{"id":302164,"date":"2010-11-25T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-25T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/common-blessings-familiar-miracles-part-1\/"},"modified":"2010-11-25T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-25T17:00:00","slug":"common-blessings-familiar-miracles-part-1","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/common-blessings-familiar-miracles-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Blessings, Familiar Miracles, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a familiar saying that &#8220;you can&#8217;t see the forest for the trees.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-11-25.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"25.63M","filesize_raw":"26874130","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2822],"tags":[4929,4722,4159],"podcast_series":[7770],"cwp_profile":[3158],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302164","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-christian-life","tag-christianity","tag-gospel","podcast_series-common-blessings-familiar-miracles","cwp_profile-gary-thomas","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302164\/common-blessings-familiar-miracles-part-1","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302164\/common-blessings-familiar-miracles-part-1","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"VoJWlOJ9EJ\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/common-blessings-familiar-miracles-part-1\/\">Common Blessings, Familiar Miracles, Part 1<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/common-blessings-familiar-miracles-part-1\/embed\/#?secret=VoJWlOJ9EJ\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Common Blessings, Familiar Miracles, Part 1&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"VoJWlOJ9EJ\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"It's a familiar saying that \"you can't see the forest for the trees.\"","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-11-25.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Which prayer do you pray more often \u2013 \"Thank you, Lord,\" or \"Bless me, Lord.\"\u00a0 Here is Gary Thomas.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 We live in an age where we're told to seek blessing after blessing, God to increase this, and God to increase that, and the Bible does, on occasion, in a couple of places, urge us to pray those prayers.\u00a0 That's a biblical prayer.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut there are dozens of places where the Bible urges us to open our eyes to the blessings we've already received.\u00a0 Instead of always praying for more blessings to say, \"God, thank you for the many ways you've already blessed us.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Thursday, November 25th, Thanksgiving Day.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to talk today about how we can cultivate a heart of genuine gratitude.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition, Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, and I need to start off right now by apologizing to our Canadian listeners.\u00a0 A while back I made some reference about the fact that they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada, and I heard from our listeners.\u00a0 They have their own Thanksgiving Day.\u00a0 They don't celebrate it on the same day that we celebrate it here in the United States, so today is not Thanksgiving Day in Canada, but they do have a day set aside in Canada for Thanksgiving and many of our listeners wrote to me and said, \"Shame on you.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 And what day is Thanksgiving in Canada, Bob?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 It's in October, and that's all I know.\u00a0 I don't know what day in October.\u00a0 Now I'll probably get letters from them for that.\u00a0 Thanks for bringing that up.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 We want our American friends to know that we are celebrating Thanksgiving along with you.\u00a0 This is a day when we'll all be gathered around, well, two tables.\u00a0 One table at our house that occurs, oh, about 10:30, 11:00 in the morning, and then later in the afternoon, after we've traveled a couple of hours south of here, we'll join Barbara's family, and we'll go again around another table.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The first table is the French toast table, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It's the French toast table, and Barbara always delights in Thanksgiving.\u00a0 In fact, this is her favorite holiday.\u00a0 She would rather have the family home for this day because she is not exhausted in preparing for it.\u00a0 It's a pretty simple day.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe go through our little tradition that she's created around giving thanks for the top five things that God has done in our lives over the past 12 months.\u00a0 We share those and then she collects them and saves them for future years so we can look back and reflect at some future date, and then we dig into the French toast, and it's tasty.