Happy Saturday everyone! I was up way past my bedtime last night so it feels very early but lots to do today so I will get through my morning routine and hopefully get to bed early tonight and get a nap tomorrow. I am technically on vacation but there is work at the office that needs done and can't wait, so I will be there some today as well as in and out next week. I was pulled to stray away from James this week and maybe for the next few weeks as we prepare for Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I am one that gets very set in my routines and so when God tells me to do something else, I question it sometimes but He put this verse in my mind first thing this morning and said, "This". so "This" is what we are doing.
I love Thanksgiving, it is my favorite holiday, I feel it is the one that because of all the commercialization of Christmas, has at least been left alone to remain what it is; a day to be thankful. That all being said, I have a love/ hate relationship with November and things that happened this year doesn't make that any better. We passed the 45th anniversary of my dad being gone this last week, on Thursday, just like the year he died, on a Thursday. I woke up that morning crying, and had cried 3 times before I got to work. I was 13, it was so long ago, but I miss him and can find it very easy to feel sorry for myself that I had this incredible man in my life and only got to have him there for such a short time. I also lost my favorite uncle in November, 13 years ago, and this year, I lost a dear friend. November is hard. And then on the flip side of that, some of my favorite people were born in November; my husband, my mom, my brother-in-law, one of my favorite cousins that I lost last year and Cathy, my friend I mentioned above, who was also my boss. Another friend of mine mentioned to me that November is a blue month for a lot of people. I can see that. It is coming on Christmas and it seems to be that time of year that we reflect on our year, and our lives. I love Christmas too but I long for the Christmases we had when I was a kid, at my grandma's, the house bursting at the seems with family and the laughter and if you know Glossers, we all have the ability (so we think) to talk and listen at the same time, and we did, a lot. Now Christmas will be the three of us and my mom and hopefully my sis and brother-in-law. Things really change that is for sure.
So, as we are coming up on Thanksgiving, I wanted to do a short Bible Study on 1 verse.
1 Thessalonians 5:18.
In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Let's dig in.
Highlight= this is the will of God. Explain= Did you think I was going to pick "in everything give thanks"? We use this verse a lot to remind us to be thankful but I just wanted to make sure we all understand exactly what it is we are giving thanks for. We always need to remember that the verse does NOT say, FOR everything give thanks, it says IN everything give thanks. God doesn't expect us to thank Him for a cancer diagnosis, or a loved one dying, or even a bad day. That would be giving thanks FOR everything. He expects us to remember who we are, why we are here and that he is a just God which means there is not a person in the world that everything goes right for them every day of their lives. He wants us to use the peace and grace He gives us to get through those bad days. There is a song out there that say, If I have Jesus, I have it all. THAT is what He wants us to remember when we go through trials. He wants us to step back and look at it as, "Okay, I know I am going through this right now, but I also know no matter what happens, I am going to be okay because Jesus has me." Apply= As we go through this time of year, there is probably a good portion of us that this time of year is hard. We think back to happier times, because let's face it, the more years we are on earth, the bigger the odds are that there was some time in your life that may be better than where you are right now. There are also people out there that this time in their lives may be the best they have ever been. Most people are probably someplace in between. Just remember who you belong to, you are the child of the ONE TRUE KING. We all have to go through troubles but you are choosing to go through it alone if you aren't asking God for help to get through it. He hasn't moved and there is nothing He can't handle. Turn it over to Him. Respond= Lord, as we enter this time of year of first Thanksgiving and then into Christmas, let us understand that this season gives us the perfect opportunity to turn closer to You and thank You even during trials. We know we don't have to thank You for the trial, but we know we need to thank You for being You, carrying us through and for the perfect salvation that makes us know, no matter what, we are going to be alright, either here on earth, or with You in Heaven.
I hope this gives you a lift of encouragement as we enter into the Holidays. I am hoping from now until the end of the year, you take this time and let God draw you close, that this Holiday season might be the best ever, not just because of who you are spending time with, what you bought, or what you get but because you refocus your life on the greatest gift ever given, the salvation only found in Jesus Christ.
If you live within driving distance of Hidalgo Illinois I am inviting you to our first ever Christmas Revival, it is a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, December 2-4 at the Hidalgo Independent Christian Church, 7 pm. I am so looking forward to this being a new part of our Christmas traditions as this time is a great time to renew or restore your relationship with our Lord, or to come to Him. What better time to really start learning about Jesus than from the beginning of His earthly reign.
💓 Mindy
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