After another night without proper sleep I thought I would have got up in the morning feeling completely tired out and spiritually low, but that was not the case this time!

I whispered a prayer for the Lord to come to my assistance on my aching back, remembering the many occasions when I had cause for concern about my health. Being on the receiving end of the Great Physicians healing hand, I good reason to know that He would help again. This warmed my heart and gave reason to rejoice. When God does something like this, He does a proper job!

I sat in my armchair to reflect upon the things that I know about my extravagantly giving God, and thought once again about the things that most of us overlook.

For example, at this time of the year we have witnessed a beautiful autumn in spite of some rather nasty weather showing up from time to time. For a little while the trees were clad in leaves displaying stunning colours. Then after stormy weather those leaves were on the round. Thousands upon thousands of them made a beautiful carpet of red, orange, and yellow. Well, that was before another storm came in and turned them all into a horrible mush!

Then in the winter the snow falls. We don't often see the snow where we live, but others have more than plenty of it! Every individual snowflake is a unique treasure. And God sprinkles the Earth with an enumerable amount of these precious treasures if only someone took the time to notice!

Then there are grains of sand, which upon closer examination also reveal tiny treasures; everyone of them! And to think, God has sprinkled these treasures upon every shore upon the Earth that he has created. How could we begin to fathom the amount of individual grains of sand there are?

And then look up on a clear night and above us is a blanket magnificent stars, without a number also! Every one of them differing from each other, and all individually named by God himself. And we read in the Scriptures in the creation account that … “He made the stars also”! Genesis 1: 16.

I thought how extravagant God is, almost to the point where we would consider Him being wasteful, for the want of a better expression. How good is He to bless all of us so abundantly, even though we don't realise it or even appreciate His lavish giving most of the time.

God does all of this and puts it all out there if perhaps some will allow His goodness to soften their hearts and bring them to repentance. And this same God gets draws near to each one personally in His giving, kindness, love and mercy. And such is beyond our ability to comprehend.

🔸 One of the most famous verses in the Bible was spoken by the Lord Jesus, and this is what He said: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3: 16. He didn’t just love the world, but He so loved each individual that He gave His best for us, the worst. And the promise of everlasting life for those who dare to trust Him with all their heart.

🔸 Again, the Lord Jesus said: “if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8: 36. He has done everything that it takes to unshackle the soul from the bondage of sin along with all of its guilt and shame. He has not merely given ‘a ticket to heaven’ to those that trust him, but He has given to us the ability to enjoy a walk with Him on our heaven bound journey. That is what it means to be “free indeed”!

This is the ultimate honour of enjoying an intimate relationship with Him, the freedom to know Him that well that we are free to serve and love Him in a way that is acceptable, and appreciated deeply by Him.

🔸 Our Lord is not only the promise Giver, but His promises are … “exceeding great and precious.” 2 Peter 1: 4. If we could but appreciate them a little more, I Believe our heart would be overflowing every moment of every day.

The peace that He gives to those who trust Him is perfect for those ‘whose mind is stay upon Him. ‘ See Isaiah 26: 3. We are told that His peace passes all understanding.

🔸 It stands to reason that being one of His trusting people, and enjoying the things that we have been brought into, blesses us with joy. This is not just happiness, which depends upon our circumstances, but this is joy which comes from God himself. We are told that this joy is … “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1: 8.

🔸 And while the enemy of our souls is out to ‘steal our joy, to kill Faith, to destroy our hope’, the Lord Jesus declares triumphantly that: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” See John 10: 10.

I don't know about you, but when I think of such things as these, my soul is comforted and encouraged while all that goes on around can be rather suffocating?

How good it is to trust in Someone so great as our beloved Lord Jesus Who intricately cares for our every need, and so much more besides.

I sat there in wonderment such gracious and tender loving care, and thought to myself: “Isn't God so very good.” No matter what we might be going through at this present time, no matter how bad things may get, none of these things can ever stop God being good.

This might be something that you may find encouraging today if you happen to be somebody  feeling overwhelmed under appreciated. Look out for His personal touch in your life. It will be there, just you wait and see.

After meditating upon such lovely thoughts I rose to look at my alendars, each one with a devotional reading or a single verse, one of which is a rather lovely perpetual calendar adorned with the beautiful artwork of Thomas Kinkade. As I turned over the page for this days verse, guess what was it said ….