May 3, 2024

You Have Been So Good

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You have been so good
You have been so good to me
In my faithless hour
You’ve been my strength
You are my tower

From the enemy
You have been so good
So good to me

Your hand is always faithful
Your mercy never ends
And when I feel unable
Your grace is there again

You chose me with my weakness
And all my sins forgave
I’ve nothing to repay You
So all that I can say

Lenny Leblanc, singer/songwriter

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Today is a day when many folks recognize the importance of being thankful.  As Christians, we are to have a life full of expressing our gratitude and thanks to our heavenly Father.  I think that the words of this beautiful song sing out our praise and gratitude for God’s overwhelming goodness.

You have been so good
You’ve been my strength
You are my tower

You chose me with my weakness
Your hand is always faithful
Your mercy never ends
Your grace is there again

We are so very thankful for God’s constant goodness to us, His children.  Truly, can you think of anything else that can so change your heart’s attitude more than being thankful?  Websters 1828 Dictionary (one of my favorite references) defines thankful as ‘grateful; impressed with a sense of kindness received, and ready to acknowledge it.’  Hmmm, sounds vaguely familiar…similar to a praise the Psalmist wrote:

Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
Who can put into words and tell the mighty deeds of the Lord?
Or who can show forth all the praise [that is due Him]?
Psalms 106:1 and 2

I think  Mr. Webster’s definition clearly shows that thankfulness is both thought and action—you ‘sense’ being blessed AND you ‘acknowledge’ it.  Here’s a great example:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come before His presence with singing!
Know that the Lord is God!
It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]!
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
and a thank offering and into His courts with praise!
Be thankful and say so to Him,
bless and affectionately praise His name!
For the Lord is good;
His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting,
His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.
Psalm 100

The Psalmist was confessing—remembering—just a few things he was grateful for, AND voicing his gratitude  ‘for the Lord is good‘.   To remember is ‘…to bear in mind; to keep, consider, meditate.’ We can—we should—do the same!  We have oh-so-very-much to be thankful for, amen?  We have so very many memories of God’s abundant goodness to us, true?  We can sing…

I will thank Yahweh with all my heart;
I will declare all Your wonderful works.
Psalm 9:1

Listen to the some of the things that David remembers the Lord did for him and the beautiful way he voices his thankfulness here in Psalm 30:

I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to You and You have healed me.
O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the place of the dead)
Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His,
and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
By Your favor, O Lord, You have established me as a strong mountain;
You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
I cried to You, O Lord, and to the Lord I made supplication.
Hear, O Lord, have mercy and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my helper!
You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;
To the end that my tongue and my heart
and everything glorious within me
may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

We have oh-so-very-much to thank our great God for…so many ways in which He has been so good to us!  Today, of course, as you gather with friends and loved ones…but each day, every day tell Your Father how very grateful you are for His goodness, for His protection, for His healing, for His deliverance, for His provision, for His admonition, for His guidance, for His love, grace and mercy!  And give Him much thanks!

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His compassion and lovingkindness endure forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so…
Psalms 107:1 and 2

Thankful Heart

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My open hands receive blessings You pour out on me
Your tender care restores my soul
Your faithfulness endures, as mercy covers all my sin
Your perfect love has made me whole
Beyond the words I’m searching for
I long to give You something more

Here’s my thankful heart, thankful heart
Offered up in gratitude for all You’ve done for me
Here’s my thankful heart, thankful heart
Offered up in praise to You

I’m unworthy of the gift of Your unfailing love
But You embrace me as I am
You provide my needs, and raise a harvest from the seeds I sow in vain
I bless Your Name
Beyond the words I’m searching for
I long to give You so much more

From the raising of the sun
‘Til it’s going down
The name of the Lord be praised

Written by Gary Forsythe

*  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

We can offer up our thankful hearts to our ABBA Father at any time; while

  • taking a walk along a path outside
  • singing praises with our church family
  • raking leaves (or shoveling snow!)
  • shopping for our family’s groceries
  • sharing our Thanksgiving meal with those who don’t have close family
  • getting our tasks at work accomplished
  • driving home…and being held up by traffic
  • sitting in His presence during our ‘quiet time’

The vital point is THAT we DO give praise to Him out of the abundance of our thankful hearts!!!