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The second table is the Big Bird table, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It's the Big Bird table, and \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Have you ever had a turkey that you shot during turkey season for Thanksgiving?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have not.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Have you ever shot a turkey?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Have you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 But it's not during Thanksgiving.\u00a0 It's usually in the spring.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, it is?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 You could take a turkey in Thanksgiving.\u00a0 It would be illegal.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I'm glad to hear it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You could go to prison for shooting a wild turkey at Thanksgiving.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You haven't had one of those for Thanksgiving in the past.\u00a0 We've got a message for our listeners today that deals with the subject of giving thanks, and it comes from a guy who has been with us before on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, Gary Thomas.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGary is the author of a great book on marriage called <em>Sacred Marriage<\/em>.\u00a0 He has also written a book about worship called <em>Sacred Pathways<\/em>.\u00a0 In addition to being a writer, he is also a conference speaker.\u00a0 He sent me a message not long ago that I think illustrates how we can take for granted the blessings of God in our lives.\u00a0 So let's listen together here on Thanksgiving Day and reflect on God's goodness to us.\u00a0 Here is Gary Thomas.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 One of the early challenges my wife and I had soon after we were married was trying to find a compromise for our eating styles.\u00a0 I grew up the consummate junk food junkie \u2013 Captain Crunch, Big Macs, pizza, and ice cream were sort of my four food groups all through college, and I married a woman who is a natural health-food-eating, natural medicine-practicing woman, who eats 100-percent whole wheat bread and, well, you know, things that grow, and stuff like that.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe had a number of conflicts, and when I would say that the crisis point came when we had kids, and we were trying to deal with it because then the intensity gets ratcheted up a little bit, and one morning in particular, my son put down his spoon during breakfast, and he looked at my wife and said, \"Mommy, how come Daddy's cereals have toys, and ours don't?\"\u00a0 I had a hard time explaining that one.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tEven today we deal with this.\u00a0 We were up in Mt. Vernon.\u00a0 I'm sure many of you have been through there when they have a street festival every year.\u00a0 There were all these booths.\u00a0 They have the woodworking, and they have the leatherworks and the artists have their paintings up there, and all of that, and we're going through all these booths, and then we came up to one, and it said, \"Natural Organic Products.\"\u00a0 If you want to draw my wife's attention, just slap \"organic\" on it and she is focused right in.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo she goes up to the counter, and she picks up this bottle, and I'm looking at this.\u00a0 It's two sort of granola-ish type women behind the counter.\u00a0 I think you know the type I'm describing.\u00a0 So my wife picks up this bottle of natural, organic deodorant for $10 \u2013 Right Guard, $1.69; natural organic deodorant, $10.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so my wife is talking to her, and she says, \"Well, what does it have in it that makes it work?\"\u00a0 The woman smiled and said, \"Grapefruit and sage.\"\u00a0 Lisa nods and I'm off in the corner.\u00a0 I'm cracking up here, and I got Lisa a little upset.\u00a0 She said, \u201cGary!\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cHoney, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I'd just really like to meet the guy who splits open a grapefruit for breakfast one morning and thinks to himself, \u2018You know, I wonder what would happen if I sprinkle a little sage in there, and I\u2019m good for 12 to 14 hours.\u2019\u00a0 Honey, it's food.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut, you know, it is a historical blessing that my wife and I could even debate about what kind of food we eat, because there have been many centuries when it's not a matter of what food there is to eat but whether there is any food to eat at all.\u00a0 That makes it particularly difficult for somebody like me this morning who is trying to talk about 1 Kings, chapter 17, where you have a woman in a desperate situation.\u00a0 There's a famine in the land, there's no food to be found, and trying to translate that on a Sunday morning when all of us probably passed a dozen restaurants and any number of grocery stores or convenience stores full of food.\u00a0 How can we fully understand the depths of her need?