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It has been a great
day. I preached at Hurst Christian Church, my wonderful husband took me to
lunch and I cleaned out a closet! Then, Bruce and I (but mostly Bruce) did the
final edit on my final paper for the summer and SENT IT OFF!!!!! WOW!! I have a couple of other projects to complete before
classes begin in August.
Geni sent wonderful
pictures of her and Cody on the beach and everyone looks like they are having a
really great time.
Prayer: Loving Lord,
full of kindness and grace, tonight let us enter Your gates with thanksgiving
and Your courts with praise. Our hearts are thankful for a day set aside for
worship and praise to You. Thank you for prayers, Your Word, songs, preaching
and fellowship with a community who loves You and each other. In Jesus name, I
pray. Amen.
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and
his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is
good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all
generations.”
Psalm 100: 4-5
When our hearts are
thankful they are filled with joy. When we forget to be thankful and forget to
offer the sacrifice of praise then our souls suffer. Sometimes we forget to
receive the blessings from God with gratitude. Just like any new behavior it
has to be practiced.
It is easy to be
thankful for really obvious blessings, but sometimes difficult to be grateful
for situations we would have never chosen such as…a difficult child, or tension
in a marriage or home, health issues or employment. The author of my meditation calls this
“counterintuitive thankfulness.” This type of thankfulness is only possible
when we trust God at the deepest level. It also takes practice and self-discipline
to be able to honestly be grateful when our circumstances feel just the
opposite. It is a lesson I am trying very much to learn.
So my friends, let
us work together. I will pray for you and you pray for me that we will work on
coming into the Presence of God with Thanksgiving persistently when we receive
blessings that make us glad and especially when it doesn’t look like a blessing
we would have chosen so that God can take this situation and turn it into
victory.
Take joy in the
journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray
with a heart filled with gratitude, let us cast our cares on the Lord and get
some sleep. God is up all night anyway so there is no need for all of us to be
awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.
I am not moved by what I see. I am not
moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.
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