Tag: gratitude

Thanksgiving Season! Really?

 

post97pic1“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” – Psalm 107:1 NLT

It is November and Thanksgiving is right around the corner, along with the challenge to be thankful! But seriously, do we have to be thankful all month?

Do we have to play along with everyone else and update our social media accounts with daily thankfulness? What if we run out of things we’re thankful for before the end of the month? Can’t we just skip November’s “Thanks” and move full speed into December’s Get me more

Challenge: Is the Call “The Call”?

2014-08-20 11.37.54It’s time for a confession; I haven’t always had the right attitude regarding my service in the church…
Nursery? I did my time when my boys were little.
VBS? I need a break in the summer.
Kitchen committee? Are you kidding me?

To be willing to serve God without reservation, and teach the Bible to adults, I needed to keep reading here

Was It All For Me?

crown-of-thorns2Jesus, when you stumbled under the weight of the cross, was that the moment you felt the weight of my sin? Did you question the Father: “Her?”

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. – Isaiah 53:4

Jesus, when they cracked the whip and the metal shards pulled the skin off your back did you feel the pain of my hand as it spanked my child in anger.

He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. – Isaiah 53:5

Jesus, when the soldiers yelled and taunted you, did hear the sharp sting of my words as I talked down to my co-workers, siblings, parents, grandparents, husband and children?

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. – Isaiah 53: 7

Jesus, when the crowd called out “Barabbas!” did you hear me go along with them rather than be identified with you?

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. – John 1:0-11

Jesus, when they thrust the thorns into your brow, were you repulsed by the number of times I thought I deserved more, or better, or different than the things you had given me?

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. – Isaiah 53:6

Jesus, when they drove the stake into your feet, did you experience the pain of my disobedience? Did you hear me defiantly say, “No, I won’t go there!”?

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross. – 1 Peter 2:24

Jesus, when they nailed your hands to the cross, did you think about the times I refused to serve your children because I had other, better, things to do?

He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. – Isaiah 53:12

Jesus, when the sky was dark, was it my shame that blocked the sun?

God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light. – John 3:19

Jesus, when you heard the scoffers, was it my voice you heard yelling out of control as I demanded obedience from my children?

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. – Colossians 1: 20-21

Jesus, when you said, “It is finished!” were you revolted by my thoughts that I didn’t need a Savior?

No one is righteous – not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away… – Romans 3:10-12

Jesus, when you died, and they laid your body on the cold slab in the darkness of the tomb, did the weight of my guilt press down upon you?

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” – Romans 5:8

Jesus, what can wash away my sin?

Nothing, but the blood of Jesus!

For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.” – Hebrews 10:10

(All Scriptures are from the New Living Translation)

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Well Done, Brian! Well Done!

linked in headshot 2Today is Brian’s last day of work; he is retiring from the corporate world… again. OK, so the first time didn’t ‘take’, but now that he’s practiced once, maybe he’ll get the hang of it and stick it out!

Brian, I feel like I should be doing something huge to mark this occasion. I should find more here