Saturday, November 23, 2019

November 23



"... And thank God all the time. To do so, it is the will of God in Christ Jesus " (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

My mother-in-law had a long life that evolved in gratitude. She was thankful for everything all the time. And often she found things to be thankful for that no one else would regard as a thanksgiving subject.
 When she became old and lived a lonely, single existence and her body would no longer withstand the demands as before, she would be thankful for having less pain today than yesterday and that her children were kind and telephoned her. During one period she was thankful that she could get out of bed every morning and when she could no longer do so, she was thankful that she could get up out of bed if she had help from someone.
Many years ago, Merlin R. Carothers wrote a series of books on gratitude. One of them was given the title "God's Power Through Thanksgiving." The book gives many examples of how the power of God is released when we express our gratitude. It is as if we demonstrate our faith in God as we dare to thank Him for everything. It is as if we are saying to God: “I do not really understand why it has to be like it is, but my life rests in Your hands and I rely on Your help."
Someone once said that we are to "fast regarding complaints and feast on gratitude." It is healthy advice.

Prayer
Lord, help me today to starve out the complaints in my life and bask in gratitude. Remind me of all the little wonderful things that are around me and that I ought to be thankful for.

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