{This is another old post from my previous blog. I hope this blesses you today.}
So the Lord’s been good to you. He’s answered your prayers, granted you your heart’s desire, and has made your dreams come true. Now what? You want to give Him something back. You want to show that you appreciate Him and you want to pay Him back. But how?
I’ve just been thinking about a friend of mine. About a year or so ago she’s down in her luck, big time! She’d married a very abusive guy, who had made her cry and frustrated her every single day of the year that she was with him. It became so unbearable for her that she had no other choice but to leave him and divorce him. Not even a year later after leaving this guy the Lord sends her a complete opposite guy who was very loving, very thoughtful and just made her happy. This week they got married. They look so happy together. The guy seems to just adore her.
Then I thought, so now what? How do you show the Lord you are thankful? What can you possibly give to Him in this life that He hasn’t already have? Give your tithes? Send money to the missions? Go to church of course. Give your time to someone who needs it? How? Is this really what He wants? How can you pay someone who has given you your life, your dreams, your soul back? Happiness, peace, joy! How?
None of the above. Sure, you could go ahead do all that stuff if you want. But I will tell you a better way: Talk to Him. Give yourself to Him. Your thoughts, your heart, and your time. Your time is what He wants. Your thoughts. Your desires. That’s what will make Him truly happy inside. He wants nothing beyond that. He doesn’t want you to do any great feat for Him. He doesn’t want you to pay Him back monetarily – He owns the whole world, remember? What He wants is your time and your thoughts turned towards Him.
You might say, “But that’s so easy!”
Exactly. It is easy.
But you might say, “But I want to give Him something more; He’s been so good to me!”
Nope; don’t give Him anything else. This is it. Talk to Him. That’s what He wants. Acknowledge Him. Tell Him how much you appreciate all the things He’s done for you. Involve Him in your thoughts, in your decision making, in your day to day activities, and in your desires. Every.Moment.Of.The.Day. That’s what He wants. He wants you to make Him your friend, a very close intimate friend. He is hungry for this. Hungry! This is the only thing you could possibly do that will make Him happy. Nothing more! Trust me on this!
(He wants me to write this post for this very reason. He wants me to tell people, this is how He wants to be paid back!)
I will show you an example. I’ll pretend I’m this friend who just got married to a wonderful guy. First thing I would do on my wedding night is to bring my husband to sit with me and talk to the Lord with me. We will tell the Lord together how thankful we are for bringing us together. We will talk to Him for awhile. We will tell Him how unhappy we were alone in our own lives before He puts us together. Then I will tell Him how unhappy I was in my previous marriage and how terrible it was. Go even into that miserable detail and remember how miserable I was. Then tell Him, how wonderful my life is now with my new husband. How changed everything is. How thankful I am that He has brought my husband to me, who loves me and cares so much for me. I will tell Him, “Lord, You have made me so happy, I can’t thank You enough. Thank You, with all my heart and soul.” Then I will sing Him a song. A song is what He loves when it comes from the depth of our heart. I will sing Him a song what He means to me at that moment. Something that expresses my feelings for Him. He loves a song. There’s a whole book in the Bible just for it. It’s called Psalms.
Then, I will make this talking to God a habit, with my husband and with my own self. When I wake up in the morning I will acknowledge the Lord and say, “Good Morning Lord Jesus! Today is going to be a great day because You’re with me and I will bring You with me wherever I go. I will talk to You all the time. I love You so much! You mean so much to me! Thank you again for this new life You have given me.” I will sing Him a song. A song that shows my feelings of love towards Him. I will also ask Him for His blessing, protection, and guidance, for myself and for my husband and for anyone else that I care and love in my life. I will mention them to Him by name. I will also ask Him for His mercy upon my ex-husband that God will change his heart and make him happier too like myself. I would also ask for the Lord’s forgiveness for anything I have said, done, thought of, or entertained in my heart that was not pleasing before Him. I will also ask Him to fill me with more of His Holy Spirit, to change me and help me to be the child and friend He would like for me to be.
Throughout the day I will talk to Jesus. I will try to remember to pause in my mind during my job and my lunch hour or any time I think of Him and thank Him for being my friend. Thank Him for dying for me at the cross and giving His life as sacrifice so I can be forgiven of my sins. I will thank Him again for making me happy. I will talk to Him whatever comes in my heart. If something annoying or upsetting or worries me comes up, I will talk to Him about it. I will call on Him for help, and I will thank Him for saving me and helping me.
Finally, before I climb up to my bed and go to sleep that night, I will talk to Him again. Even for ten minutes, I will acknowledge Him. I will say to Him, “Lord thank You for seeing me through another day. Thank you, for keeping me and protecting me and my husband and all those that I love. Thank you again for giving me a new life and making me happier this year than how I was last year.” I will remember and mention to the Lord and thank Him for anything throughout the day that I was thankful for. Maybe things He has worked out for me or granted to me. Even for helping me to talk to Him and to remember Him. I will again ask Him to forgive me for anything I have said, done, thought of, desired in my heart that was not pleasing to Him. I will ask Him again if He would fill me with more of His Holy Spirit and work in my heart to change me and make me the person He desires for me to be. I will then ask Him to protect me and my husband and my loved ones as we sleep during the night, and keep us from any evil spirits or bad dreams. Then finally I would say, “I love you, Jesus.”
Throughout the night whenever I find myself awake, I would love Him in my thoughts, I would say, “Thank You, Jesus, for being here for me. Thank You, Jesus, for loving me. Thank You, Jesus, for keeping me.” And whatever else that comes into my heart to thank Him with or even if it’s something that troubles my mind at the moment or worries me, I will talk to Him about it even for that time I’m awake. Don’t brood over anything on your own, brood it over with the Lord. Talk to Him about it and ask Him for help. He loves that. That’s what He wants. You’re not bothering Him or burdening Him at all. He is a Spirit remember? He doesn’t ever get tired.
This is what He is looking for: us involving Him every moment of the day, in our hearts and in our soul, in our lives. Bringing Him into our thoughts. There is no problem or worry too small for Him. Talk to Him about it. He wants to be involved because He loves us so much. He wants to belong to us.
Talk to God always. That is how you can pay God back. Your time. Yourself. Your attention to Him. It’s nothing hard. Just make time to talk to Him and acknowledge Him in your life. Make it a habit. Give Him of yourself. Acknowledge Him everyday, every moment. Talk to Him all the time. No matter what it is, He wants to be involved. Acknowledging Him is the biggest respect you could ever give Him. Acknowledge Him every time you remember Him by talking to Him. That is what will make Him happy the most. That’s how to pay God back for all He’s done for us.
“In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” {Proverbs 3:6}
“I will praise the name of God with a song; and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horn and hoofs.” {Psalm 69:30-31}