Listening to this sweet song, this is my oh-so-very-favorite part:

Beyond the words I’m searching for I long to give You so much more….

How about you…do you ever find yourself exclaiming similar thoughts to God?  Oh, I do!  So often I am simply without adequate words to tell God all that is in my heart! (As if He does not already know!!!)  But I am encouraged that He wants us (you and me!) to come to Him with all that is in our little hearts…what a kind, compassionate, loving Father!

Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to You!
Psalm 102:1

Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out Your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.  Selah
Psalm 62:8

…Unto You will I sing praises with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises to You,
And my inner being, which You have redeemed.
My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long….
Psalms 71:22-24

A big key to heartfelt praise and thanksgiving is to recognize where we were before God saved us through His grace and love.  Truly we were in a desperate situation. You could not save yourself from God’s righteous judgment.  But God sent His Son, to save you—to save all mankind!—by His grace.  Because now you have experienced His great love and grace, you delight in Him and His great salvation and you can’t help but sing for joy!  May I encourage you, friends, to never hesitate…never hold back…never deny yourself the joy of singing praises to our Almighty God!

Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Psalms 33:1-5

While studying through Psalm 33, I read Matthew Henry’s Commentary.  Here is a portion of what he wrote, “What a pity it is that this earth, which is so full of God’s goodness <verse 5>, should be so empty of His praises, and that of the multitudes that live upon His bounty there are so few that live to His glory!”

I hope that will not be said of us. As God’s “righteous ones,” let’s be all about offering up our thankful hearts through our praise and songs of joy.  Our lives are the proof that He delivers our souls from death. Our response should be to praise Him with thankful hearts.

Remember that line of this song that I shared I just love so much—Beyond the words I’m searching for I long to give You so much moreperhaps the words of the psalmist in Psalm 138 can help to express them.  These are my prayer; maybe yours, too.

I give You thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the gods.
I bow before Your holy Temple as I worship.
I praise Your name for Your unfailing love and faithfulness;
For Your promises are backed
by all the honor of Your name.
As soon as I pray, You answer me;
You encourage me by giving me strength.
Every king in all the earth will thank You, Lord,
for all of them will hear Your words.
Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,
for the glory of the Lord is very great.
Though the Lord is great, He cares for the humble,
but He keeps His distance from the proud.
Though I am surrounded by troubles,
You will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out Your hand,
and the power of Your right hand saves me.
The Lord will work out His plans for my life—
for Your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for You made me.
Psalm 138 NLT

Gingerbread Cupcakes

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For our family’s Thanksgiving Feast (as the grandchildren call it!), we always divvy up of the different dishes that make up our spread.  This year, Robert and I are hosting the Feast at our home, so mine is the turkey to prepare (I always use Alton Brown’s Brined Turkey recipe), along with gluten-free gravy and the stuffing (see my recipe I shared here a couple of weeks ago).   My daughter, Kassia and her mother-in-law Mary Ann are divvy-ing up the sides and salads!  And we each are making a dessert…these spicy-sweet Gingerbread Mini-Cupcakes are my contribution.  Oh, they are so darling!  And just the perfect mouthful (and I mean FULL).  <Of course you certainly could make these in a standard cupcake size, too!>

For those of you who are just beginning to follow the path of gluten-free baking, try this recipe.  When I first made these cupcakes, I used a ‘gf all-purpose flour blend.’ You can pick up a box in the gluten-free section of almost any grocery store. However, if you have a pantry filled with jars of different gluten-free flours, I used ** 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup hazelnut flour).  Note that these cupcakes are dairy-free if you prepare them with coconut oil…and of course no whipped cream!

This is a quick recipe to pull together…and the mini-cupcakes only take 10-12 minutes to bake.  We will have ours with Spiced Whipped Cream (see the recipe  here).  But they are equally yummy with a cream cheese frosting or a simple buttercream frosting, too.  Enjoy!

