“Count Your Blessings”
By: Pastor ODC
                     In the church I grew up in we would sing a hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr. called “Count Your Blessings.” My favorite verses of lyrics from this hymn is as follows:
                     “When you look at others with their lands and gold,
                     Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold,
                      Count your many blessings- money cannot buy
                      Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
                     Count your blessing, name them one by one;
                     Count your blessings see what God hath done.”
This is the time of year we are encouraged to do just that – count our blessings.  Today, we seem to be transforming into a culture of complainers and whiners who focus more on the problems of this world than the promises in the Word.  Subsequently, we discuss our burdens more than our blessings.  We fail to realize how blessed we are because we fail to count our blessings.  Furthermore, we often overlook the most precious blessings we have received because we only consider tangible goods on our blessing list.  So this thanksgiving I encourage you to expand your blessings inventory beyond material commodities, worldly comforts, and secular conveniences.  This thanksgiving season I challenge you to count the blessings that really count; the blessings that are eternal, not temporal; that have had profound, life changing, and path altering impact on our lives.  Therefore, when you count your blessings this season be sure to count Calvary.  Ponder the magnanimous magnitude, the great gravity, and spiritual significance of the bloody cross that held the nail pierced hands and broken body of our Savior.  Remember Calvary, where your debt, that you could not afford, was paid. 
Count your spiritual blessings before you shout about the car, the house, or the business.  Before you react to the shouting cues we give in church today, your secular success, wonderful health, and lucrative wealth, check your priorities and shout about your salvation that was purchased at the cross of Calvary, freeing you from the burdens and guilt of your sins.  Surely we should thank God for the material blessings we have received but how much more should we express our gratitude for the great sacrifice of Calvary.  As Paul stated in II Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!”  So count your blessings, name them one by one; count your blessings you’ll be amazed by what God hath done.”  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! …..And remember gluttony is a sin!!