Over the years, it seems that the American Thanksgiving day has evolved into something that simply marks so much time before Christmas, which is also just another day. For a lot of reasons, this particular day’s meaning has been lost. Now, I do realize that when the original celebration occurred here in the U.S., it had little to do with having a “turkey day” and much to do with the giving of thanks that the pilgrims had made a hazardous trip and had made it to a safe place to live.
God wants us to give thanks for all things that are good in our lives. He even has wanted us to give thanks for adversities because in those, we are able to grow in our spirits. So today, let us think on those things that are good
(1Th 5:18) In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
(Php 4:6-8) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
And now, please give thanks for your loved ones…wherever they may be. Give thanks for all things that are good in your life.
This video is the song: “Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart”
Happy Thanksgiving from Topshelf!! May your day be rich with blessings and love!
To those of you who are leaving nasty and uncalled for comments on my posts, especially the one concerning the little 5 year old girl, I am pleased to say that I will delete each and every one of them when they come in. They are in moderation so they will not see the light of day on this blog.
However, the enemy is trying to discourage me from writing such posts. The problem he has is that I see that God is working here and will not stop posting prayer requests, ever. And in order to fight this, I will be posting praises and blessings each and every time I receive a nasty or inappropriate comment.
Isn’t it sad that when we want to pray for a little, very sick 5 year old girl who has done nothing to deserve any of this, the bad comments, the nasty words that come from the pit of hell, the distasteful things that people can say so easily…those people are hurting. They do not know how to express themselves in loving terms so they lash out at the helpless ones.
Remember, I am going to put up praises and blessings when I receive anymore of those hate filled comments. And to start it off, here goes:
I praise my Lord Jesus for His awesome Grace and Mercy, for having died on the cross for even me. I thank You, Father, for giving me each breath I take, for giving me the incredible family I have, for helping me through another day. Thank You, Lord!!!!
On another blog that I own, I am talking about the problem in our schools and what it is doing to our children who are not getting the education that they should get. We need to get together on our webpages, our blogs and talk about this subject until people sit up and take notice. It is an absolute horror that our children are being DUMBED DOWN. If you do not believe it, ask your children what they learned in school. If they tell you anything, it will not be much because most school districts are now more interested in the dollars they get from the federal government to care about what our children are not learning. They are teaching how to take the tests that will show the school districts in a better light thereby getting more funding from the federal government. It’s all about dollars, not our children’s education. There is very little actual education going on in the U.S.
Christians, those of you who homeschool, please pray for those who cannot homeschool. Some are not qualified to do so or are unable to do so. Please help us.
Do you know that a lot of the kids do not even know who the vice President is? Do you know that when asked about the war in the middle east, most do not even know where that is? Do you know that even the adults have no idea IF we fought in the Vietnam war not when? Do you know that if you ask a person on the street about our own country that most will not have the faintest idea what you’re talking about?
YOU need to start praying about this subject. We all need to pray for the future of our children and our country because it is already being given away. When the Dumbing Down of America is at an end, none of the people of age will be able to run this country intellegently sort of like it’s going now…only MUCH worse. MUCH worse.
Christians, please pray about this. When you are finished praying, please do something about it.
Blog about it, put it up on your website. Get into action groups that address this subject. Have a VOICE in this. We all need a VOICE about this horrific subject. ACT NOW!!!
That is the question that so many people are asking..does God care enough to help ME? And do I believe that He does care? I need it to be personal. And that’s the best thing…God is personal all the way.
Over the years, that question has come up, usually when I haven’t gotten things I wanted or thought I needed. I tended to get like a petulant child, spoiled rotten kid that wanted her way no matter what was going on. I am well aware that, at those times, God has stepped back and allowed me to have it my way at one point or another, usually with somewhat disastrous or difficult results. It never ended up the way I wanted, usually the opposite, in fact. Oh, I might get the immediate results I wanted. That’s happened before but it did not last and I was worse off than I was if I had never gotten it at all.
(1Jn 4:16) And we have known and believed the love that God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
God loves us because He is love. He applies love to us in all He does. We are never without love. But with that love comes discipline, teaching us how to behave, teaching us right from wrong. Sometimes the lessons hurt. A parent has to do what’s right for the child. God is our Father and must do what’s right for us. Much like when you say “no” to your child for their own good, God allows or does not allow certain things in our lives but we still have free will. We can go on and do the thing He didn’t approve but God will not be in it to help us when we fall off the path.
When we choose our own path instead of doing God’s will, He must step back and watch because He doe not inflict His will on us. We are not puppets but humans with free will. While we go down the path of destruction He tries to warn us but, like an child who knows everything, we get into trouble because we didn’t listen to God who knows the end from the beginning.
