Thanksgiving V ~

3-9 December:  This week, I have been thankful to have heard the powerful messages brought to us on hopechannel TV; thankful for 45 minutes of musical thanksgiving on the New Preceptions program (thanksgiving is a season of the heart that can last all year!); thankful for this promise given by Jesus in John 6:35 where we read: "Jesus replied to them, 'I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to Me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in Me [as Savior] will never be thirsty ....'" (AMP); thankful for the 'phone visit with a D.S.; thankful for the snowy coat on the ground - a reminder of how our Heavenly Father can take a life that is grimy, soiled from contact with the world's brokenness - and from one's own mistakes and character flaws - and make that life "white as snow"; and thankful to read these words from John 8:12 - "Jesus spoke to them again: 'I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.'” (CSB); thankful for another night of sound sleep and to awake feeling supremely rested; thankful to see Dandee's mischievous face peering up at me when I opened my door - what a rascal he is! I am thankful for this wonderful promise found in John's gospel: "So Jesus said ..., 'I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I am the Door for the sheep [leading to life]. I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security). The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].'" (John 10:7,9,10; AMP); thankful for the privileges of living as as "daughter of the King" and inviting other women to join me; thankful for another new day of life and for the promise that this isn't ALL there is; and thankful to read more from the message of the Shepherd in John 10:14-15: "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.(NKJV) - I am SO glad for this life-giving Savior!  I was thankful for waking a bit early and being slightly ahead in my morning routine; thankful that the aging brain is still able to grasp and use a new idea! I was thankful for Bible Gateway.com where I find wonderful resources for Bible study and a multitude of possibilities for making a particular passage clearer in my mind - "All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; so that the [people] of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16,17; AMP); thankful for the weekly "preparation-day" that encourages us to take care of the routine daily activities ahead of time so that we can be blessed with less to do during the Sabbath hours; thankful for the blessings of sight and the hearing that remains; and thankful for these words of Jesus recorded in John 14:4-6: "... 'Where I go you know, and the way you know.' Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" (NKJV); thankful for each new Sabbath-day and the privilege of joining my church family in study, praise, and worship of our Creator; thankful to know of God's power to change lives as we come to Him with our needs; and thankful for this message from Jesus in John 15:5,8 where we read: “I am the vine, you are the branches. [Those] who [abide] in Me, and I in [them, bear] much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." (NKJV).