____sure our Father in heaven is blessing us and knows what He is doing when we put our trust in Him and we still lose our job, are laid low with a terminal illness, lose a child to the grim reaper, or some other tragedy that makes life here very uncomfortable, or even seemingly not worth living?

How many people do we offend when we receive some major income raise, or have a beautiful baby, or get safely to our destination without a problem, and we praise the Lord for taking care of us so thoughtfully, all the while someone in earshot has just suffered some loss just the opposite of our positive gain.

Can we or they safely assume we've been blest while they have not, maybe under our breath so we don't make waves? How can we give praise for gifts from God openly, to glorify Him, without making others feel somehow God isn't blessing them as much or as well as others/us. Is it possible not to offend any and still give God credit where credit is due?

"If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men."Romans 12:18 NASB
Blessings!

Never thought of it that way.

No. Who's to know who is not being blessed and who is? We are short-sighted and don't see the bigger picture.

The Bible counsels us to give thanks in all things. Not FOR all things, but IN all things. Those who trust in the Lord have the promise that "all things work together for good to them who love God, who are the called according to His purpose"

When we believe it like that, we don't ride the roller coaster of "that time I was blessed, this time I'm not". We all have our times of mountains and blessings. Neither can prevent God from glorifying His name in our situation.

LIFEHISCOST

THOSE are some interesting questions and points

dgrimm60

GAIL

if all good things come from GOD James 1 : 17

then all bad things come from the devil

good things are blessings to me

dgrimm60

It's all in the attitude of the individual, and whether they really trust God. I have found personally that the most difficult situations in my life have become the greatest blessings in my life, as I allowed God to work in and through them. So no matter what comes, I still feel truly blessed. I may not FEEL that at first, but it always comes.

We have no business withholding praise and thankfulness just because some around feel that God is against them. If we really knew everything, we would find that in most cases, those who feel most blessed, and most thankful, have often had some very bad experiences. Some well-known examples are Corrie Ten Boom and Joni Earickson Tada.

DGrimm, I don't feel that all bad things come from the devil, at least not all the things that we tend to consider to be bad. Sometimes they come from our own choices, and God lets us experience the natural results so that we may learn from them. In this way, he turns those experiences into blessings.

My husband has as good as lost his job, and our future is totally uncertain, but I still fell greatly blessed. I know that our future is in God's hands. When I told my non-Adventist Christian friend about it, she said that the devil has really been working. I said, no this is not Satan's work. God is using it to bless us in a different way.

Sometimes even things that don't come from our own choices are still not necessarily from the devil. My brother was hospitalized last week and had his gall bladder removed. After the way all the circumstances worked in that situation, my unbelieving younger sister said something to my mom that shows that she's thinking it couldn't be just coincidence. This has gotten her attention, and maybe my brother's too. He's also an unbeliever, though not so resistant toward spiritual things as that sister is.

Excellent post LHC

pk

There is a time for everything.

Our prophet makes it clear that only those who keep the commandments will have their prayers answered. So, one way to know if your prayers are being answered by God is to check and see if all the commandments are being kept in your life.

That can be easily misunderstood. I like the way it was put in this week's Sabbath School lesson. Instead of depending on our performance, it's a matter of our loyalty to God. And answers to prayer also depend on submission, our willingness to accept HIS answer instead of our own desires, and to praise and love him no matter what happens.

GREATLAKEGRAMMA

THAT is a good point

dgrimm60

Everybody's prayers get answered. Yes, No, or Later.

Interesting way to look at it. Although not what our prophet states. In this situation ... I'll stick with Prophet Karl. :)

this is my feeling also, and those that like to throw the legalism word out there don't seem to be able to see this, for whatever reason.

pk