Have you had occasion when you knew that your teen was doing something wrong but the teen “knew better” and would not listen? You could see what was going to happen if a certain behavior continued. You couldn’t stop the teen so you had to stand back and watch them fail knowing you could have helped if only they would have listened to you. Sometimes the child must fail or do the wrong thing to get the lesson learned. Sometimes, they simply will not learn the lesson at all. In the same manner, God can see that you are headed into trouble in the wrong direction but if you don’t listen, He can do nothing to help. He must allow you to fail in order for you to, like the teen, learn the lesson. Unfortunately, some teens and adults never learn the lesson at all.
At this point, it is possible to think that God doesn’t care because the results were not what you wanted to happen. You cannot see how He could allow that to happen to you. Looked to you like He was shooting 18 holes of golf instead of watching over you. But that isn’t true. God has been there the whole time watching every move you make, every thought you had. He cares about the little things in life just as much as the big things. But He can’t do anything for you if you don’t listen to His guidance. He is your navigator. If you don’t listen to Him, off the path you go.
Maybe it’s time to let God be the navigator, not the co-pilot, but the pilot and navigator in your life. The navigator shows you the course, the path, so that you do not get off into rocks or into the mountains. He makes sure of your safety. It is His job. Give the Lord your future and life. He can handle it. After all, His is the creator. God bless you richly today.
I am asking God to give me the insight and strength to see it through so that I can place another post on this blog. I have to admit that it has been a bit dry just the last couple of days. There is no excuse for my not having posted except that I do not have a thing to write at the moment. That would be why you see me simply doing a blabby fingers.
If we believe that God is in all we do then why on earth don’t we allow Him to run our lives? I wonder about that. I find myself taking back everything I have put in His hands. Of course, I am able to do that better than He can? That’s ridiculous. I guess I thought that He couldn’t do it fast enough. Sigh. Maybe it’s just that He isn’t doing what I want Him to do. After all, I KNOW what I want done. Doesn’t He know that too? That’s why I prayed for it to be that way. Uh huh.
No, we cannot try to manipulate God. He won’t stand for it. He will do what is best for your life regardless of what you think or want. Yes, He does give you the desires of your heart but only if you follow the Word of God that He has provided.
So, isn’t it time to really give it all to God instead of ripping back into your hands to do your thing instead of waiting on Him to do His?
Ξ September 24th, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ Family|
For a week now, I have been wrapped up in the difficulties that our extended family was having. The praise report is that my bro-in-law is out of the hospital and doing pretty well. Then, my Mom was also in the hospital around the same time. He went in last Monday. Thursday, we transported Mom to the hospital to stay for a while too. In the meanwhile, my husband needed tests to rule out blockages and strokes in his head.
Well, my husband got his tests done in the same town as the hospital on Friday. We are still waiting on the results of that. On Saturday, bro-in-law came home. Hurray! On Sunday, Mom came home too! Bigger hurray! They are both doing very well. Mom’s fever finally broke last night and she is in full recovery now. My bro-in-law had already had that happen at the hospital. YES!!
I thank each of you that prayed for us in all this. We are believing that no other member of the family needs any of this and that we continue to be healthy.
We praise You, Lord, for Your hand in all of this. We see that You took care of each of us as these things were unfolding. No matter what the situation, You are there! Thank You, Lord!
Ξ September 22nd, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ Family|
I have to ask forgiveness for not having a post up each day. Part of it is that I am really tired and cannot think straight enough to do this. The other part is that I currently have two family members in the hospital that is an hour and a half away from where we live.
The day before, we had to take one member of the family to that hospital to be admitted. The other member was already in that hospital. We decided to stay overnight there because my husband needed to have some tests done and it worked out that having them done there was more convenient for us.
Today, I have to go back to the hospital to get one of the members of the family because he is being discharged. The other person is still going to be there at least until tomorrow. If she is discharged tomorrow, I will have to go back and get her. I pray that that happens because they will then both be home again and getting better.
Unfortunately, that all means that I have little time to study for my entries into the blog. When the smoke clears, I will most certainly be back writing my almost daily entries again. I thank each one of you who is praying for my family especially during this time.
Please continue to pray for my bro-in-law who is coming home today, my Mom, who is still in the hospital (age 79) and my sister, who is getting over this bug and fighting it off at home. Please also pray for the other members of my family who do not have this and that they won’t get it.
I thank you for helping us during this time. Thank you for reading my blog.
For more information on becoming a Christian or just maintaining as a Christian, please visit Lura’s Bookcase. There are many articles to help you.
