Day 22 In Him we find...

Have you counted your blessings today? Today is Thanksgiving...a day designated to be "thankful". Like I said yesterday (Day 21), we have an abundance of things to be thankful. All of God's wonderful qualities should bring us to extreme thankfulness. Not only does He share those qualities with us, but He also provides for us so that we may live here on Earth.

Look around you. Everything that you own is God's. You may not agree with me, but if it wasn't for God, you wouldn't own any of it. You may say, "Well I work and earn money, that's why I have these things", but it's because of God that you have a job or a family/community that supports you. Everything goes back to God. He gives and takes away. You may not have everything you want...like a specific car or phone or job, but there is a reason why you don't have those things. Maybe if you did, that special thing you want may become an idol to you. We shouldn't idolize anything, only have our hearts and minds set on God. He provides everything we need. Sometimes we may live from paycheck to paycheck, but we are living. He provides us with a beating heart. He provides us food, even if it may not be what we are craving. He provides us shelter, even if it isn't our dream house.

Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." We need to be thankful for all that He has given us. "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). It is His will for us to be thankful, so we better be thankful! Harry Ironside said, "We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.” Think about that. Instead of worrying, praise God for all that He has blessed you. God doesn't want to hear us complain about the things we don't have, but He wants to hear our thankfulness for the things we do have.  The more thankful we are, the more satisfied we are in God. Let's not be thankful only for today, but thankful everyday for God's provision in our lives.

In Him we find provision.

 

I challenge you to have some quiet time with God today and thank Him for all your blessings and of course, His goodness.

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Today's scripture for read-your-Bible-in-a-year plan is Acts 8-10.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Day 21 In Him we find...

Tomorrow is the big, Thanksgiving day where we will spend hours in the kitchen (if we haven't already), run around like mad women (or men) with multiple tasks, eat, watch football, eat, sleep, clean, eat, more football and sleep. That's a lot of eating, a lot of football, and a lot of sleep. An abundance of good things, if you ask me.

I'll talk about this a little bit tomorrow, but it seems to me that our God is abundant. Like I've said before, He is a BIG God, so of course, He would give abundantly, because He is able. Most of the time, however, we don't realize it. I'll talk about material things another time, but let's think about what we've found so far during this 30 day series.

God doesn't just give us a little love, He gives it abundantly. God doesn't just give us a little grace, He gives it abundantly. God doesn't just give us a little freedom, He gives it abundantly. I could go on, but you get the point. He gives us the things we need, in abundance. In fact, we don't need or for that matter deserve those things in abundance, but He gives it to us anyway. I would be happy if I just recieved a percentage of His love, but He loves me to His full capacity just like He loves you.

Ephesians 3:20-21 says, "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,  to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Did you catch that? It says , "far more abundantly beyond". Woa. Far more. Abundantly. Beyond. I don't know what else to say. That's how much He loves...forgives...protects...and so on. John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." Praise God!

In Him we find abundance.

Today's scripture was Acts 6-7.