Give thanks anywhere and all the time!

This coming Sunday is Thanksgiving!  Is anyone else surprised that we are in October already?  And as I write this, there are only 82 day until Christmas. Yikes!  We will talk about Christmas another time, today I hope you take time to stop and just take it all in. Take in the beauty of the landscape as the thick green leaves break way to brilliant hues of yellow, orange and red.  It is truly breathtaking. Also take time to give thanks for the blessings of the past year.

When you look in the Bible, it says:

Give thanks to the Lord, for God is good. God’s love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1 NIV)

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what God has done. (1 Chronicles 16:8 NIV)

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV)

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17 NIV)

One day hardly seems enough to thank an amazing God for God’s incredible goodness. And yet it’s so easy to get distracted with the stuff of life isn’t it? How many times do we experience God’s blessings in our life, but then look at some other situation and start complaining instead of praising and thanking God? It happens all too often.

Perhaps this week, with friends and family or in a moment of solitude, list all the blessings with an attitude of gratitude. This year let’s not our thankfulness begin and end at the dinner table. God is good every day, not just on the second Monday in October —but all the time!

So give thanks - anywhere and all the time.

The benefit of togetherness

Recently I had the opportunity to work with a few people on a special project.  I didn’t know these individuals before we started, but at the end of the project I felt a special connection that I did not have when we began. As we worked together on a common goal, we had opportunities to get to know one another. Today, I can honestly say, we are friends.

Have you noticed, in your own life, how true bonds of relationship form when you are devoted to a common work or goal?

This is so true in our faith journey as well.  We can sit beside the same person week after week at church on Sunday morning, yet we don’t start to build relationships with them until we work together on something.  Maybe in a ministry, like KidsZone or a building project, or a missions project, or being involved in the same small group studying God’s Word together.

In Acts 2 of the New Testament we are told:

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.

And here’s what happened as a result:

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

When we work with each other, that’s when we have the opportunity to learn from each other and support one another. That’s when life change happens.  That’s when our faith journey’s intersect and we begin to grow. The world we live in today strongly promotes independence, and yet all the Biblical communities supported togetherness.  Of course we need to take responsibility for our own faith, but it’s also imperative for us to build relationships and form bonds with others, so that we can grow together as God intended. Together.

Radiant

I have a dear friend who is going through a horrific battle with cancer. She is a faithful woman of God and every time I speak with her I am humbled by the joy of the Lord that she exudes. She is radiant.

In Psalm 34: 3-4 David writes,

I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivers me from all my fears.  Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

David wrote this when he pretended to be insane in front of King Achish of the Philistines.  It’s a crazy story.  David was running from Saul, who was relentlessly chasing him. So what does David do? He hids in land of Saul’s enemy. He soon ends up trapped, Saul behind him and Aschish, King of the Philistines before him.

The question I ask is why would he go there in the first place? Perhaps he thought hiding in the land of Saul’s enemy was a good idea to keep his crazy father in law off his scent …sounds like a logical and strategic plan, right?  So when he faces his enemy he knew he was in trouble so he pretended to be insane and they let him go.  Basically saying, “We don’t have any room for another crazy person, we have too many already!”

God is Good… because it could have gone very differently.

A peace came to David and he said…

I sought the Lord and he answered me;

I love this!!  If we seek the Lord, the Lord will answer.  So often in life, rather than seeking God, we try to come up with our own promising and innovative ideas to deal with our challenges and very often we end up with more problems than before!

I sought the Lord and he answered me.

So, here’s a challenge for us today…seek God first in all our difficulties and challenges. Our situation may not change automatically, my dear friend can attest to that, but the promise is…

God delivers me from all my fears.

And isn’t that ultimately what we need most to overcome our challenges.

We also learn that we will not only be delivered from fear but it says you will be

radiant; and not covered with shame.

You will have joy and confidence displayed from the the inside out from overcoming your challenges. This is the strength of the Lord. For the joy of the Lord is your strength.  I can’t help but think about my friend, her challenges, her faith and her radiance.

The same can be true for each of us if we seek the Lord! Let’s display God’s light not because we don’t have challenges but because the Lord is with us and the Lord is our strength!