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut here is a widow in Zarephath, in the time of Elijah, who is already a widow and that already tells you she's known her share of sorrow.\u00a0 She's watched her husband die, and now there is no more food left for her and her son in the house. She's planning to make one last meal, knowing that she will soon watch her son starve.\u00a0 I can't even imagine the fear that must be in this woman.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThen Elijah comes through town, and he calls out to the widow, and he says, \"Please, please give me a drink of water.\"\u00a0 She draws some water from the well and gives it to him \u2013 \"and if you would, make a cake for me,\u201d and that\u2019s when she tells him here, 1<sup>st<\/sup> Kings, chapter 17, you can read with me in verse 12.\u00a0 She says, \"As surely as the Lord your God lives, I don't have any bread \u2013 only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in the jug.\u00a0 I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son that we might eat it and die.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tElijah tells her if you'll go ahead and make me a cake, that oil will never run dry, the flour will never run out \u2013 and this woman has got to think, \u201cYou know, what do I have to lose?\u00a0 I've lost my husband, I'm about to lose my son, I'm about to starve to death.\u00a0 I'll make a little smaller cake for me and my son and one for him, and let's give it a shot.\u201d\u00a0 So she does it and guess what?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe words prove true -- that oil never runs dry, the flour never runs out, and I'm sure for the first few days she is just giddy with excitement and opens up the jar just afraid maybe it's going to finally run out but, no.\u00a0 It's still there.\u00a0 She opens up the flour jar and she says, \"I can't believe this.\u00a0 We should have run out weeks ago, and it's still here.\" \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut then time went on, and time passed, and pretty soon when she opened up the jar, she expected that there would be oil because there always was.\u00a0 She'd open up the flour and, of course, there's flour.\u00a0 There's been flour there for months without putting anything in it.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSome time passed, we're told here in verse 17, that it was sometime later.\u00a0 We don't know how long \u2013 at least months, perhaps years, but sometime later her son became ill and died, not of starvation but of another disease, and now the widow is upset with Elijah.\u00a0 She goes back to him and says, \"What good does it do me to have you spare my son from starvation if he's going to simply die of another disease?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo Elijah takes her son in the back, prays to the Lord on his behalf.\u00a0 The son is raised from the dead.\u00a0 Elijah presents the son to the woman and, overjoyed, she says to him in verse 24, \"Now I know that you are a man of God and that the Word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, I read this account of a woman who had been in desperate situations regarding her food, and the first question I want to ask her \u2013 now you know?\u00a0 Only now you finally believe that this is a man of God and that the Word of the Lord is true?\u00a0 What have you been eating for the last six months, if not two years, three times a day God has miraculously provided?\u00a0 But now you know?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat happened?\u00a0 So often God will surround us with blessings and miracles and when they first happen, we recognize them as blessings.\u00a0 We count them as miracles, and we thank God for them.\u00a0 But, over time, those same blessings become common.\u00a0 Those same miracles become so familiar that we don't even recognize them as coming from the hand of God.\u00a0 We don't even recognize them as a cause of thanksgiving.\u00a0 It's just the way things have always been.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so when one problem comes up, that's all we see is that one problem.\u00a0 We forget all that God has done, and our attitude is, \"God, what new thing have you done for me lately?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, let's look at this from another perspective \u2013 let's go forward about 1,000 years, give or take a century or so, to Matthew, chapter 20.\u00a0 Thinking as we turn about what common blessings might we be taking for granted this morning, it may be even more basic than we realize as I think Matthew, chapter 20 will tell us.\u00a0 Here, again, we have two very desperate people in need of a touch from God.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMatthew 20, verse 29 says \u201cAs Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.\u00a0 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, \u2018Lord, son of David, have mercy on us.\u2019\u00a0 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder \u2013 \u2018Lord, son of David, have mercy on us.\u2019\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe picture here is two men who were being shushed by the crowd.\u00a0 They're saying, \"Look, you're embarrassing us.\u00a0 This isn't how you act in public.\u00a0 Just be quiet.