During the month of November, there are many people who list their blessings. As a general rule, I love to participate in this month of thanksgiving. As I contemplate each day’s item, I tried to elaborate a little as to why I am thankful for that item. In many cases, these things are brought to my attention through my bible reading. Other times, it is a result of hearing from a particular person or people. Still other times, these are brought to my mind by something others post. I hope that my list will bring you a blessing from God as you read it. The bible says in Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. Here is my offering of praise.
Day 1: I am grateful for God’s Grace. Day one: I am grateful for God’s Grace. Did you know that “grace” is favor that is not deserved? God’s grace goes one step further. There WAS a punishment for my sin. I simply didn’t have to bear the cost. That was done on my behalf by Jesus Christ. God has not simply removed my punishment, he BORE IT HIMSELF! I’ll never understand why, but I know the list of offences for which I’ve been forgiven and I am in awe that He would do such a thing for me. SO…THANK YOU, GOD, FOR YOUR GRACE!
Day 2: Today, I am thankful for the mercy of God. Yesterday was grace, today is mercy. These terms are often used together, but they are not the same thing. Mercy is the absence of getting a deserved punishment. God’s grace, shown through the sacrificial act of Jesus on the cross, allows Him to forgive my sin. Forgiveness is, in itself, an act of mercy, but there is more to it than that. For myself, I am overwhelmed by the grace that God showed and the steadfast love of God shown to me is beyond my comprehension. Those two things alone (and there is much more) cause me to grow more and more in love with Jesus with each passing day. I am compelled, because of my own love for him, to want to serve him. I cannot imagine NOT serving and because of his mercy, he allows me, an imperfect servant, to take part in his work here on earth. He is an AWESOME God, indeed!
Day 3: I am thankful for my pastor, Stewart-Allen Clark AND the music team lead by Penny Johnson Blalock. With the recent difficulties we’ve gone through, I really needed to feel the presence of God. Between these 2 today, I was utterly overwhelmed by the presence of God in church today. This is often true, but it was almost more than I could handle today. At one point during the service, I was driven to my knees in gratitude for God’s hand on me. I am thankful that you are willing to listen to God’s leading in bringing HIS message to His people.
Day 4: Today, I am thankful for my wife, Toni. She is the light of my life and seeing her smile just makes my day. She has given me 4 beautiful children and 26+ years of being completed. She is many things to others, such as mother, friend, daughter, counselor and more. To ME, she is the other half of me. She is my wife, friend and companion. I love her with everything I have.
Day 5: Today I am thankful for my sons. There is really nothing I have that I value more than my children. They have caused me joy beyond what I deserve. I have felt their intense pain as I see them go through struggles, pride that only a father can feel as I see them succeed and love that seems to be expanding beyond my capacity with each passing day. I am nowhere close to a perfect father, but I love you boys more than I ever imagined I ever could and I want you to know that. Timothy, Peter, Michael and Eric. Now, I get to include Bethany as well.
Day 6: Today, I am thankful for my parents and my in-laws. I have a family on both sides that love us unconditionally. While I am certain that there were times in my life that I’ve caused my parents pain, I hope that they can see now that they have raised me the right way. For my in-laws, I am thankful for bring up my help-mate and preparing her to be my partner. I am overjoyed that I cannot understand from personal experience how some folks do not get along with parents or in-laws.
Day 7: Today, I am thankful for the Bible. As I was thinking about my list of things I’m most thankful for, I kept coming back to the idea that I use the text of the Bible a LOT. I find comfort, peace, teaching, direction and much more within it’s pages. I don’t read it nearly as often or as much as I should, but it ALWAYS speaks to me when I do and I miss it when I don’t. For myself, I have found that daily reminders on my phone from one of several available apps, is a good prompt/reminder to take a few moments to read and contemplate what God wants to say to me.
Day 8: Today I am thankful for my church family. I have felt the prayers of these men and women over the years. Each of you mean a lot to me and my family. I am thankful for you and continue to pray that God will use you to impact our community in ways that we cannot even imagine! Thank you for all you do and for your love of God!
Day 9: Today, I am thankful for my customers. While I give all credit to God above for all He has allowed me to do, I am grateful that you folks provide me with enough work to take care of my family. God grants me the wisdom and health to do what I do, but you men and women put a lot of trust in me as you allow me to assist you in your networks. So I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to all my customers and friends in the WISP industry.
