Times right now are rough. The economy is bad, savings accounts are dwindling, jobs are being lost, etc. During the midst of all of this and more, Christians have a special relationship with God. No matter how rough things are or how bad they look, no one can ever take that relationship away from you. Once you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, you are His. Have you thanked Him for that? Do you recognize what He does for you each day? Do you thank Him for those things? Watch for them. He is working in your life each and every day. He loves you!
God takes care of every situation no matter how difficult. And we can always thank Him for the outcome because we can trust that He will get us through whatever the difficulty may be. If you recognize what He has done for you in the past, then you can trust that He will be there for you the same way right now and in the future. Thank Him! He also puts people in our paths to help us, guide us, and lift us up. Have you thanked them?
How about being thankful for what you have? Are you, or are you always longing for more or something different? If we choose NOT to be thankful, then we will become bitter and angry. Doesn’t being thankful sound better than being bitter and angry?
I have mentioned before the idea of keeping a thankful journal. If you haven’t started one yet, this week would be a great week to do that. There are many ways to do a thankful journal but a very easy idea is to list 5 things that you are thankful for each day! Journal about it or just keep a list. Make it easy on yourself but keep a list. When times are rough, you can look back on those daily lists and see how He has continued to provide for you each and every day! A.W. Tozer says “In trying to count our many blessings, the difficulty is not to find things to count, but to find the time to enumerate them all.”
In searching on Biblegateway for our word this week, I actually searched on several words. Here is what I searched on and what I found in the NIV version:
**Thankful (4 verses)
**Thankfulness (3 verses)
**Thanks (80 verses)
**Thanksgiving (32 verses)
**Give thanks to the Lord (25 verses)
So interesting to look at that and all of the various scriptures associated with each of them! And as I close today’s study, I wanted you to know what I came across just last night as I was putting the finishing touches on this topic. I ran across Joyce’s blog, and on there she had a quote:
“Each day we are given the gift of 86,400 seconds. Have you used one to say ‘thank you’? William A. Ward
Wow, I just love that, and I love how the Lord confirmed out word yet again this week. And be sure to scroll down on Joyce’s blog and look at her card she did for Week 45 (Cross). It is just beautiful! Thank you Lord for using Joyce as you have this week!
For my card, I used the beautiful scalloped paper from Crate Paper. This was part of the November kit from Create My Keepsake. I also used four different Unity stamps from the following sets: Circle of Thanks, Flirty Flowers, Our Life Our Stories. Definitely perfect stamps for this word.
The scripture I chose was:1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
I hope that you will spend this week of Thanksgiving looking at what the Lord has done for you and thanking Him and those around you. Have a blessed, joyous, and thankful week!
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