A Thanksgiving Blog To Encourage You and Get You Thinking!

There is always something to be thankful for - even in the worst moments, days, weeks, and years. This is not to minimize your hardship, as we have an empathetic and faithful High Priest, Jesus, who understands our grief, suffering, pain, and loss and who tenderly comforts us in all that we go through. But there is a hidden key and a true benefit in thankfulness that is tucked away in the Bible - it shifts our perspective and aligns our heart with our Savior’s joy and peace. A Pastor friend recently said to me, I don’t think you can be angry and truly thankful at the same time. Try to find everything you can be thankful for and see if anger, complaining, frustration minimizes, and your joy and peace increase. Philippians 4:6-7 says   6" Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
 
Here's my gratitude list –
* A Savior that saved me from life-altering effects of sin.
* My Lord who reigns over my life and brings order out of chaos and a whole and healed heart out of brokenness.
*   The Holy One who sanctifies me through His grace and truth and allows me to share in the divine nature of His Son. I get to become just like Jesus, what!?!?  That blows my mind every day!
*   For jobs that I enjoy
* Favor
*   An incredible church family
*   A fun car
*   The ability to learn and assimilate knowledge
*   Freedom to worship
* Extra money to give to others
* Legs that work, eyes that see, imperfections that keep me humble and keep me dependent on Him
*   Trials and tribulations that make me more mature,
* The gift of forgiveness and reconciliation, wisdom, the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit
*  The ability to hike in a beautiful state
WHEW, that was a LOT! I could go on and on… My brain wasn’t in this positive of a place when I started but now, the benefits that I have in life are refreshed in my mind. Do I have lack, weaknesses, and things I want to change and increase in life? ABSOLUTELY, but why not be thankful and content in what I have now?
 
The other thing I encourage you to do, is to shift your focus to others around you this Thanksgiving season. Jesus the King of the Universe, stripped Himself of His divinity and stooped down as a servant to love, have compassion on, speak truth, heal, set free, raise the dead and feed the hungry. There is a verse that Jesus impressed on my heart years ago, I would encourage you to read the entire passage of Isaiah 58. But I will highlight two verses – Isaiah 58:10-11 “And if you offer yourself to [assist] the hungry and satisfy the [a]need of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday. 11 “And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places, and give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”
 
Will you take out a piece of paper and write what you’re thankful for? Will you take time to be a true blessing to someone else during this Thanksgiving season?

Cassia Hendrickson
 Production Manager
Rocky Mountain CTN