Living a life of Thanks-living!

While many associate Thanksgiving Day with family, overeating and over-shopping, it should propel us toward a heart of gratitude. It is a time to consider God's goodness, grace, and provision for us. He is the Author of encouragement, help, and hope. I like to think of Thanksgiving as trust-giving and thanks-living.

It is an act of trust-giving to be thankful even in the hard places of life. When things go well it is easy to forget to pause and say thank you to the Giver of those good things. Thanksgiving should not be a one day event, but a life committed to thanks-living each day. Paul exhorts us to give thanks in all circumstances. He said the Bible points us in the right direction. "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom 15:4).

God's covenantal relationship with us is the basis for thanks-living. God said, "I will maintain My love to him forever, and My covenant with him will never fail" (Ps 89:28). The psalmist said, "He provided redemption for His people; He ordained His covenant forever- holy and awesome is His name" (Ps 111:9). We partner with God when we affirm that we are holding on to Him and His goodness. Our thanksgiving testifies to others that He is worthy of trust.

Thanksgiving is a lifestyle, not a day. Can we commit to willing everything that God wills and cultivating a grateful heart that finds the goodness of God in all things even the hard things?

May you be blessed daily with a heart ready to praise God for all things in sincere trust-giving and thanks-living. 

Written by Sylvia Gunter

His Presence Refreshes- Debbie McGrath

Acts 3:19 - teaches us that "times of refreshing" come to us when we spend time in God's presence.  Until we come to the place where we want God's presence more than anything else, Satan will have an edge over us.
Once we see God's truth Satan loses his advantage and we begin making radical progress in our relationship and fellowship with God.

Most of us will try almost everything else before we finally learn that what we need is not what god can give us, but God Himself. These times often represent years of frustration and misery.  But thank God, His Holy Spirit lives in us, teaches us, and reveals truth to us as we continue to study, read, and listen to the Word of God.

God wants to bring a refreshing into your life, like a mighty wind.  Do not be poverty-stricken in your soul when the answer is so close.  If you are too busy to spend time with God, then make some adjustments to your lifestyle.  Do not get burned-out, upset, weary, and stressed-out when times of refreshing are available to you.

Learn to separate yourself from the busyness of life to spend time with God the way Jesus did.  I tell people. "You had better come apart and spend time with God before you fall apart."  I encourage you to take those personally and do the same!