\u00a0 It\u2019s embarrassing.\"\u00a0 But their need is so desperate they don't care how foolish they look.\u00a0 They are filled with their heart's need, and they are crying out because they see that's the only man that can meet that need.\u00a0 Who cares what anybody says about us.\u00a0 \"Lord, son of David, have mercy on us.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo they finally get Jesus' attention.\u00a0 Verse 32, \u201cJesus stopped and called them, \u2018What do you want me to do for you?\u2019\u00a0 he asked.\u00a0 What a beautiful question.\u00a0 Imagine, the God of the universe, in whom all power in heaven and earth is under his feet, looks you in the eye and says, \"You know what?\u00a0 You have my attention.\u00a0 What do you want me to do for you?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI wonder \u2013 what would you say this morning if God were to stand in front of you and say, \"You're here.\u00a0 You have my full attention.\u00a0 What do you want me to do for you?\"\u00a0 What would you ask for?\u00a0 What would you request?\u00a0 It's not a rhetorical question.\u00a0 I want you to think about it.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat would be your first request if God were to say, \"What is the one thing you want me to do for you?\"\u00a0 I'm not sure that any of us would ask what these two blind men said.\u00a0 \"Lord,\" they answered, \"we want our sight.\"\u00a0 Why would we not ask for that?\u00a0 Because we already have it.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut you know what?\u00a0 If we were to be involved in an accident on the way home, and we were to lose our sight, and a week from now God were to meet us with that question \u2013 \"What do you want me to do for you?\"\u00a0 Our first thing that we would say would be, \"Lord, I want to see again.\u00a0 I want to see my wife,\" \"I want to see my husband,\" \"I want to see my kids or my grandkids,\" \"I want to be able to take a walk and look at the beauty of nature you've created,\" \"I want to be able to read your Word,\" \"Lord, I want to see.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tEvery day we have this miracle of sight, and yet how often do we thank God for that miracle?\u00a0 It's a common blessing.\u00a0 It's a familiar miracle.\u00a0 It can extend so much \u2013 it could be a house.\u00a0 If I was homeless, I think I would say, \"Lord, I want a house.\u00a0 My kids are getting rained on.\u00a0 They're too hot in the summer.\u00a0 They're too cold in the winter.\u00a0 I want a house.\"\u00a0 I wouldn't say that now, I already have a house.\u00a0 It's a rather nice house, and so I don't think about it, but how often do I enter that house without saying, \"Lord, thank you for this house.\u00a0 It might be familiar, but I'm so grateful for it.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt's not just the physical things that God gives us that we can be thankful for.\u00a0 It's the many spiritual blessings as well.\u00a0 I was driving down to Seattle a few weeks ago.\u00a0 I was listening to Public Radio, and they were interviewing the authors of a book called, \"Religion for Dummies.\"\u00a0 I haven't read the book, but it was a priest and a rabbi that had written it together and basically they were reviewing the world's eleven major religions.\u00a0 As they were talking about that, I remember thinking how blessed we are to know the truth and the grace and the forgiveness won by us on the cross.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDo you know how few people can say that?\u00a0 None outside of Christianity.\u00a0 If we lived in a different age, and we sinned we might think we have to go find a bull to kill or at least a couple of pigeons to wring their necks.\u00a0 There are some religions where they have no assurance of forgiveness.\u00a0 If they commit a sin, they've got to try to frantically do five or six good acts, hoping that they can outweigh it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd yet we live in the assurance and the grace won for us on the cross of Jesus Christ, and how often do we lose that awe, that we can simply say to the Lord,\u00a0 \"Lord, I've blown it,\u201d and know, without a doubt, that He's forgiven us and the blood of Jesus has covered our sins.\u00a0 We live in an age where we're told to seek blessing after blessing, God to increase this, and God to increase that, and the Bible does, on occasion, in a couple of places, urge us to pray those prayers.\u00a0 That\u2019s a biblical prayer.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut there are dozens of places where the Bible urges us to open our eyes to the blessings we've already received.\u00a0 Instead of always praying for more blessings, to say, \"God, thank you for the many ways you've already blessed us.\"\u00a0 This is an attitude toward life that goes far beyond our relationship with God.\u00a0 It can change our family lives as well.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI was watching a show, and my wife had the remote control, which is why we were watching Barbara Walters.\u00a0 I'm not trying to slam anybody, but I just haven't met too many guys who see Barbara Walters on the screen and think that's where they need to stop.