Philippians 4:6 –”Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God!”
Well, here it is: November, again. Doesn’t time go by fast?! Those of you who are younger than me—and that is a lot of you—don’t take anything for granted; it goes by even faster the older you get! But I thank and praise God for every day He gives me to serve Him!
This is the month for our Thanksgiving celebrations. And I do love Thanksgiving Day when we get together as a family and give thanks to God for what He does for us. But I believe that we need to give God thanks every minute of every day, not just on Thanksgiving Day.
Let me give you some examples of what I mean. As a child we were very poor, and at the time I couldn’t find much to be thankful for. As I have matured, I have found that I can be thankful for how I grew up because it made me a stronger person. I have made it through tough times because of the tough times I had as a child. I didn’t know then that God was giving me grace to rely on Him.
Have you looked in the bible for Scriptures on thanks? It was mind boggling how many are in there. One of them is:
Psalm 107:1 – “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”
There were many of them that said to give thanks, for His love endures forever. Do you think God is trying to tell us that He loves us? Give Him thanks for His love!
Ephesians 5:20 – “Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This Scripture is one of my favorites because I do give thanks for even the little things. God cares about everything that we are, say, and do. I used to feel like I didn’t need to bother God with the silly little things. I was making Him small because I wasn’t asking Him for the little things. Now I ask Him and then I thank Him for it. Sometimes I thank Him for things even before I ask. We have been in a season of HOT, dry weather. I thank Him for the rain He will send our way in His time. I thank Him for a good parking space, good health, if I trip but don’t fall, when I figure out hard things on my phone, and as you can see the list can go on and on. I just thank Him for being Him. Of course, we have so many big things to be thankful for, the blood of Jesus, the cross, salvation, to mention a few.
Psalm 69:30 – “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
Music plays a big part of my relationship with the Lord. I hear words of songs, and I may like them, but after hearing them one more time, they just jump out at me. I thank God for music and how He speaks to me through the words. So many words in songs are Scripture. An old hymn that I love is “Count Your Blessings.” There is a newer song by Seph Schlueter called “Counting My Blessings”:
It’s like it was yesterday, I was praying for a miracle
Scared to have a little hope
And now, looking back today, seeing all the things You’ve done
I can’t even add them up
One, two, three
Up to infinity
I’d run out of numbers
Before I could thank You for everything
God, I’m still counting my blessings
All that You’ve done in my life
The more that I look in the details
The more of Your goodness I find
Father, on this side of Heaven
I know that I’ll run out of time
But I will keep counting my blessings
Knowing I can’t count that high
And I know that seasons never last forever
So, God, I will remember
All of the reasons my heart has to be grateful
All the times You’ve been faithful to me!
Thank You, God, that I can’t count high enough! Another one I just noticed the words today before I started writing is by Forest Frank called “Thankful”:
I’ve got so much to be thankful for
Look, I’ve got a roof and a bed
A couple groceries to stay fed
I’ve got a phone and clean water
And some shoes when I wanna go farther
Today I’ve got so much to be thankful for
I woke up this mornin’ thinkin’, “Thank You, Lord”
For giving me everything I could ever need and more
I’ve got so much to be thankful for
Ay, I have lights and a fan
A couple people who know who I am
I have a car and clean clothes
Pots and pans I can cook on a stove
I have the sun and air in my lungs
And a big mess that I get to clean up
But most of all, one thing’s true
Jesus, I’m grateful for You!
Thank You, Lord, for Seph Schlueter and Forest Frank. Yes, I can be thankful for these two guys for writing words that speak to my heart. God uses them in a mighty way.
I could sit here and write for days about my many blessings and all I am thankful for. I think you get my heart by now. I also want you all to know that I am thankful for each one of you! The more I thank Him for things, the easier it is to truly be thankful. I will keep counting my blessings, knowing I can’t count that high!
We would like to thank Debbie Crosby for writing this blog.
