As a strong supporter of the Christian Veterinary Mission and other amazing organizations, I can attest to the positivity that volunteering stirs in the soul. In fact, it brings to mind the saying, “Count your blessings every day.”
Counting blessings is such a smart technique to frame one’s day or power one’s view of life! When we focus on our blessings, we are better prepared for the challenges we all face in life, no matter how small or devastatingly large they may be. Some people look at life with the purpose of finding what is missing. Being grateful for the many good things we have in our lives moves us beyond such a dark, narrow outlook. Feeling blessed allows us to rise above the corrosive effects of envy, jealousy, and lack of hope. Focusing on our blessings or concentrating on all that is truth, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, etc., in our lives elevates our perspective and attitude. Counting our blessings can help us to avoid depression and /or find our way out of it. Gratitude for our many blessings gives us enthusiasm for life.
“Count your many blessings, name them one by one; count your many blessings, see what God hath done.” This is the refrain of the popular hymn written in 1897 by Johnson Oatman. In this hymn, Oatman attributes our blessings to God. It is only right to attribute our blessings to the One who is the Creator of the universe. (Too often, mankind rushes to take credit for the good things and assumes God is responsible for the bad things in our lives.) God has much to say about blessings in the Bible. To be succinct, He is usually talking about bestowing on creation His undeserved Divine favor or, in other words, God’s Grace. God wants to bless all of creation!
4000 years ago, an elderly, childless Abraham recorded a calling from God where God promised, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you…, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Abraham was blessed to be a blessing. For those unfamiliar with this text, God was prophesizing His greatest blessing, the revelation of Himself on earth as the Incarnate Jesus. Belief in Jesus provides the ultimate blessing of eternal life. How often do you sense and acknowledge your blessings — every day?
We, as people who desire and need God’s blessings, should show our gratitude for His blessings by doing things that please Him. Abraham’s calling was the original call to missions, facilitating God’s plan for blessing His people (through Abraham’s lineage). God’s call to missions certainly didn’t end with Abraham, but it was repeated throughout the Old Testament. And, the New Testament opens with the mission of Jesus along with the calling of the disciples and many others to participate in His mission of blessing. Jesus’s ultimate missional calling of all believers is given to us as the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28: 19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations …”. These mission callings are highlighted to show that missions are close to God’s heart. Therefore, a sure way to thank and please God is to participate in His missions.
Where’s a great place to start? Keep reading!
Christian Veterinary Mission
How does one participate in missions? Commonly, missionaries are referred to as “welcomers,” “exhorters,” and “mobilizers,” “goers,” and “senders.” “Welcomers” welcome and nurture new nonbelievers in our communities. “Exhorters” pray for missionaries and missional activities. “Mobilizers” recruit and train new missionaries. “Goers” personally go into the mission field as short-term and/or long-term workers. “Senders” support missions with their donations. One may not presently have the ability to perform in some of these roles, but everyone can be an “exhorter” and a “sender.”
“Exhorters” and “Senders” are extraordinary because they fuel all the mission roles. You are strongly urged to participate in missions. Go to the Christian Veterinary Mission website and check it out. You will find God’s heart there, and you will be blessed — blessed to be a blessing!
Contact Me About Opportunities to Give Back!
I’d love to hear from you. Just use the contact form here and shoot me a note. In the meantime, God bless you.
