15-21 January: Tthis past week, I was grateful that eldest D.D is now at rest and waiting the call of the Life Giver after a valiant effort against a pancreatic cancer that simply exploded after the initial diagnosis; thankful for the promise of life eternal for those who follow Jesus; thankful for this beautiful word picture of a day soon to come - "We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet Him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18; New Living Translation); thankful for a D.S. and his wife being here to say farewell before his elder sister fell asleep to wait for the call of the Life Giver; thankful for this insight as I was musing on "minimalizing" - at what point does "enough" become "abundance" then change to a curse of "too much ____"? I was thankful for this truth found in John's Gospel: "I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with Me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from Me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with Me and My words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon." (John 15:1-7; Message); thankful to have the words of a little scripture song running through my brain - "The fruit of the Spirit is love - joy, peace, long-suffering . . . ." - a beautiful way to start the morning; thankful that all my systems are up and running; thankful, too, for the wise counsel found in Philippians 2:14-16: "Do everything without grumbling and arguing so that you may be blameless and pure, innocent children of God surrounded by people who are crooked and corrupt. Among these people you shine like stars in the world because you hold on to the word of life . . . ." (Common English Bible); thankful for the assurance that Jesus is coming again - and SOON - to waken saints who are sleeping and lift us, together with them, up to be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17); thankful to have known many of these saints through my lifetime, may all who come after us find US as faithful as they; thankful for this message from 1 Corinthians 10:13: " Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps His promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out" (Good News Translation); thankful for our heavenly Father's faithfulness - even when we are not being true to Him, He keeps His promises; I was 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", I am thankful for the positive spin of Jesus' words in Matthew 7:12 where He says: “Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them—this is the essence of all true religion" (PHILLIPS); thankful to have an opportunity to hear again "the rest of the story" Isaiah 1:16-18; thankful that no matter how awful our sin, our Father is merciful and longs for us to repent so that our sins can be forgiven; thankful for the message in Psalm 51:7-10: "Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me" (New Living Translation); thankful for another Sabbath, the day our Creator chose when, in the beginning, He'd finished forming and filling the planet on which we live; I was thankful for the kindness of those around me day by day; and thankful for this warning from Scripture found in Galatians 6:7-8: "You cannot fool God, so don’t make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant. If you follow your selfish desires, you will harvest destruction, but if you follow the Spirit, you will harvest eternal life" (Contemporary English Version).
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