Do you ever have a “restless spirit?” You know – It’s that feeling that there is something just not quiet right.  You can’t always identify the reason or where it is coming from, but you have a sense somewhere deep inside that something is just not right.

What Do You Do? When I get a restless spirit, then I can’t rest until I hear from God.  When I get a restless spirit, I have to hear from God, so that I can move on.  When I get a restless spirit, then I know that God is trying to tell me something and I need to listen close, so I look, listen and lean!  I look in His Word, listen for His voice and lean in His direction!

Don’t ignore your restless spirit! Pay attention to what you are not hearing or feeling, so that you can and will hear from God.  A restless spirit is not a bad thing, it is actually a good thing, because it helps you to get your focus where it needs to be if you are paying attention and that is off of self and onto the things of God.

Being Thankful! I am learning to be thankful for a restful spirit by learning to respond to it in the right way, the way that God intends – with an open heart, mind and attitude and a willingness to be led by whatever God shows me!

Are you a thankful person? I like to think that I am thankful, but I am not sure that my conversation and thoughts always prove that to be true.  In fact, if you and I pay attention during our prayers, we will notice that our prayers of thanksgiving quickly turn into prayers of request.

We know how to do it! We start out saying thank you to God and quickly move into the area of trying to move God to move on our behalf.  Between now and thanksgiving, I am going to be working on genuinely being more thankful and I want to invite you to join me.

Take some time this week to listen to your conversations and prayers. Ask yourself this question:  Am I really thankful?  If we are really thankful, then we and others will hear it, in and through our conversations.

I like to think that I am a pretty good guy. I am a Christian.  I love Jesus and I am thankful for the relationship that I have with Him.  He really has changed my life and I know that my eternity is safe in His hands.  I love God and I love people and I really do enjoy serving them both.  I am a faithful husband, a very involved dad and a committed friend.  I work pretty hard to be a good guy, but being a good guy is not enough!

I was a sinner, but God’s grace changed that! I still mess up!  I still miss the mark!  I still don’t measure up!  In fact, I don’t even come close.  I often fail to do the right thing and I don’t even realize that I am failing.  I sometimes do the wrong thing and hate to admit it.  I don’t mind admitting this – in fact it is very freeing when you realize it, admit and seek God’s forgiveness and restoration.  Because of God’s grace, I get to make the choice to do the right thing.  I want to make that choice more consistently and in more areas of my life.

I’ve got a lot of work to do. God is showing me areas of my life that I have neglected.  While I have paid attention to some areas and they are growing and beautiful, there are some areas that I just haven’t given the attention that they deserve.  God is opening my eyes to these areas and I am working to make them right for Him.

Let’s face it – not a one of us is perfect! What areas of your life do you need to pay some attention?  Trust me – they are there – realize it or not!  Ask God to reveal to you the things that are hard to see and you will find Him ready to grow you in ways that you had never even given a thought!