Learn to Appreciate

 STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 
A Daily Devotional by Bishop David Bakare

 Learn to Appreciate

Sunday, 18 August

 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139:14

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

 

MORE LESSON: Psalm 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

 

So much has been said about ingratitude and how it wrecks a man's life. An ingrate can never be great. A man that receives things from God and man and cannot say 'thank you' is like a robber. Learn to appreciate God; remember that all you have is given to you by God. As expressed in 1 Cor 4:7, For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

There is no man that doesn't owe God thanks because there is no man that has the ability to possess anything by himself; it is only in God that you have anything. A man may even not acknowledge God and declare that he got all that he has outside of God. However, it is only because God has permitted you that you have it. The rich fool in Luke 12: 16 – 21 lost his life because he thought that he got all he had by himself and he didn't appreciate God. The breath you breathe, the life you have are from God, appreciate Him.

You also need to learn to appreciate people. Everyone that God has used to bless you deserves a thank you. You should appreciate the people that God has brought into your life. Husbands need to appreciate their wives, wives need to appreciate their husbands, parents need to appreciate their children and children need to appreciate their parents. If you grumble and complain about someone, the person becomes worse but when you appreciate people, they become better and better. You must learn to sincerely compliment people and praise them. When someone does well, don't hold the compliment back; give it to him/her generously.

Finally, you must learn how to appreciate yourself. How can you expect people to appreciate you when you do not appreciate yourself? Celebrate how you look, no matter how. I always insist that anybody taller than me is too tall and anybody shorter than me is too short. When you are exactly like me, then you are perfect. Many people keep complaining about not getting a marriage partner, and they are responsible by always being unhappy about the way they look and who they are. If you do not desire yourself, who then will desire you? Learn to celebrate yourself. Celebrate the job you have at hand even if you are looking for a better one. In all that your hand finds to do, rejoice. One of my pastors said, “It's only what you promote that will promote you”. I found that to be true. Many are not promoted because they are not even promoting themselves. Learn to appreciate yourself. It is wickedness and self-punishment for you to be exerting yourself at a thing, and you are not appreciating what you are doing yourself.

 

Prayer/Action

* Ask God for mercy all those time that you have been ungrateful to him.

* Pray for the right spirit of appreciation both to God and man.

* Thank God for salvation of your soul.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Today is the lowest point and season of my life. In the wonderful name of Jesus, I am going higher and higher onto allaround accomplishments