Live! Give Thanks! - Feb 20, 2014

Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 9-10
7 So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! 8 Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!
9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. 10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time. - Ecclesiastes 9
Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader and whose leaders feast at the proper time to gain strength for their work, not to get drunk. - Ecclesiastes 10

Message: 

Life is Short. There is only one Life to live.

Observation/Promise:

GOD approves when we know how to appreciate the blessings in our lives. There is no such thing as luck, but favor comes from GOD and His favor comes to those that love Him. When you are thankful for what you have because you recognize that it is HE who has given and blessed you with everything, this pleases GOD and it makes your life even richer knowing that you are given everything that you need. Gratefulness is the key to a fulfilling life which leads to contentment.

Command/Application:

Live Life to the fullnest! Do not hold back or hesitate to chase your dreams and experience whatever you always wanted to do. Do your best in all things! For life is very short and everyone dies. When we die, there's no more, that's it! Be thankful to GOD for everything, and whatever you may still need, ask GOD of this, pray and do not stop praying. Live, not just for today but prepare for the future

Contentment

Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
or too awesome for me to grasp.
Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
now and always.
- Psalm 131

It's not wrong to dream, to have wishes or to have goals in life. In fact, life is dull without the thrill of chasing dreams and working on the goals that we want to accomplish in life. But how wonderful it is, to just wake up in the morning and be thankful to be waking up where you are, to be grateful to be where you are and have what you have. Yes we can have goals and dreams in life, but we also have to have the peace that what we have now is enough to make us happy. We can dream but we should also be content with what we have. I know it is ironic but that is the best way to live life - live a life of balance.

We should also not be too ambitious, to speak or concern of things that are too maginificent for us to even think about. The secret to life is in what we do everyday, it is not in what we will be having in the future, but in what we do everyday. We have to work hard enough to achieve our goals but we also have to be grateful for the journey GOD has put us to get from where we are to where GOD want us to be. We have to savor each step we take, we can't hurriedly move past one step so we can take the next step and get to our destination. We have to understand each step and learn from them. It's not about getting there or how quickly you arrive at your destination, it's all about the journey and the process of having that which we so greatly wish for or desire. Some people rush to get married, rush to earn money from the business. But you can ask the truly successful people and they will say the best part of their success is the journey towards it. Most people recall the hard times they've had and how they have overcome it. In the end they are grateful for the hardship because without it, they will never be where they are now. It's the learning process, the growing process, and unless we grow, we can never get there. GOD is teaching us something everyday, HE has a path and a plan for us. But unless we get what GOD is trying to teach   us, we will never have that which HE has promised us. So enjoy every season and like a weaned child no longer desiring milk because he has enough of it, be content. Whether you're still starting or you're about to finish a goal, be content. Contentment is not an excuse to be lazy and do nothing, contentment is being satisfied with every season or step in life. Be contentent, this is a free gift you can choose to enjoy. Don't wait to be happy later, be happy now.