On November 25th many people will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. This is a very joyous time spent with family and friends. The grocery stores are packed with people lined up to buy ingredients for those delicious family favorite dishes. Kids are having parties at school and the little ones get to make turkeys and dress up like Pilgrims and Indians (Thank God for the Harvest). Excitement is truly in the air and people are traveling great distances to gather with loved ones. With all this excitement I can't help but ask myself, "Why aren't people this excited about the Goodness of God Almighty ALL of the Time?" Yes it is a holiday and we should be filled with joy. However, we should walk around with a song of praise on our lips and a dance of thanksgiving in our feet for the Lord everyday we are blessed to witness a brand NEW DAY. Over 150,000 people die each day, with at least 24,000 of them dying of hunger. The other day I watched on television as a man dug eight tiny graves in his village. The children had not died yet, but he was preparing for the inevitable. As I stared with tears in my eyes ready to turn the television I was forced to watch as a child covered his frail body with a thin blanket. As his innocent body laid on the hard ground he knew the time was close for his soul to leave this universe. As tears rolled down my eyes I could hear the Holy Spirit telling me to be Thankful all the Days of my Life and Show it through my ACTIONS!
Today, before I dressed my son for school I asked him if he was ready for Thanksgiving. He shouted, "Yes mom and I think we are going to have a party today!" He then told me we should SHOW GOD how THANKFUL WE ARE! I asked him, "How can we SHOW God we are Thankful?" He then raised both of his hands over his head (notice my 4 year old didn't SAY anything he SHOWED me with his ACTIONS). At that moment I could feel the power of the Holy Spirit confirming what he told me after watching the starving child on television. I thanked my son for sharing such an AWESOME word with mommy! After dropping my son off at school I went to the grocery store. Just as I was about to leave I saw a man that looked to be in his 80's greeting everyone. As people walked by he would tell them, "Have a blessed day." However, when I walked by he told me, "We should celebrate Thanksgiving all year long and ACT LIKE we are thankful for the favor of God, Amen." I looked at him smiled and replied, "Amen I agree with you one hundred percent sir, have a Blessed Day." The point I am trying to make is if you are reading this blog GOD is Not Done With you Yet in the area of your ACTIONS for and TOWARDS HIM. Today is the day to Show God we are Thankful through the use of our Gifts, Talents, and the unique Ideas he has given us (Dynamic Destiny). In addition, we must show him we are Thankful through our Attitudes and Actions. Do you have an Attitude of Gratitude or do you Constantly complain about the cards you have been dealt? I see so many people walking around like someone (even GOD) owes them something. To take it a step further these same individuals constantly complain about what's wrong in their life instead of thanking God for what is RIGHT in their life. No matter how disturbing your current situation may appear, there are many individuals facing more trials than you. Yes you might have lost your job, but someone in this world has lost his job, entire family, and sanity. My son had a homework assignment last week to write down everything he was Thankful For on one piece of paper. Of course we could not write everything down, because we would be writing for rest of our lives. I think we should regularly carve out time in our schedules to physically write down how God has blessed us. To take it a step further beside of the blessing write down what we are doing to Give Thanks to God. If we did this we would find that the list of God's Blessings would far outweigh what we are doing to show Thanksgiving in the way we LIVE. Can we pay our Debts to God? Absolutely not! Jesus Paid Our Debts on the Cross Glory be to God. However, that doesn't change the fact we can do our BEST to show God just how much we Adore and Appreciate Him. It makes no sense to Thank God for his Financial Blessings and NOT Demonstrate Good Stewardship over our Money. What about this one? Thank God for Keeping us Healthy and turn around and use drugs. We have to start showing God we are Grateful. We do not Deserve anything and Everything God gives us is a Sweet Gift from above. I love this quote by John F. Kennedy: As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. My question for you is, "Are you living by your words?" If you are not living by your words it is not too late to strive to be more like Jesus Christ. I am so Thankful for the Blood of Jesus and the sacrifice he made on the Cross for our Sins. For this reason, I will SHOW my Appreciation by TELLING OTHERS ABOUT HIS SAVING GRACE, TRYING TO UPHOLD GODLY CHARACTER (fruit of the Spirit), PRAYING EVERY DAY ALL DAY, STUDYING THE WORD, USING THE GIFTS HE HAS BLESSED ME WITH, WORSHIPPING HIM, PRAISING HIM, OPERATING WITH INTEGRITY (list goes on)! The bottom line is None of Us are Perfect, but that shouldn't give us an EXCUSE to operate outside of God's will for our lives. God has given us POWER as Christians to Fight the Darkness of the world with the Full Armor of God. We must wear and utilize our Armor instead of letting it sit in the closet and collect dust. Do you know who you are and the image you are created in? If the answer is yes, let's take a stand together and let our Actions speak Louder than Words by GIVING (Action Word) THANKS daily to the Almighty God.
Scriptures of Thanksgiving are Below. I want to Thank All the Supporters of this Blog. All those who have ever believed in me I say Thank You. All those who Believe in Yourself I say Thank You. All those who are Soldiers in the Army of the Lord I say Thank You. I love you and I pray God's Blessings Upon you and Your Family during this Thanksgiving Holiday and everyday of Thanksgiving!
Determined Events Sent To Ignite a New You!
Holy Bible: New International Version
Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 106:1
I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. Psalm 34:1
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
1 Chronicles 16:8
I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord. Psalm 116:17
Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. Psalm 28:7
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