Tell Him Thank You!

Thanksgiving Day is one of my favorite days of the year. One reason I enjoy it is because I feel absolutely no pressure to do anything but prepare a covered dish and place it alongside the other dishes that line my mom's dining room table. The other reason is simple—I'm thankful.

What about you? Are you grateful? Will you shop until you drop the day after Thanksgiving, or are you afraid to spend money due to the effects of a sagging economy? I know we always feel better when our purses are lined with extra money this time of year, but God is our source.

The warmth of special days cannot be purchased with money or credit cards. Instead we find peace of mind and confidence in God when we thank Him for His goodness and trust Him to meet our needs. Let's step outside our own struggles and ourselves and be open to the simple blessings and small surprises God gives us every day.

The psalmist understood the importance of thankfulness and was compelled to live his life with an attitude of gratitude. In fact, he commanded his soul to exalt the Lord at all times:

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things (Ps. 103: 1-5, NKJV).

The writer understood the depth of God's love, and he realized there are fringe benefits that come along with serving Him.

Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful, not stressed, even if our plates hold tuna sandwiches that day instead of turkey and stuffing.

When we think about the goodness of God, and all He has done for us as well as the sacrifice His Son, Jesus, made for us on the cross, we should take time out of our day—every day—to tell Him thank you!

Agree With the Word

By Cindy Trimm

When you read one of God's promises to you in the Bible, what is your first thought? Do you think, Oh, it will be wonderful to have that someday in heaven, or What a wonderful promise! Of course, that is not for someone as miserable as me. Or do you think: Praise God! If He says that I should have that, then nothing can stop His blessing from manifesting in my life!
Unfortunately, too many of us pick the first two. Just like the Israelites standing on the bank of the Jordan looking at what was promised them, we too often choose to give up before the battle even begins. But I say, not so! God will perform every promise He has spoken in His Word concerning you.
Did you know that some of the greatest Christians of all times were lawyers? I know we tend to make fun of lawyers and politicians in our culture today, but throughout history, lawyers have revealed some of the greatest things about God we have ever known. Moses was "the lawgiver," and the apostle Paul was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a group who studied the Word of God as the law book on which to govern society.
Martin Luther of the Reformation began his career by entering law school, as did the great revivalist Charles Finney. What made them so powerful? They prepare a case, and they put more faith in God keeping His Word than they did in any earthly laws or political promises. Then they took those words and charged the atmosphere around them with biblical truth. They changed their worlds through what they spoke.
Woman of God, when you read the Bible, you need to take God's Word personally. His promises are for His people, and if you have given your life to Him as your Lord and Savior, then that means you.
Come into agreement with what God has already said in His Word about you and your situation. Hebrews 10:23 says "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (NKJV).
Speak life into your dead areas—you'll be amazed at what God's Words in your mouth will do for you. In doing so, you will fill your atmosphere with His promises on the matter. If God has said it, then He will perform it, and that should settle it for you.

Cindy Trimm is a motivational speaker and preacher and a multifaceted executive, life coach and success mentor. She has self-published several books. Her previous books include The Rules of Engagement Series.

This Moment in Time

by Brenda J. Davis


Right here and now God intends for us to live the truth of His Word. Whether we're lauded for who we are or praised for what we accomplish is of no eternal consequence, really. It' faithful, trusting obedience that matters to God more than anything. I know this, yet I've often spun my wheels, wondering what God is up to in my life when things seem, well, contrary to what I planned.

Recently, a phone call from an old friend really got me thinking (again) about the unresolved issues of walking with God. Apparently, she had prayed and believed God that relocating to a new city for a new job would open doors for greater happiness and fulfillment. Instead, she told me she felt as though she’d taken a leap backward, and is now frantically looking for the exit.

She wondered why God would lead her into what she was coming to believe was a bad situation. After all, He knew what the outcome of this transition would be, and surely He knows her makeup, so why did He allow her to move ahead with the plans she felt He had orchestrated? Wow!

Before you begin thinking I had an answer for you, let me tell you, I did not. I feel sometimes as though I’ve lived my life with that question lurking in the shadows just about every day. We do our best to seek God’s will, His purposes, and yet we can end up taking steps that seem to make things a whole lot worse than before.

It has occurred to me that if you are the sort of person who cannot abide perplexities and unanswered questions, you will probably be frustrated in your Christian walk. We know that God’s character is consistent. He has promised that He will never change in His love for us. However, He never promised us that His faithful, righteous, just and loving ways would always make sense to us.

As humans who feel pain and who long for life’s joys and blessings, what do we do with the knowledge of His higher ways? How do we interpret them? How are we to be comforted when we can’t understand?

Here is where faith makes its entrance, comes to center stage, and we yield our position, quieting our demand to know all the answers and understand. We take what we know of God’s character, we study His interactions with others in His Word, and we choose to trust Him. Oh dear. Often that’s a whole lot easier to say than do.

However, as we mature, the yielding does get easier, and the periods of anger, frustration and despair begin to more readily give way to God’s peace. This process still isn’t as brief for me as I wish it were. I still wrestle way too long. I guess I keep thinking that there must be a different solution this time—perhaps there is something easier (less painful) than yielding my right to know.

My friend’s call found me in the midst of studying the book of Job, and one verse leaped off the page: “‘I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth….I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!’” (Job 19:25,27, NIV).

I had to tell my friend I really did not understand God’s dealings with her life any more than I can comprehend the way He’s often led me. I don’t avoid asking Him to give me understanding; sometimes He does. But most of the time, I’ve found life can be so puzzling.

Maybe it is extremely perplexing for you right now. Nevertheless, God knew this moment would come for you, and He wants to come alongside you in a way that perhaps you never needed Him to before. In the process, He is giving you the opportunity to be everything He says you can be in His Word. This is your time (and mine) to be faithful, trusting and obedient to the best of our knowledge.

If we are going to live in peace, it cannot be based on the satisfaction of knowing it all. Our peace must come in knowing Him, and fixing our minds on the things we’ve settled in our hearts, the things we believe about God that we do not question.

Now, tell me, what do you know? What do you do with your questions? How do you stand when you don’t understand?

Brenda J. Davis is an acquisitions editor for the Strang Book Group and the former editor of SpiritLed Woman magazine.