As disciples, God has changed our hearts. Where once it was about "us", God has taught\corrected\rebuked us so our mindset has become "less abt us". We have learned to care and love outside of ourselves, and it has brought each of us considerable happiness. I love how God taught me that, no matter what I may be struggling with, no what I may be weighing myself down with, fellowshipping with others, checking in on others, seeing how they’re doing, recharges my spirit!

So I am grateful for this cold!

Most of America has been under a cold spell for the past week, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon.

When I start my car, I’ve grown accustom to it starting and then immediately dying (probably because the fuel line is so cold). So I have to restart it, and it’s runs & begins to warm up.

It’s so cold that I don’t even want to go out anywhere after dark.

It’s so cold that I stopped wearing shorts.

it… is… cold.

And yet, when I pray, I thank God for this brutal cold.

I thank God for this cold because I would take a day colder than this because I am alive over death.

(Granted, there is heaven but let’s not take it that far just yet).

Maybe the best perspective is, THIS is what God has given me, and I want to show my complete gratitude towards it. So if it’s the coldest day of the year, then I will thank God for this day whilst I wear 2 sweaters, gloves & a jacket!

Ever make dinner for someone, and they say "Thanks for making dinner!!!!!" But while they are eating, they keep saying, "Man! It took FOREVER for us to eat!", "This steak is a bit tough!" or "Wow! There is like NO salt in these mashed potatoes!" I’m sure that we’d be offended by insult #1, begin to shut down by #2, and pray for the strength to not lovingly yet physically rebuke these people by #3! And yet, when we complain about what God’s given us (the weather, the happenings in our day, …), we are in fact insulting our Giver.

But what only supports our need for gratitude towards God is… We can choose to not be thankful (and not be washed off the face of the Earth). He is that awesome! He loves us so much that He lets us choose to be grateful, to choose life, or not. Because when we make a choice to be thankful to God, we are choosing life.

So as your day unfolds, ask yourself, "What am I thankful for?"

The heat in the building that you’re currently inside of? The sun shinning, in spite of the cold? The people you love in your life? Are you thankful for your "enemies"? For the blistering cold?

All I know is that, my efforts are focused on showing God this type of gratitude:

Instead of this: