4-10 August: During the past week, I was thankful for the frequent assurances of our heavenly Father's love for us, a love that matches that of our precious Savior; thankful for the faithful ministry of our pastor and his wife, who cover the needs of our four church district with such grace; thankful for the promise found in Jeremiah 33:2-3: “The Lord made the earth, and He keeps it safe. The Lord is His name. He says, ‘. . . pray to Me, and I will answer you. I will tell you important secrets. You have never heard these things before’" (Easy to Read Version); thankful for the teachers - Frank Knittle in high school, Bob McPherson at College of Eastern Utah, San Juan Campus, and numerous others - who increased my love of learning while they covered course-work; thankful for the many Sabbath-school teachers, from cradle-roll through juniors and early-teens, who were faithful to the lessons they taught from the Scriptures; thankful for the promise in Psalm 119:129-130: "Lord, Your rules are wonderful. That is why I follow them. As people understand Your word, it brings light to their lives. Your word makes even simple people wise" (Easy to Read Version); thankful for the conviction that God's law is an eternal transcript of His character and is a description of His people, rather than a list of "can'ts"; thankful for the message of Jesus that tells us how to show our love for Him; thankful that the apostle, John, recorded this message again and again (John 14:15; ch.15:10; 1 John 5:3 in many translations); thankful for the memory of a glorious call to worship shared with our former church in Las Vegas and known in our present church home as well - "Come, let us worship the Lord . . . . " - the hymn-writer/composer area was blank on the manuscript copy I was given; thankful that my current schedule allows for nap-time when sleep is cut short; thankful for the message from Genesis 3:15 where the Savior for us is promised as the Creator spoke to the deceiver: "I will make you and your brood enemies of the woman and all her children; the woman’s child will stomp your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Voice); thankful to know that all the promises in God's Word are mine; thankful to understand that I am included in that wonderful word "whosoever"; always thankful for these words from the lips of Jesus: ". . . God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son, so that every one who believes in Him shall not be lost, but should have eternal life." (John 3:16; PHILLIPS); thankful for straight counsel from the Word - I was reading the Sabbath School lesson and found four passages that were the perfect response to a question that came up earlier in the day; I was thankful to be confident of the love God has for all His children (me, TOO!); thankful for this precious assurance from Luke 12:6-7: "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins [Gr assarion, a Roman coin equal to a 16th of a denarius (the denarius was counted as a day’s wages for an unskilled worker)]? Yet not one of them has [ever] been forgotten in the presence of God. Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are far more valuable than many sparrows" (Amplified Bible); thankful for another new day of life and the promise of strength enough to meet its needs; thankful for the pleasant anticipation of the Sabbath hours; and I was thankful for these beautiful words from the forty-sixth Psalm: "God is our shelter and our strength. When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and He’s ready to help. So why run and hide? No fear, no pacing, no biting fingernails. When the earth spins out of control, we are sure and fearless. When mountains crumble and the waters run wild, we are sure and fearless." (Psalm 46:1-2; VOICE).
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