\u00a0 Usually we're thinking there's got to be sports center somewhere, so we keep clicking.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo my wife has the remote control on the other couch, so we're watching Barbara Walters, and she's talking to the widows of 9\/11.\u00a0 And they said something that just made me wish I'd been recording it but, of course, I couldn't imagine ever wanting to tape Barbara Walters and try to watch it twice, much less once.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut the comment that one of the widows said is \u2013 she said, \"The one thing I can't stand anymore is when I hear wives continually criticizing their husbands.\"\u00a0 And to a woman \u2013 all the widows were shaking their heads.\u00a0 One woman said, \"It would make my day if my husband was home to leave the toilet seat up.\"\u00a0 She goes, \"I couldn't imagine anything better.\"\u00a0 Because they now looked at their husbands in a different light; instead of just seeing all the problems he brought they saw the loss that he had.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI do a lot of marriage conferences since the book <em>Sacred Marriage<\/em> came out, and I was at one, and there were a number of groups talking in between sessions and one group I could see some women talking, and one woman was getting more and more flustered.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere was a different woman who was talking about the rock garden that her husband put in over a three-day weekend.\u00a0 She was waxing eloquently about the great workmanship that he had done and how it looked so well and the hours he had put in, and she was so proud of it and of him.\u00a0 And you could see this woman getting more and more irritated, until she finally stopped and said, \"Please stop.\u00a0 My husband spent all weekend watching a golf tournament.\u00a0 I don't need to hear about how your husband put in a rock garden.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI was talking to that woman later, and I had talked to her husband, and I just asked her a couple of questions.\u00a0 I said, \"Tell me about your house.\u00a0 Where do you live?\"\u00a0 \"It's about 2,200 square feet, and we have a good-sized lot for the kids,\" and I remember telling her, \"You must be very thankful that you've been able to live there.\u00a0 I don't know where it's like here, but where I come from in Bellingham, 2,200 square feet is not a mansion, but it's a decent-size house.\u00a0 You must be very thankful.\u201d\u00a0 She said, \u201cI guess so.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\"So where do you work?\"\u00a0 She said, \"I don't have to work.\u00a0 My husband earns enough.\u00a0 I'm able to stay home.\"\u00a0 I said, \"Boy, you must be so thankful for that.\u00a0 Did you realize that 65 percent of the women in your situation have to work outside the home?\u00a0 You're one in three that gets to stay home.\u00a0 You must be very thankful.\"\u00a0 And she said, \u201cI didn\u2019t think about it.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThen I asked her about the weekend, and I had talked with her husband, so I had a little bit of inside information.\u00a0 I know what he had done on Monday.\u00a0 After the tournament, he had taken his son \u2013 his son was going to start playing T-ball \u2013 so he'd taken his son out to a field to teach him how to hit a ball off the T.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat afternoon he had taken the daughters to a movie and spent some good time with the daughters, and on the way home from the theater, he was calling his wife saying, \"Do you need me to pick up something for you from the grocery store?\u00a0 I know you're getting dinner ready.\"\u00a0 She said, \"Yes, actually there are a few things I need,\" and so she gave him a few things, and he made the trip and he came home.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAfter she tells me this, I looked at her, and I said, \"Do you have any idea what a single mom would say if, for one day a week, a man came into her family and spent some guy time with her boy and some healthy time with her daughters, and on the way home said, 'Hey, can I make a grocery store stop for you?'\u00a0 She would feel like she had died and gone to heaven.\u00a0 She would be on her knees that night saying, 'Thank You, Lord, for one day when it's not all on me for when I have something that I really need for my kids that I can't provide.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat woman looked at me, and I saw the recognition cover her face.\u00a0 She went over to her husband, and she kissed him on the forehead.\u00a0 He said, \"What's that for?\"\u00a0 She said, \"For being you.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tShe wanted to wring his neck a few minutes before that, but now she was thankful, because she saw the common blessings.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m going to be honest.\u00a0 If I was talking to the guy, I would say, \"Look, guy, you know, all day watching golf \u2013 probably not a good thing to do.\"\u00a0 In fact, I think I could drop the word \"probably.\"\u00a0 But so often in our relationships we look at what people aren't doing and forget what they do.