Thanksgiving V ~

14-20 January:  Last week, I was thankful for a quiet night with Dandee - that quiet can sometimes be elusive if there are squabbling felines or other four-leggeds that disturb HIS sleep! I am thankful to be able to move around the house under my own power still (and to have "assistive devices" available if needed); thankful to know of these words from our Savior found in John 8:31-32: "Jesus told the people who had faith in Him, 'If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" (CEV); thankful for the quiet of the early morning - my favorite time to do some devotional reading is in these early morning hours; thankful for answered prayers (and for many that are unanswered, that time has revealed may have been unwise!); thankful for these words from Isaiah 45:3-5: "...I have created you and cared for you since you were born. I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior. With what in all of heaven and earth do I compare? Whom can you find who equals me? I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me." (TLB); thankful to know that, like the daytime sun that is hidden behind clouds, God's presence is always near to bless and keep us in His care; thankful for the thought that "Every promise in the Book is mine; every chapter, every verse, and each line. All are blessings of His love divine - every promise in the Book is mine"; thankful for this counsel from Galatians 5:16-17 where it is written: "... Live your whole life in the Spirit and you will not satisfy the desires of your lower nature. For the whole energy of the lower nature is set against the Spirit, while the whole power of the Spirit is contrary to the lower nature. Here is the conflict ...." (PHILLIPS); thankful for the messages in the Word, its guidelines for a life of blessing; thankful for all the evidences of our loving Creator in the natural world around us; thankful for all the promises in God's Word, especially those where God says, "I will . . . .", as in Ezekiel 36:22 and onward - where we read: "... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes ...."; thankful for the inspiration (and the time) to attempt a 30-day reading of God's Word - daily selections from the Books of Moses, the histories of God's people, Wisdom books, the prophets, and the Gospels/Epistles; thankful for the blessings of health and strength; thankful for the promise in 1 Corinthians 19:13 where it is written: "... God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently." (AMPC) - Father, please help me to look for the "escape route" You've provided instead of blindly struggling with the temptation; thankful for the fresh, new coat of snow that is outside my window; thankful that my ignorant attempts to get my computer "unstuck" were successful; thankful for this reminder from the Word: "... Whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12; AMPC); thankful for our heavenly Father's faithfulness - even when we are not being true to Him, He keeps His promises;  thankful for all the ways I am blessed each day - the warmth of this shelter from winter weather, the abundant provision for nutritional needs, the awareness of the Creator God who loves each of us and wants us to be with Him forever; and, remembering the words of "wise men" who have said, "Don't do to others what you would not want them to do to you",  thankful for the positive spin of Jesus' words in Matthew 7:12 where He says: “... Whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets." (AMPC).