16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
“To please God . . . to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness . . . to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son — it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.” C. S. Lewis
“The Christian is suspended between blessings received and blessings hoped for, so he should always give thanks.” M. R. Vincent
“Just as a Momma rushes to the side of her wailing child, the Lord ever harkens His ear to His lamenting ‘sheep’. He is a ‘with us’ God, staying by our side as we walk through our valleys of Baca (tears) and never leaves us nor forsakes us. He will either change our circumstances or change us in our circumstances – either way the blessings He bestows as we call out to Him are totally other worldly. He is the Ultimate Healer of the broken and contrite heart.” BHY
“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” Eric Hoffer
“Never undertake anything for which you wouldn’t have the courage to ask the blessings of heaven.” George C. Lichtenberg
“The height of joy isn’t simply to be blessed — but to become the blessing. The height of joy isn’t to have blessings actualized — but to become the actual blessing. Not to be blessed with stuff — but to become the blessing in service.” Ann Voskamp
“He who takes a review of his blessings, looks upon himself as a person engaged for God... He dedicates Himself to God.” Thomas Watson
“You don’t miss a beat when thankfulness is the beat of your heart.” Ann Voskamp
“God has a multitude of reasons for allowing our troubling situations. Perhaps He is working on some of the people in our lives. Maybe He is working out His timing to reap the maximum harvest when His solution comes in the end. Or He could be proving a point to His enemy about His glory, as He did with Job – and your reaction is the key. Maybe He is even working on us – our character flaws, personality issues, or spiritual growth. Unpruned trees bear less fruit, so He must shape us differently. But we’re surprised – and angry – when His pruning hand is not as gentle as we’d like. The question we need to settle in our hearts is whether we believe God is good. It isn’t hard to hold such a belief when His blessings seem bountiful. But the blessing of hardship? We wonder where His favor has gone. We grow distant, resentful, and bitter over the harshness of His loving hand. Like a child who has just been spanked – or simply told ‘no’ – we pout. God just doesn’t seem fair.” Chris Tiegreen
“God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill He treasures up His bright designs and works His sovereign will. You fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace; behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.” William Cowper
“It’s never the wasting of time that hurts so much as the wasting of our intentions.” Ann Voskamp
“If the worst things work for good to a believer, what shall the best things? Nothing hurts the godly...all things...shall co-operate for their good, that their crosses shall be turned into blessings.” Puritan Thomas Watson
“All the flowers in God’s garden are double.” John Bunyan