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 That is Gary Thomas talking about the common blessings in our lives that all of us take for granted.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 We do, and as I was listening to him, I was beginning to create a list of copies of that CD to mail them out to some friends I know.\u00a0 I think this is a great reminder.\u00a0 I may get 25 copies of this, because I think in this land of affluence and plenty, that it's so easy to find someone else who has more than you.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOr to find someone else's marriage and family who is in better condition, it appears, than you.\u00a0 I think this is just a great reminder for us to take this day and give thanks, but to also practice the art of gratitude and thanksgiving on a daily basis for the \u2013 as he put it \u2013 the little things that God gives you that you need to give thanks for.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 I think this is something that we have to cultivate as a practice in our life, as a spiritual discipline.\u00a0 I think a lot of times when it comes to giving thanks or gratitude we tend to think, \u201cWell, you should only do that if you\u2019re really feeling thankful or feeling grateful.\u201d\u00a0 I think we need to recognize that the Bible teaches us that we ought to train our heart on what it should feel, how we should respond.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think of those passages in the Bible where it says, \u201cRejoice in the Lord always,\u201d and you think, \u201cWell, sometimes I just don\u2019t feel like rejoicing.\u201d\u00a0 The instruction of Scripture is when you don\u2019t feel like rejoicing, train your heart to rejoice.\u00a0 Cultivate an attitude of rejoicing, cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving.\u00a0 This is not something where we\u2019re just ruled by our passions, but where we tell our emotions.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think of David in the Psalms when he asks his own soul, \u201cWhy are you so downcast, my soul?\u201d and then he counsels his soul, \u201cPut your hope in God.\u201d\u00a0 If you\u2019re not feeling particularly thankful today, well, you need to instruct your emotions that you should be thankful, that there is much to be grateful for, and to count those blessings.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI know for our listeners, you may have had some very difficult circumstances this year; economic circumstances, job-related, family-related, tragedies that have gone on in your family.\u00a0 But there are still things to be grateful for.\u00a0 So we have to train our hearts and minds to think rightly and to respond rightly to what is going on.\u00a0 Think of Job, who when he faced tragedy, he said \u201cBlessed be the name of the Lord.\u201d In the midst of the tragedy, \u201cBlessed be the name of the Lord.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you\u2019re not familiar with Gary, if you\u2019ve never read any of his books, let me encourage you to go to our website.\u00a0 He\u2019s just finished a book called <em>Pure Pleasure<\/em> and it talks about thinking biblically about blessing and pleasure in our lives.\u00a0 The best way to find out more about the book is to go to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 Again, it\u2019s our website, FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 There\u2019s more information there about Gary\u2019s book, <em>Pure Pleasure<\/em>, and you can order from us online if you\u2019d like.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere\u2019s also information there about a devotional guide that Barbara Rainey put together on the subject of gratitude that\u2019s designed for a family to help cultivate this heart of gratitude.\u00a0 You can find out more about Barbara\u2019s book, <em>Growing Together in Gratitude,<\/em> when you go to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow I want to encourage you to join us back tomorrow.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to hear part two of Gary Thomas\u2019 message called <em>Common Blessings, Familiar Miracles.<\/em><em>\u00a0 <\/em>I hope you can be tuned in for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 And we want to thank you.\u00a0 Thanks for tuning in and taking part of your Thanksgiving Day to listen to us.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We will see you back tomorrow for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas.\u00a0 Help for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you.\u00a0 However, there is a cost to produce them for our website.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/site\/c.dnJHKLNnFoG\/b.3782043\/k.384D\/Support_Us.htm\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t2010 Copyright \u00a9 FamilyLife.\u00a0 All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/302164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302164"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=302164"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=302164"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=302164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}