On this Thanksgiving Day, my daily devotion centered around giving thanks to God. The passage of the day was the following passage.
“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9: 1-2 (NIV)
I think of all the blessings that God has bestowed on my and my family over the years. I think of the words of Doxology (public domain).
“Praise God from who all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above all heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen!
I pray that you thank God for all your blessings this year, in both good and bad times.
(This is the first installment from our guest storyteller)
Years ago when I was 12, we lived in a small town at house on the end of Main Street. My family went to church every Sunday. I was saved when I was 11, but still was a very active boy, and was in trouble a lot.
One day when I got out of school, I decided to go to the five and dime store down the road. As I walked by the Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Ben was sitting in an old wicker rocking chair, just outside the building. He was sharpening what looked like an ‘ole widow Barnes’ carvin’ knife. He said howdy, and asked if I had been keeping out of trouble. I responded, “Sheriff, you know I got saved last year, but it’s hard for me to be good.”
Then Sheriff Ben looked me right in the eye and tenderly spoke, “You know, growing up in a life in Jesus is like sharpening an old, dull knife.”
“How is that Sheriff Ben?”
Then he continued, “As a new Christian, you are dull to the word of God. Jesus takes you with a coarse stone like this here stone, and gets the rust off and starts to make a rough edge on you, like a knife. He knows you are rough at first, but He loves you and wants to lead you down the right path.”
“Were is this path?” I asked.
“You can start by following the path to Sunday School, to learn how Jesus wants you to live.”
“I have been goin’ to Sunday School.”
“But do you listen and take into your heart?”
“Well… not really.”
“Then start listening and learn.”
“I will.”
“Very good,” replied Sheriff Ben, “because you will grow in Jesus and He will continue to hone you into the person that He wants you to be.”
“Yes sir, I will do my best to be sharp.”
Ben responded, “That’s the spirit! Let’s pray together.
Oh, Lord, we praise and worship Your holy name. We thank You for all Your blessings. Please go with us and lead us down the path to grow closer to You. We ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
The creek in our front yard, changes from season to season. I am amazed in God’s Artistry in the the autumn season. Below are some photos of some of God’s artistry in the end of summer and continuing to the autumn.
Close up of a Monarch butterfly creekside. Though not near the creek, Monarch butterfly in one of our rose bushesA tree near the creek.Also near the creek, lichen on an old stumpA blue heron visits our creekwaterfalls another view o the creekthis part of the creek only flows after a lot of rainremnants of an old grist mill on the creekSide view of the mill, the gap is where the waterwheel used to be.
This is a wonderful passage in the New Testament as Paul speaks to the people in the church in Corinth, Greece.
“”Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know Him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun!
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin so that we could be made right though Christ.”” 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 (NLT)
