Thanksgiving VIII ~

 30 May-5 June: This past week, I have been thankful for those who - over the years - have considered liberty of such great value that they have given all to preserve it; thankful for the many others who have come home after serious injuries to take up their lives in new ways; thankful for the message found in Psalm 56:3-4 where it is written: ". . . When I am afraid, I will put my confidence in You. Yes, I will trust the promises of God. And since I am trusting Him, what can mere man do to me?" (TLB); thankful for those whose lives we celebrated on Monday, whose choice to defend liberty and country was very costly; thankful for another life given that we ALL might have liberty to follow where He leads; thankful to know of the day that is coming when those who follow Him will receive their reward - as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 where it is written: "On that day, with a command that thunders into the world, with a voice of a chief heavenly messenger, and with a blast of God’s trumpet, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven; and all those who died in the Anointed One, our Liberating King, will rise from the dead first. Then we who are alive and left behind will be snatched up together with them into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. This is how we, the resurrected and the living, will be with Him forever." (VOICE); thankful for the traveling medical specialist who comes to Moscow to see patients (and saving me a full day of travel to C.D.L. and back); thankful for beautiful weather in the forecast, delightful days of ALMOST summer! And I was thankful for this message from Revelation 21:2-4 where it is written: "And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride on her wedding day, adorned for her husband and for His eyes only. And I heard a great voice, coming from the throne. [saying] 'See, the home of God is with His people. He will live among them; they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them. The prophecies are fulfilled: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning no more, crying no more, pain no more, for the first things have gone away.'" (VOICE). What a day that will be!  I was thankful for the traveling mercies that our Father provides when we journey; thankful for the beautiful landscape of Camas Prairie and the Palouse this time of the year when winter Canola is flooding the fields with sunlight and there are so many shades of green as grain, garbanzos, and lentils are making good growth; thankful as I consider this truth from Hebrews 9:27-28 where it is written: "Just as mortals are appointed to die once and then to experience a judgment, so the Anointed One, our Liberating King, was offered once in death to bear the sins of many and will appear a second time, not to deal again with sin, but to rescue those who eagerly await His return." (VOICE); thankful for in-home foot care thanks to Pampered Feet - my tootsies are now in very good condition; thankful for the monthly boost to financial resources provided through SSA, not a "benefit" from the government, but a withdrawal from mandatory savings!  I was thankful for the truth of the wise words from Proverbs 15:1 where we read: "A tender answer turns away rage, but a prickly reply spikes anger." (VOICE);
thankful to know there's no danger that the northward drift of our star will continue - our Creator has promised, "As long as the earth continues, there will always be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and hot, summer and winter, day and night on earth” (Genesis 8:22; ERV); thankful to know there is a great Intelligence working in the design and operation of our planet; thankful for the message in 1 John 4:8 that tells us more about this Intelligence: "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (VOICE); thankful for another Sabbath day - the weekly reminder the Creator gave to the human race in the beginning (Genesis 2:2-3); thankful for a day when D.D. and D.S.I.L. can retreat from their busy lives - very much like Jesus and His disciples did, as recorded in Mark 6:31; and thankful for this counsel found in 1 Thessalonians 5:8-11 where it is written: "... Since we belong to the day, we should stay sober and in control, covered with a breastplate of faith and love and a helmet of the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us, His chosen, to face His wrath but to be the heirs of salvation through our Lord Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King, who died for us. So regardless of whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. So support one another. Keep building each other up as you have been doing." (VOICE).