Day 10: Today, I am thankful for my health. Life itself comes from the Spirit of God. The truth is that PHYSICAL life isn’t what is really important. Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” (John 6:63, NIV) Spiritual health is MUCH more important that physical health. Having said that, I believe God wants physical health for His children as well. Exodus 15:26 says, “…For I am the LORD who heals you”. Psalms 30:2 reads, “O LORD my God, I cried out to You and You healed me.” Psalms 103:3 says “…Who heals all your diseases…”. Proverbs 3:5-8 reads, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.” God desires to answer our prayers for health. Pain, suffering and death are a result of sin in this world. There is a coming time when we will not experience these things ever again. God brings healing and sustains us, but death is a part of our fleshly experience. I am thankful that God has seen fit to extend my time on this earth in a body free of major diseases.
Day 11: Today, I am thankful for my mental acuity. I believe that an accurate understanding of the world begins with the Word of God. Too many people have fallen prey to the wiles of Satan and HIS minions in interpreting the world around us. While I am thankful that God has placed intelligence in each of us, I think that too many people try to interpret the creation intentionally ignoring the creator. I am grateful that God has granted me the wisdom to see the world (His creation) with the understanding that EVERYTHING in it points to HIM. This allows me to see His hand everywhere and that is an AWESOME thing to see. Romans 1:20 (NIV) says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Thank you God for making yourself known to those who will simply LOOK.
Day 12: Today, I am thankful for God’s provision. I may not have everything I want, but I have everything I need. We are SO incredibly blessed by Jehovah-Jireh. There is nothing out of reach for Him. He will provide ALL my needs, whatever form those may take. Philippians 4:19 (NIV) reads, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” What more can I say except THANK YOU GOD!
Day 13: Today, I am thankful for God’s protection. God’s protection against things in this world is not an ABSOLUTE. You may be a bit surprised to hear me say that, but it is true. He does, however, protect us in ways that we cannot possibly fathom. For me, the 23rd Psalm is an ultimate description of exactly how God protects (and provides) for us. The first 4 verses read, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” I cannot imagine a day, hour, minute or even one second without God’s protection over my life and that of my family. THANK YOU GOD for your constant protection.
Day 14: Today, I am thankful for God’s love. I don’t think I will ever understand HOW God could love me the way He does. I don’t think I will ever truly understand WHY He would choose to love me. I cannot even begin to understand WHAT made Him believe that I was worth His love. That being said, HE DOES LOVE ME! He loves without condition. No matter who I am, how I behave or even if I don’t love Him back, He loves me! It is sometimes a little uncomfortable for us to recognise such love. In fact, because this sort of love is so far beyond our ability to understand, many people choose to believe it doesn’t exist. In terms of HUMAN capacity, it IS impossible. However, Romans 5:6-8 reads, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I don’t understand it, but THANK YOU GOD for loving me.
Day 15: Today, I am thankful for my Country. Our Country is in a mess. We have grown into a nation of people who fail to recognize our Christian Heritage. Beyond that, we have allowed God to be removed from our daily lives, from our schools, from our politics and even (in many cases) from our churches. If we want to see our nation return to what we once were, we MUST return to God. I usually quote a bible verse as the source for my inspiration for my gratitude, but today I think I will quote a man whose music is a source of comfort in my life. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4JMGSBI5Os We need God in America Again! Thank you God for healing that you can bring to our nation if we will just bow down and repent.
Day 16: Today, I am thankful for my home. Saturday, November 16, 2013 is the day I returned home from another trip. It is not my house, though I really DO love my bed. It is not my driveway, but I really DO love arriving and turning into my driveway. It is about the people who are there with me when I am in that house and parked in that driveway. God has blessed me with a family that I love beyond words. The love I feel for my wife and kids is sustaining to me. I thank God for giving me this wife and mother of my kids. Like all couples, we have our struggles, but without her I cannot imagine how dark my days (and nights) would be. Thank you God for blessing me beyond what I deserve in the person of my wife, Toni and our children that make our house into a home!
Day 17: Today, I am thankful for my Sunday School Kids. God has seen fit to call me to teach. He equips me to do so each Sunday morning. God has a purpose for the lives of these young men and women and He is using me to help bring about that purpose. I am humbled that He would do that and I am grateful that He chose ME to do it. I love these kids and I want to be the right kind of man to help them learn about their God and Saviour. I want to be open to God’s word and able to rightly divide it for them. My God is a master teacher and I am grateful that He gives me the words he wants to share with these kids. It is a lesson for me EVERY week. Please continue to pray for me AND for these young men and women as we (together) seek God’s will. THANK YOU GOD for using me to accomplish your will in their lives.
