A Thanksgiving Psalm

A Thanksgiving Psalm~

I give You thanks, O Lord, with all my heart.  I praise Your name for Your unfailing love and faithfulness; Your promises are backed by all the honor of Your name. As soon as I pray, You answer me; You encourage me by giving me strength. You reach out Your hand and save me. You will work out Your plans for my life—for Your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. (Psalm 138)

    

Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you~

The Bright and Morning Star

Thanksgiving 2017 is behind us, but I did have an interesting experience.  Thursday morning I asked Alexa® to generate a playlist, and the first song she came up with was When You Wish Upon a Star.  It's a classic Disney tune, and it immediately took me back to my childhood and memories of Pinocchio.  But now that I am older, I have a different understanding of the word "Star."

Revelation 22:16 "I, Jesus, am the bright morning Star."

Therefore, If I could change the lyrics a little, I would say...

When you pray to the bright morning Star

Makes no difference who you are

He'll satisfy your heart's desires

Just trust and believe His love

Align your heart with His today

For every request bow and pray

He hears your cries He knows your pain

And help is on the way...

In the name of the Bright and Morning Star, I bless you :)

A Psalm of Thanksgiving (Psalm 138 The Message Version)

A Psalm of Thanksgiving~ (Psalm 138 The Message Version)

Dear Lord, Thank You! Everything in me says “Thank You!” Angels listen as I sing my thanks. I kneel in worship facing Your holy temple and say it again: “Thank You!” Thank You for Your love, thank You for Your faithfulness; Most Holy is Your name, most Holy is Your Word. The moment I called out, You stepped in; You made my life large with strength. When they hear what You have to say, God, all earth’s kings will say “Thank You.” They’ll sing of what You’ve done: “How great the glory of God!” And here’s why: God, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, You know everything about me. Save me with Your hand. Finish what You started in me, God. Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now.

Happy Thanksgiving, and God bless you~

Thank You

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, but  it kind of irritates me that most stores bypass Thanksgiving altogether and go straight to all the toys and sparkling lights of Christmas.  Not me!  I will not co-mingle this special holiday by putting up any Christmas anything until the week after. My decor is exclusively all about turkeys and fall foliage. I especially love the brilliant Thanksgiving arts and crafts my kids did when they were little and putting them on display.

I also find myself especially focused on how important it is to be grateful, but I know there are many of us in a difficult season of life who might need a little jumpstart - who could use a gentle reminder that there are always reasons to acknowledge that our lives are full of blessings.  For that we turn to the Holy Word of the Living and Mighty God:

Thank You that You are good and Your love endures forever (Psalm 107:1).

Thank You that we are Yours. You are our God, You made us, and we are Your people. You are good and Your faithfulness endures to all generations (Psalm 100:1-5).

Thank You for the good gifts from above. We receive Your joy, hope, peace, and healing (James 1:17).

Thank You that You comfort us. You are our salvation; We will trust and not be afraid. You are our strength and our song (Isaiah 12: 1-6).

We acknowledge Your name. We express gratitude for that Holy Powerful Healing name (Hebrews 13:15)!

Your peace rules in our hearts, and we are thankful (Colossians 3:15).

Thank You that Your mercies are new every single morning (Lamentations 3:23).

It is good to give thanks to You and sing praises to Your name. We declare Your steadfast love and faithfulness over our lives. You have made us glad (Psalm 92:1-15).

Thank You that You are always near to us (Psalm 75:1).

We are thankful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

AMEN~

                                                                                                            

Not Thankful...

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you."

      A Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving to all!

      A couple years ago I read this little story:

   

A five-year-old girl was asked to say the blessing at Thanksgiving dinner. She began by thanking God for all her friends, naming them one by one. Then she thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, Brother, Sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all her Aunts and Uncles. Finally, she gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes. Then she paused. After a long silence, the young girl looked up at her mother and asked, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won’t He know I’m lying?” Her little-girl honesty makes a great point: All of us have "broccoli" in our lives that is hard to give thanks for!   But the verse above makes it clear that we are to give thanks "in" everything, not "for" everything. For example, a few days before Rachel got married her great-grandmother was in the hospital with heart failure. I wasn't thankful for that.  But I was grateful that she was surrounded by loving family, that she was receiving excellent care, and that she knew Jesus. Big difference. Likewise, I never said, "Thank You, Lord, Jorge has skin cancer! Yippee!" But I did say over and over again, "Thank You that Jorge kept the appointment with the dermatologist because he really didn't want to go. Thank You it was caught early, and Thank You that You watch over even our tiniest cells..." Giving thanks opens our eyes to God's presence in our lives, and it strengthens our faith. No matter what "broccoli" you have going on, there is some aspect to be thankful for.  Think about it. PRAYER: Dear Lord, We are thankful for You.  You are aware of every single thing that we are going through, and by encouraging us to be thankful, our faith is strengthened.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~