THANKFUL.....AM I?

November is almost over. This is the month we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Seems like we ought to be the most thankful people in the world,  yet I'm not really sure we are. I am making a general judgement call on others but I'm making it on myself also.

I'm in a study with two other women. Right now we're studying  Jerry Bridges's book called Respectable Sins, Confronting the Sins We Tolerate.  The book is convicting as the author looks at sin .....subtle sins in the lives of the believer.  Not only are we shown areas of our lives we might not realize are sinful, the author gives us hope in how to recognize and confront the sin.  

One of the sins he talks about is unthankfulness.  The author tells of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19) Jesus heals and only one comes back to Him to give praise and thanks.  He goes on to ask how could those other nine who were healed be so ungrateful?  And yet are we not guilty of being ungrateful for what God has done for us, spiritually and physically?   Can we not acknowledge that everything we have and are is from God?  As spirit filled children of God, Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5;20....to always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Note the 'always' and 'everything'.

I'm quoting from the book now "Giving thanks to God for both His temporal and spiritual blessings in our lives is not just a nice thing to do--it is the moral will of God.  Failure to give Him the thanks due Him is sin.  It may seem like a benign sin to us because it doesn't hurt anyone else.  But it is an affront and insult to the One who created us and sustains us every second of our lives.  And if, as Jesus so clearly stated loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind is the great and first commandment, then failure to give thanks to God as a habit of life is a violation of the greatest commandment."

I'm trying to make thankfulness to God a habit.  I want thankfulness to become second nature.   Let me share some of what I'm thankful for right now:  

My husband John, for his faith and love for me, for my faith also.  Thankful for the journey we've traveled together.

My family, children and grandchildren, for their lives, vocations, love for one another, thankful for Ian's successful knee surgery, thankful he wasn't injured when he a a deer collided recently.  Thankful for health, shelter, friends, freedoms not known in so many parts of the world.  Thankful the washing machine conked out on the last load this week and not the first.   Oh so much more!  

Trusting that any who might read this blog will take a new look of how thankfulness impacts your life.  And may we all give God the glory!

Sympathy and Prayers

My sympathy and prayers go to our PCUSA Moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow and his wife Robin on the death, Friday, of Brian Pugh, Robin's brother. According to news reports he and two others were shot and killed while in their work place.

Loss of a loved one is difficult at any time but lives taken by murder for those left behind seem harder to accept. We also need to remember the other two individuals and families who lost loved ones as well as the perpetrator and his family.

May God surround and comfort these families in the midst of this tragedy. Lord give those ministering to them directly love that comes from you, sustain them Father through these difficult times and the days ahead.
Lord I would pray for the spirit of forgiveness for these families.  May they know and experience your forgiveness in the days ahead.  May your powerful love engulf them.
May you grant peace and understanding.  

In Jesus name I pray, 

Amen