Day 18: Today I am thankful for peace in my heart. The peace of God, which is possible for us to have because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, is beyond our ability to understand. I just know it is an incredible feeling to feel peace even when the situation dictates otherwise. I struggle and often feel emotional pain, but during those times, if I am able to simply trust that God will take that situation and bring me through it, then I can experience His peace. I recently wrote a blog entry about this very thing. That article is HERE. If you don’t understand the feeling of peace I am talking about, it is because you are not exercising your faith in God or because you do not KNOW God. In either case, there IS a solution. Take a look at my other blog posts and you will find help for both problems. If there was no other reason to offer praise to God, THIS WOULD BE IT! Thank you, God, for your peace beyond understanding!
Day 19: Today, I am thankful for technology. I love nature, but I don’t want to live in it all the time. 🙂 Technology and advances make our lives extra comfortable and offer things that were never possible before. I make my living from technology. I live in a house with indoor plumbing, air conditioning and an electric cookstove. I love that my forefathers were such manly men who were able to endure the intense labors required just to survive in a hostile environment. I am just thankful that I do NOT. God grants us an understanding of our environment and gives us the ability to improve how we handle it. Way back in Genesis, we read about people who were given special skills by God. So, I thank God for the advances we’ve made and for allowing me to be born in this modern day and age.
Day 20: Today I am thankful for creation. The bible says that creation itself points to the glory of God. As I look around, I see the beauty that God created and I can see His hand. There is consistency in nature that gets more and more amazing the closer you look at it. All the way down to the very particles that hold the atom together, there is consistency and images that show God at work. Expanding our view all the way out to the far reaches of space, we see the hand of God and amazing images that point to his strength, power and might. Psalms 19:1 says, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.” Romans 1:20 reads, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Men, women, boys and girls, there is amazing beauty in the world. So amazing that you cannot help but see God in his creation. At Jesus entry into Jerusalem, Jesus said of the revelers singing praise to him, “”I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”” (Luke 19:40). I am so grateful to be called a child of a God with such power and might. A God who, despite my flaws and warts, loves me without limit. Thank you, God, for your creation.
Day 21: Today I am thankful for my checkered past. I know this may sound a little odd to some, but the truth is that it is exactly that past that makes me so grateful for my present. There is a beautiful story in Luke 7 of a “sinful woman” who followed Jesus into the home of a Pharisee named Simon. She showed her great love for Jesus by washing his feet (a common practice in that time), continuously kissing his feet (not so common) and annointing his feet with perfumes. Simon (the religious leader) did none of these things. Jesus helped Simon to understand that it is because this woman was forgiven a LOT, she had a deeper love for Jesus than that of Simon. He concluded the lesson for Simon with these words (verse 47), “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” What you may think you know about me today, is a result of those past events PLUS the forgiveness of those sins by God through Jesus redemptive act on the cross. Do I love Jesus? Yes, indeed! I am not comparing my love with that of anyone else, but I can tell you that I have been forgiven of a LOT and I am grateful that God can use someone like me with such a checkered past. Thank you, Jesus, for what you have done on my behalf.
Day 22: Today I am thankful for my extended family. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles and their wives, husbands and kids. I would tag all of you on my list, but I would undoubtedly miss some of you. I want you all to know that I don’t know many of you as well as I should, but I am glad that we have opportunities in the future to remedy that. My mom’s side of the family has a reunion each year that I have attended twice. My dad’s side has one as well that I didn’t know about until this year and wasn’t able to attend. I will be at the one next year in Indiana. Thank you, Lord, for my extended family.
