Thanksgiving VIII ~

 4-10 April:  This last week, I have been thankful to know He is RISEN! He is risen, indeed! I was thankful for this message of the apostle, Paul: "Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, being members of his sinful race, and wherever there is sin, death results. But all who are related to Christ will rise again. Each, however, in his own turn: Christ rose first; then when Christ comes back, all His people will become alive again." (1 Corinthians 15:22-23; TLB); thankful to know that His death on the cross was a gift to me, for "In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor, which He lavished upon us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence)." (Ephesians 1:7-8; AMPC); thankful for a new day of life and the promise of strength for the day; thankful that I can live confidently as a daughter of our heavenly Father, who is love; thankful for the message of 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 where it is written: "... Whatever we do, it is certainly not for our own profit but because Christ’s love controls us now. Since we believe that Christ died for all of us, we should also believe that we have died to the old life we used to live. He died for all so that all who live—having received eternal life from Him—might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them." (TLB); thankful for sunlight after a day of snow and rain sprinkles; thankful for the certainty of Bible prophecy as revealed in history (Joshua 23:14); thankful to confirm the words of Isaiah who wrote of Jehovah God saying: " Long ago, I figured that you’d resist (after all, you are a hard-headed and stubborn lot). Way back then, I told you what would happen so that you wouldn’t claim that some other god was responsible .... " (Isaiah 48:4-5; VOICE); thankful the Father has given me a desire for patience and "the law of kindness" on my tongue; thankful He has put in my heart a desire to be like Jesus - at home and in my community; thankful for this call to godly living from Galatians 2:20 where it is written: "My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives His life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that He gave himself for me, dispensing His life into mine!" (TPT) - this life is my personal goal.  I was thankful to mark a new year in the life of a daughter who made her debut a few years back - Happy Birthday, Stef!  I was thankful, too, for another blessing, the anticipation of a D.S. and D.D.I.L. arriving on the homeward leg of their journey; thankful as I considered this message from Romans 5:10-11 where it is written: "Even when we were God’s enemies, He made peace with us, because His Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by His Son’s life. And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us." (CEV); thankful for D.D.'s assistance (and that I was up and out of my room before she had to leave for work!); thankful for the help that accomplishes the laundry business with little assistance from my "old lady" muscles;  thankful as I consider this thought from Hebrews 1:2-3 where this is written: "But in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of His] Son, ... He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high." (AMPC); thankful for the Creator's gift of the Sabbath rest and the concept that HIS rest can be the rest for all, if they choose to enter into that rest (Hebrews 4:1-4); thankful for all the programming on the internet that lifts Him up when one is unable to attend Sabbath services at their church home; and I was thankful to consider this blessed thought: " We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering His Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to Him." (Romans 5:7-8; MSG).