen and experienced today.
First off, the joy gifts from yesterday. January 7th, 2013
Gift #39: Foam roller
Gift #40: Refreshing smoothie.
Gift #41: Packages organized in the trunk.
Gift #42: The cutting on straight lines with scissors.
Gift #43: Getting an anticipated package in the mail.
Gift #44: Worship music sung in Spanish.
Gift #45: Completing my project of making a memory verse book for this year.
Gift #46: The sweet smells of dinner cooking in the oven.
Gift #47: Dinner with my parents at home.
And today's joy gifts. January 8th, 2013
Gift #48: Learning new Bible verses from Colossians.
Gift #49: Breakfast
Gift #50: Raindrops bouncing off roof shingles.
Gift #51: The distance sounds of a train horn.
Gift #52: Seeing my cold breath outside.
Gift #53: Hearing the rolling thunder.
Gift #54: The sounds of raindrops dropping into a bucket of water and rippling across the surface.
Gift #55: Streams of water flowing downstream through the gutter.
Gift #56: A wonderful afternoon spent with my friend Haillie.
Gift #57: Busting through a CrossFit WOD and having the strength to carry a 53lb kettlebell 400 meters.
Gift #58: My shadow under a street light in the rain.
Gift #59: The perfect song playing at the same time I am thinking a wonderful thought.
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