Thankful for...

1 Chronicles 29:13 (NIV)
Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

This morning on our way to school, I asked my children what they were thankful for. I think they thought it was a trick question because they were hesitant to answer. After I assured them it was not a trick question, here are some things they came up with:


· Family and friends
· House
· Food
· Clothes
· Car to ride in
· Sports to play
· Animals
· Barney (our dog)
· Our parents
· God

After I dropped them off, I continued to ponder my question to them. Besides what they listed (and they are all good and would be included in my list), what else am I thankful for? Here are a few more things:

· My husband (married 20 years now!)
· My job (especially with so many out of work today)
· The work God is doing in my life (2009 has been a Year of New Seasons at church and it has definitely been new seasons for me – doing things I have never done before.)
· Stephen’s fear of dogs has been broken (an answered prayer with the help of Barney!)
· Various people at church (you see the evidence of spiritual growth in their lives and it is so exciting!)

What about you? What are you thankful for today?

Next week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. We truly do have a lot to be thankful for. The two lists are but a few things that I am thankful for. There is so much more that could be included. How about taking a moment to make your own list of things you are thankful for. As you are making your list, take time to give thanks to God for everything.



Blessings

Praise

Praise. I have been thinking about this word and our responsibility to it.

Both of my children are involved in multiple sports. Watching them play I get so excited when they make a touchdown, spike the ball, make a basket and many other things. I yell out “good job” and etc. I want them to know I am proud of them and what they are doing. I also praise them when they bring home good grades or do stuff around the house.

I got to thinking about our praise to God. Are we as quick to give praise to God as we are to our children or other people? Are we as quick to recognize what God does for us? I asked my 14 year-old daughter, Sarah, why we were quick to give praise at a sports event, but not as quick to give praise to God for all that He does for us. She did not have an answer. I told her it was something to think about.

The other Sunday as I was getting ready for church, an old song came on that gave me pause as it went along with my thoughts on praise. Here are the words to Praise the Lord by The Imperials.

When you're up against a struggle That shatters all your dreams
And your hope's been cruelly crushed By Satan's manifested scheme
And you feel the urge within you To submit to earthly fears
Don't let the faith your standing in Seem to disappear

CHORUS:
Praise the Lord
He can work through those who praise Him
Praise the Lord
For our God inhabits praise
Praise the Lord
For the chains that seem to bind you Serve only to remind you
That they drop powerless behind you When you praise Him

Now Satan is a liar And he wants to make us think
That we are paupers When he knows himself
We're children of the King So lift up the mighty shield of faith
For the battle must be won We know that Jesus Christ is risen
So the works already done

I have been working to quickly give praise to God in all things. The other weekend I went to my daughter’s volleyball tournament some distance away and there was a cost to get into the game. I was not sure if I had any money on me. When I checked another compartment in my wallet I found some money. I said “praise God” as I was thankful I had money on me. Sometimes little things get by us or we take them for granted when it is really God working in our lives.

Let’s work to be quick to give praise to God in everything!

Blessings,

Seek the Kingdom of God

Today's devotion was written by Mary Davis, a woman in my church. She is a gifted writer and teacher!

"Seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness, and all these other things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 is a finale to the previous verses in chapter six. The lesson differentiates between values and needs. The moral is to seek for one and trust for the other.

The key to the Kingdom of God is to seek goals that will reflect spiritual values - values that will not only enrich our lives, but the lives of other women also, making the Kingdom of God a better place for all.

When spiritual values and His righteousness (exemplifying Christ's equity and character of actions), work together, they free us from the complexities of life, replacing them with confidence that our temporal needs are secure in Him.

Naomi, a perfect example of seeking spiritual values, was able to guide the course of Ruth's life, ultimately changing the course of history.

As women, we too can change the course of other women's lives if we "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness".

God wants women who will accept the challenge to change the course of history in our community, our church and our world.

Go for it women of God!!

Heavenly Father, You know our temporal needs as well as our spiritual needs, and we are so thankful that you do. Our prayer is that You will teach us to focus less on our temporal needs, and more on our spiritual needs, seeking goals and values that will help us "grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, adding to our faith virtue; to virtue knowledge; to knowledge temperance; to temperance patience; to patience godliness; to godliness sisterly kindness; to sisterly kindness love." II Peter 3:1, II Peter 1:5-7 Thank you Father, Amen.



Submitted by Mary Davis.