Ξ September 18th, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ Family|
Our family is having an emergency situation. Because of that, I may not be able to post a devotional or post today.
Please pray for my bro-in-law (age-43) who has had numerous health problems in the last several years. The problems he has include rheumatoid arthritis, heart valve replacement (2), leaking valve on one not replaced, vasculitis from the arthritis. These things he has daily. Now, he has gotten pneumonia or possibly something else that they are not sure of as yet. He is in the hospital in the intensive care unit. His blood pressure last night was 60 over 34. It has improved considerably. He is awake and feeling a bit better.
Please pray for him and his wife, who is dealing with what appears to be bronchitis herself. She gets very little sleep while he is in the hospital. She is unable to be with him.
Our Lord tells us that we can be healed. In fact, the scripture tells us that we are already healed. Sometimes, that can be hard to believe when we don’t feel that good. Please help us pray for my bro-in-law who is feeling really sick and needs all the prayer support he can get. We do thank you for all of your help and prayers.
(1Pe 2:24) He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
The subject of honoring God came up recently in my prayer and Bible study time. What does it take to honor God anyway? First, those who wish to honor God will accept His Son, Jesus, who died on the cross for them by asking Him into their hearts after asking forgiveness for their sins. Then, it follows that to go back to the old life doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because if they have asked for the forgiveness, then it makes more sense to change the lifestyle.
When I got into all this, the scripture about presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice came to mind.
(Rom 12:1) I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.
Now, if we need to do that, it makes sense that we would want to do everything we can to honor God. Going back to an old lifestyle seems to be counter productive. Heading forward means to be doing those things pleasing to God. But how can I give back to a Lord Who is not seen, who has everything? It’s a good question and one that I struggled with for many years. When the answer came to me, it was too simple. Everything we do should be to please God. Everything!
But all I do is sweep the church and pick up garbage. If that’s your job, do that to honor God. How? Well, when we were kids, we used to try to get by with doing just the smallest amount of our work as we could. It was sort of to get away with it and sort of because we were lazy and didn’t want to do the whole thing. It really did not dawn on us that we were spending more time avoiding the situation than it would have taken to simply do whatever IT was. Like, cleaning my room was something I hated doing and avoided it like the plague. The problem was that my room could actually be fixed in about 20 minutes, give or take a couple of minutes. But I thought it should take hours, so instead of cleaning my room, I read comic books in my closet.
As I grew up, I still wanted to avoid things like the dishes and dusting, ironing my Dad’s shirts for work. Those were tasks that I got handed to me because I was out of school in the summer time and Mom and Dad both worked. I was 16 and didn’t want to do that stuff. So, I avoided it until the last minute. It really only took a portion of a day and I could have spread it out over a couple of days but I wanted to avoid it. Such silliness.
If we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, then we should do all things to honor God. If I had known to just do the work to honor God, it would have taken a few moments of my time but it would have been done to the best of my abilities. THAT is what honors God. Willingness to to do the work and do it to the best of our abilities. When we grumble and complain about what we do to earn our wages, that does not honor God. In fact, it’s counter to that. If we complain about the co-workers or the boss, we are not honoring God regardless of what they are doing to us.
So, today and everyday, make the choice of honoring God with your lives by going to work and do the best job ever. If that means going the extra mile, that’s what it means. Doing things to the best of your abilities does not take that much longer and the reward is great, whether you see it here or with God. Take the time to enjoy what you do. If the job is a drudge and you hate it, either change jobs or pray while you work at the one you have. I have had jobs I hated but when I prayed while I worked, everything seemed to work better, be brighter and eventually I was able to have the job I loved.
Today is the day that God has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!!
When it looks really dark and gloomy and nothing seems to be working out right, it’s really hard to make it through the night. The darkest hours are early in the AM hours. Things that didn’t hurt during the day are excruciating now. Maybe you have physical problems that always wake you up. Perhaps it’s because of a loss or financial difficulties. But the night is so very long and you are so alone, no matter how many people are there with you.
There IS hope. Yet, it was gloomy the night Jesus died. It was horrible for a couple of nights after that, so long and hopeless. His followers had begun to disperse, trying to hide from officials. It was like the rug had been pulled out from under the whole group, so many suffering and mourning. So many who’s hope had gone with the death of their leader.
Then came the morning……the stone was rolled away and Jesus had risen. The tomb was empty! An angel told the ladies that He is gone!
And in your life, too, there might be darkness in the night but….then comes the morning. Things are brighter and there is joy. It is truly a new day.
(Psa 30:5) For His anger is only a moment; in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
