Good Morning and welcome to the first post for Thankful Thursdays!
Most everyone that knows me knows that my favorite of all the holidays is Thanksgiving. Now, as a Christian, sometimes I feel like Easter and Christmas should be the favorites. While I do love those holidays ... well, the meanings of them, I have to say, Thanksgiving is still my favorite over all. Why, because it is the perfect reminder to us all to be thankful for our bounty!
Thankful Thursdays will be a time for such as that. Today, I want to talk about giving thanks to God. There are over 133 references to thanking or thanks or thankfulness or thanksgiving in the Bible. Even Jesus gave thanks to God...at the feeding of the 5,000; at the raising of Lazarus and at the Last supper when He share communion with the disciples. Certainly, if Jesus gave thanks, then we ought!
Four times in Psalm 107 (vs. 8, 15, 21 & 31) David says, "Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,"
Twice in Psalm 118 (vs. 1 & 29) David says, "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
These are just 2 of so many examples of the command to be give thanks to God. Another of my favorite verses about giving thanks to God is Ephesians 5:19-20: "19... Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." This verse tells me that we are to be joyful and give thanks to God for EVERYTHING! Everything...the good, the bad and the ugly!
So, I'm preaching to myself here...I am to give thanks to God for not having a voice for over 10 weeks now! That's a tough one. You see, I get laryngitis every year...for about 15 years now...and this laryngitis doesn't just last a day or two. No, it lasts from 8 - 10 weeks. EVERY YEAR! Well, this year...I have now passed the 10 week mark. And I'm supposed to give thanks to God for that? YES! Ok, so my prayers have now become, "Lord, I thank you that you hear me and that you know my frustrations about having no voice. I don't understand why, nor do I need to. One thing I do know, God, is that You are on the throne and You hear me when I call upon Your name. You must have a reason for not allowing my voice to return as of yet, so I will continue to trust you and be thankful no matter what or how long it takes. If You are trying to teach me something, Lord, help me to see and learn what it is. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Today, I want to challenge you to be thankful to God...thankful in everything...the good, the bad and, yes, even the ugly! God is the Creator of everything and He allows things in our life for a reason.
Psalm 100
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
It is so hard to be thankful in the 'bad' things, but that is what we must do. We must thank God and praise His name in ALL circumstances. Great post and I look forward to more Thankful Thursdays!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a woman....so I'm sorry for breaking in to the club here, but I had to give a quick "thanks" for one of your points. Just yesterday I was talking with Hannah about how important it is to ask that question of, "what am I supposed to learn from this" instead of "how do I get out", or "why did you do this to me" type questions. It's a beautiful correction of world view from mine to God's. It took years for me to soften enough to ask that question. Anyway, it was good word! I am THANKFUL for your post today!!!!
ReplyDeleteNo problem, Bryce. Glad to have your comments!
ReplyDeleteI love your post, Debi. It is a reminder that everything isn't perfect, in our eyes. Yet we need to remember to give thanks to the Lord for He knows what He is doing and you know it is for a reason. It should never be give, give, and give more but to be thankful for the Lord as He loves us and would never do anything to hurt us but He will help us. Love you.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this Debi! It's soooo hard to be thankful for the bad things but through it all God is still on His throne and He's still working His plan so we CAN be thankful even on the bad things. Thanks for this GREAT post!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Debi! I have been dealing with chronic sinusitis for the last 3 years or so and it's been tough, but I am thankful. At first we thought I was having allergy problems and because of that a lot of habits were weeded out of my life... things that needed to go. Then I went for allergy testing and found out I was allergic to nothing :) Well, after a CT scan my real problem was clear. I won't lie, I've been miserable, but I've kept a positive attitude most of the time. I need my sleep and I've gotten very little, but I've tried to stay happy and God has given me peace. I am finally having surgery tomorrow and I'm not excited about the process, but again I am thankful to God for the ability to have surgery and for all that He's done in me since I've had this condition. I thank Him because... He has made the good as well as the bad and there is always a reason beyond our understanding! Thank you for this encouragement, praying for your voice to return soon and for God to continue giving you peace as you wait!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Debi. We are to be thankful in everything. Not just the things that make us happy or benefit us, but everything. We can trust that His ways are good.
ReplyDeleteI just heard a pator on the radio using the last verse of Habbakuk (gotta overlook the spelling) and this just fits right in!! I love it when I hear from God and actually recognize it!!
ReplyDeleteHe said that even as the world or my circumstances fall apart around me I can choose to raise my hands in joy and praise the God of my salvation! Praise God!
This reminds me of a new song by Laura Story- here is the link-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ
May I link up to your blog? I have just started my new devotional blog here-
http://www.journal-of-grace.blogspot.com/