Thanksgiving VII ~

2-8 February:  This week, I have been thankful for another day of life and increasing strength; thankful to be awake early for extra time in God's Word; thankful for these words from 1 Corinthians 2:7,9 where we are reminded - "We talk about God’s wisdom, which has been hidden as a secret. God determined this wisdom in advance, before time began .... This is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love Him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being." (CEB); thankful for our Father's steadfast love for humanity - "... not willing that ANY should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9; thankful for a heart that yearns after Him; thankful to echo this thought from Psalm 59:16-17 where we read: "... I will awake with the sun to sing of Your loving mercy.... I will lift my voice to sing Your praise, O my Strength—for You came to my defense. O God, You have shown me Your loving mercy." (VOICE); thankful my beautiful second-generation of children - the grand-daughters and grandsons that bring much happiness to my heart; thankful for all the examples I've seen of perseverance through pain of ALL sorts; thankful to read these words of praise from Psalm 18:2 where King David wrote: "The Eternal is my rock, my fortress, and my salvation; He is my True God, the stronghold in which I hide, my strong shield ...." (VOICE); thankful for the message of Philippians 1:6. the "good work" that has begun in me will be "completed"; thankful for God's promise never to forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:8; Hebrews 13:5); thankful for the truth of the words in Psalm 33:4 - "... The word of the Eternal is perfect and true; His actions are always faithful and right." (VOICE); thankful for another night of sleep and the mental "defragmentation" which goes with it; thankful for the matchless grace with which our Savior covers all who put themselves into His care; thankful for this truth in Proverbs 21:21 where it is written: "Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor." (ESV); thankful for this reminder of the question of a dear friend: "Do you REALLY want Jesus to come?'; thankful for the weekly "preparation day" and its opportunities to finish getting ready for the Sabbath; thankful for this counsel from Psalm 97:10-11 where we read: "Let those who love the Lord hate what is bad. For He keeps safe the souls of His faithful ones. He takes them away from the hand of the sinful. Light is spread like seed for those who are right and good, and joy for the pure in heart." (NLV); so thankful, yesterday, for another Sabbath - the day God set aside at the end of Creation week as a blessing for all He'd made (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11 - even the animals are to be given rest!); thankful for waking early with thoughts of praise in my head; and I was thankful for the admonition of Jesus, who said: "“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him]." (Matthew 5:43-45; AMP).