A Month of Thankfulness: Day Ten

This morning, I've been preparing for the study of Revelations that I'm doing this year and which meets every Tuesday evening. This study is in addition to the rich study of Hebrews that my dear friends, Kim and Carol, and I are now into our third year of. I just took Charlie out for a short walk and I was thinking about how thankful I am for the opportunities I've had to study God's Word over the years in an organized way with women...and sometimes men too...that were serious about knowing who God really is and drawing closer to Him through that knowledge and understanding. I'm thankful for the way He continues to refine my understanding of Him and His truths and increase my freedom in Him as more and more old thoughts, thoughts I didn't even realize I had until they fell away, were revealed as bondage.

¹⁶But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:16-17

Visit Rebecca to share in the thanksgiving each day of this month of November.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Nine

I am thanking God today for the successful washing of a coat that I love which is labeled "Dry Clean Only" but for which I could not justify the cost of dry cleaning. I got that coat several ago at a rummage sale for $3.00. Its so neutral that it goes with everything and its roomy enough to fit over bulky sweaters. Plus it has a hood, a feature I will never buy another coat or jacket without. I've gotten many years of use out of that coat and it had become a bit dirty. The fabric content is polyester and nylon so I took a chance. And it came out unscathed! And clean! Praise God!


Rebecca is gathering our thankful thoughts each day of this month of November so that we might share in the celebration of God's good gifts. Won't you join us? The blessings are multiplied for all.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Eight

Its the Lord's Day today and I am thanking God for the opportunity to worship Him freely and openly. We still enjoy that freedom in this country and its a freedom that ought not to be taken for granted. I pray that we never do.

To see what others are thankful for this day and to share your own thankful thoughts, visit Rebecca and be uplifted.

Sunday's Hymn: By Grace I'm Saved

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath Scripture ever falsehood taught?
Nay; then this word must true remain:
By grace thou, too, shalt heav'n obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in his love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone,
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace! O, mark this word of promise
When thou art by thy sins oppressed,
When Satan plagues thy troubled conscience,
And when thy heart is seeking rest.
What reason cannot comprehend
God by his grace to thee doth send.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
So long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in his Word our God commands,
What our whole faith must rest upon,
Is grace alone, grace in his Son.

Christian L. Scheidt, 1742
Tune: Aud Gnaden Soll Ich Selig Werden, Justin H. Knecht, 1796

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Seven

I am thankful for Indian Summer. Indian Summer in North America is generally defined as a period of warm (at least 70 degrees F.) weather in the period of mid-October to end of November following a killing frost and preceding the first snow fall. I thought we might not make it to 70 degrees but we're already there today and tomorrow's forecast is looking quite similar. I'm especially grateful that this Indian Summer waited until most of the leaves have fallen and been raked up. That way we could (and did!) enjoy our long Charlie-walk without any feelings of guilt about unraked leaves. And it came on a weekend too! If we can squeeze it in, we might even take the canoe out this afternoon! Oh, thank you, God!

I wonder what everyone else is thankful for today. Rebecca is hosting our month of thankfulness and its been such fun and increases my own thankfulness to see what everyone else is thanking God for each day. Go on over and check it out!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Six

I'm especially thankful for my home today. This morning, I took an elderly friend shopping and did some errands of my own as well. Maybe its because my thyroid levels are beginning to drop or maybe its because every place really was extra crowded on this warm November Friday but I could not wait to get home! My friend does not get out as much as I do (lucky her) and so she wanted to linger. I wanted to expedite the process and get home to my own little cottage with a sweet little dog curled up next to me and a cup of tea in hand. I'm a homebody at heart and it felt so good to finally get here! I thank God for my snug little refuge from a busy world...temporary abode that it is.

What are you thankful for today? Rebecca is compiling our thankful thoughts each day of this month of November and its such a blessing to read of the thankfulness of others. Please join in.

15 Words or Less Poem

Having a bad hair day?
Me too.
Thought I'd borrow yours
and go incognito.

For more 15 Words or Less Poems or share one of your own, visit Laura Salas.

A Month of Thanksgiving: Day Five

Today and every day I am deeply thankful for the person and the work of Jesus Christ. This afternoon, my dear friends, Kim and Carol and I met for our weekly study of Hebrews and the passage that we looked at today is Hebrews 10:19-23. Its a summation of the first 9 1/2 chapters, the doctrinal part of the book of Hebrews, in which the author patiently lays out to the Hebrew Christians all the reasons to "hold unswervingly to the hope we profess," even and especially in the face of the awful persecution that they were facing and the temptation to renounce that hope and return to Judaism. Those reasons are just exactly who Christ is and what He has done for them and all believers. It is because of the obedience of the Son of God and His completed work that I can "draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" because "He who promised is faithful."

John Brown, the commentator that I am using for this study puts it this way:

"The full and assured belief of that respecting which we have confidence--that Christ as our High Priest has bodily passed through these heavens into the heaven of heavens by His own blood, thereby proving the perfection of His atoning sacrifice, and the efficacy of His intercession; and thus securing that in due time we shall also enter in a similar way into the heavens; and that in heaven, whither He has entered as our Forerunner, He is a Great High Priest over the celestial temple, having everything connected with the acceptable worship of God committed to His management....It is the faith of the truth respecting the reality and efficacy of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the hope that rises out of that faith, that enable us to draw near to Him, from whom, but for this faith and hope, had we just views of His holiness and justice and power, we would seek shelter, if possible, under rocks and mountains."

To share your thankfulness to God this month of November, visit Rebecca who is compiling the good gifts that God gives to each one of His children. What a blessing to read of the various ways that He does that!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Four

Today I am especially thanking God for our daughter, Emily, and her willingness to help with the work around the house that I am unable to do lately. The cottage is located in an older section of Crystal Lake on a lovely corner lot with plenty of trees in the neighborhood. Those trees are beautiful at every time of the year. BUT they do have a negative aspect in the late fall...key word there is fall, as in falling leaves. We have plenty of them! The last few years, Emily has been off at school and Andy and I capably did them ourselves. This year, half of that team, namely me, has a bum hip and is off her synthroid. Emily filled in for me voluntarily and willingly and worked like a trouper. That job wouldn't be finished yet without her help.

Besides that, tonight is prayer meeting at our house and I like having a clean house when we open it to our church family. Actually, I like having a clean house any time! And Emily knows that. So again, she gamely pitched in and did a large share of the cleaning yesterday so that I wouldn't have to do it all. That's on on top of her own commitments and responsibilities in getting her music business off the ground. And anyone who's ever started a business knows that it takes lots of work! Especially at the beginning stages! So I am grateful and humbled by the way she put my needs (and desires) ahead of her own without question. God has truly blessed me through Emily.

What are you thanking God for this day? Please share over at Rebecca Writes and join in the praising of God for His good gifts to all of His children....every day!