Day 23: Today, I am thankful for winter. I realize that many of you dread winter, and I do not look forward to the dreadful cold, either. However, for me winter signifies completion and a new beginning. During the spring, we celebrate the “new life” that shows up during that time of year. During the summer, that new life grows until the fall where we harvest and gather in the crops. Yes, these other months may seem less dreary, but without the winter, there would be no period in which we can simply survey all the good that God has bestowed upon us throughout the rest of the year. God created the winter and the summer. Psalm 74:17 reminds us of that (not gonna make it easy this time…go get your bible and look it up. 🙂 ) While you’re there, read the entirety of this Psalm. During the first part of the psalm, the psalmist is painfully remembering the trouble he is in. He is bemoaning his situation and crying out to God in the midst of this pain. The second portion, sees the psalmist realizing that God is a God over all. He is the God of creation! He is the God over nature and even the seasons! If He remembers these “things”, then He will not forget His people, either. It is the psalmist in the process of building his faith in the POWER of God. The final portion of this psalm is a cry for deliverance. We all get into these sorts of situations. Some of them are of our own making. We need to look to God and recall that His faithfulness is forever. Even during our troubles, whatever causes them. Cry out to God during YOUR dark and cold winters. I just want to thank God for the Winter, so that I can look back on my life and all the blessings He bestows and for his power in my life. Whether I am in the fearful position like the psalmist, or if I am simply recounting the blessings of God, I am grateful for the opportunity to remember. THANK YOU GOD FOR THE WINTER!
Day 24: Today I am thankful for my weaknesses. I have said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again. I am far from perfect. I have desires that I shouldn’t have. I am too quick to succumb to certain temptations, often without much of a fight. These weaknesses in me is something I (and all of you) was born with. However, I am learning, through my weakness, that I need to rely MORE on God. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul was talking about a physical issue that he dealt with. He begged God to take it away, but God’s response (v9) is, “No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” Paul’s understanding grew to the point of understanding that it is exactly our weaknesses and deficiencies that allow God’s power to show up in our lives. God, please allow ME to be a vessel that shows YOUR power. Thank you for my weaknesses and deficiencies.
Day 25: Today I am thankful for what I have lost. In John 15, Jesus is speaking to his disciples (the conversation begins in chapter 13). He is giving them “final instructions” before he is arrested. He begins this chapter with a familiar parable of Him being the vine and us being the branches with God as the gardener. In verse 2, Jesus says (of God), “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” As God “prunes” me, I endure some painful times as he molds and shapes my thoughts and behaviors. I have lost some things in the process. I have lost some bitterness, hatred and anger. I have lost many things in my life that do not reflect the love of God. While there are many more things that need to be pruned, those things I have lost draw me closer to him. I am thankful for the loss of those things, because the result is that I am growing closer to him and in the process, I am able to bear more fruit for Him. Thank you, God, for what I have lost.
Day 26: Today I am thankful for FaceBook. Ok, Maybe it sounds a little cheesy, but the truth is that I don’t get out of the house much. I am bound to the phone for my income, so I spend a lot of time in the house. FaceBook allows me to “peek in” on the happenings in the world. It also provides me an outlet to share what God is doing in and for me. While there are many who may disagree with me, I have had a number of friends who tell me they enjoy my posts. I am thankful for this platform that allows me to share God’s word and the revelations He shows me in it. In addition to that, through FaceBook, I have “met” a number of people who I would have never met. I am thankful for FaceBook.
Day 27: Today I am thankful for Jesus. “Jesus is the answer.” I have heard this phrase repeated more times than I can count. As I grow closer in my relationship with him, I am realizing that he is much more than just “the answer”. It is difficult to express precisely HOW Jesus provides solutions to people who do not have an ongoing and growing relationship with him, but that is exactly what He is. He is the solution to nearly every problem that comes up. As I grow in my faith, I struggle to make him my FIRST stop, because if I am willing to listen to him and be obedient to him, he is always my LAST stop. One day, maybe I will be less stubborn and take everything to him first. For today, though, that is my struggle. Matthew 11:29 records Jesus words, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” His “yoke” is not about him “controlling” us like a puppet. It is about him GUIDING us to a better life. In John 10:10, he said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” You see, by living obediently, we are able to find a much more fulfilling and “abundant” life. Jesus really IS the answer, if we only allow him to be OUR answer. Today, I am thankful for Jesus.
Day 28: Today I am thankful for this season of Thanksgiving. Over the past 4 weeks, I have detailed many of the things for which I am thankful. I believe it is a good thing to enumerate our blessings. For me, it is a faith building exercise. It is by no means an “easy” task. At least, it isn’t for me. I am honestly grateful to God for everything in my life, but listing those things one by one requires me to be specifically thankful for one thing. I love this period each year where I am able to reflect on what God does for me. With gratitude, I want to express my praise to God. When Jesus entered Jerusalem at the beginning of the week before his crucifixion, the people shouted, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”. Responding to cries from the Pharisees to silence his followers, Jesus responded, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the very stones will cry out.” Lord, never let me be silent in my praise to you!