2014-11-29 22.51.34

Mini Gingerbread Cupcakes

ingredients:
1+1/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour blend **(see above)
1+1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water

directions:

  • set out the butter (or coconut oil) and egg to come to room temperature
  • fill muffin/cupcake tins with liners (mini = 30; regular = 12)
  • preheat oven to 350
  • mix flour(s) and spices together in a small bowl
  • with mixer, cream together butter (or coconut oil) and sugar
  • add egg, then molasses; beating ‘til nice and creamy
  • microwave the water in a measuring cup ‘til boiling; remove and <carefully> stir in the baking soda; set aside to cool slightly
  • add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl, and blend for about 1 minute ‘til it all comes together
  • continue to blend while pouring in the water; beat for an additional minute or so (batter will seem thin but it very quickly thickens up)
  • fill lined cupcake tins about 3/4 full with batter
  • bake minis for 10-12 minutes (regular-sized for 20 minutes), or ‘til firm to the touch and slightly browned
  • take pan from oven and immediately remove cupcakes to a cooling rack
  • once completely cool, frost as desired

 ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥

God loves you!  ♥  (Don’t ever forget that!)

♥  coleen

With A Thankful Heart

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Do not be anxious or worried about anything,
but in everything [every circumstance and situation]
by prayer and petition with thanksgiving,
continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.
And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart,
that peace] which transcends all understanding,
[that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus [is yours].
Philippians 4:6 and 7

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

With a thankful heart
And a song of praise
We’ve come to You
Gathered in this place
For the things You’ve done
And for who You are
We worship You with a thankful heart

So we lift up our praise
And we lift up our sacrifice to You
Lord, we offer our prayers
And we offer our lives in gratitude
For all You do
We worship You with a thankful heart

With a thankful heart
We will give You praise
You’ve been so good
Covered us with grace
You have been our strength
In a time so dark
So we worship You with a thankful heart

This Week…Psalms 136:1-3

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Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.
Psalms 136:1-3

*   ~   ♥   ~    ✞    ~   ♥   ~   *

Here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we are focusing our thoughts for the next few weeks on giving thanks, gratitude, and being thankful.  This week our devotional writers have been so encouraging in reminding us that about our good God—Whose faithful love endures forever.  Please click on the indivdual links to read each complete devotional; here are a few excerpts from their thoughts….

In God’s Goodness, Ann wrote about our good God Whose love endures forever…

“This repeated refrain ‘His love endures forever‘ teaches us that God’s love is the foundation for all His actions on our behalf and the fountainhead of all our thanksgiving.  His love includes His mercy,  His faithfulness, and His kindness.  God, by His nature, is good.  We are seeing His love always.  He sent His Son to die for us…”.

In Aware of Being Thankful, Tina  encouraged us to recognize the opportunities we have to be thankful (and say so)…

“Everyday, every morning, before our feet touch the ground, we should give thanks to God for a new day, a new opportunity to praise and serve Him.  As we do this, our hearts will change, we will grow stronger in our faith walk…”.

In Steadfast, Cynda defined the word for us and gave us a broader understanding of God’s steadfast love…

“I don’t know about you, but there is nothing in my life, outside of God’s love, that is immovable…not subject to change…resolutely firm and unwavering.  Life seems to be constant change. How wonderful it is to know God’s love remains firm…”.

In What If, Ahmee shared a childhood game and the perspective it placed on thinking about God’s faithful love…

“Remembering that made me think…

  • What if God’s love did not endure forever?
  • What if God was not the only True God?
  • What if God’s love were not faithful?

Could you even begin to fathom what our lives would be like if God was not the way He is?..”.

I Stand In Awe

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You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful for comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard
And who can grasp Your infinite wisdom
And who can fathom the depths of Your love
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty enthroned above

And I stand, I stand in awe of You
And I stand, I stand in awe of You
Holy God, to Whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of You

 The Acts Church Worship Team
written by Mark Altrogge

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me,
and I will hear and heed you.
Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity]
and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:12 and 13

Recently, I have been RE-reminded of the importance and immense value of purposefully seeking our God. It should go without saying that it is such a deep need of our hearts to intentionally remove ourselves from our day-to-day surroundings (with the inherent distractions that come along with that) and quietly be in His presence.

There is no greater example (that I can recall) of someone who recognized the need and importance of seeking God and spending time in His presence than our Lord Jesus.  Throughout the Gospels, we read of many times when Jesus purposefully withdrew from His disciples, and from ministering to the needs of the people, and went to pray.  We see how valuable it was to Him to be alone with His Father, seeking Him, and spending time in His presence.

And in the morning, long before daylight,
He got up and went out to a deserted place, and there He prayed.
Mark 1:35

And after He had taken leave of them, He went off into the hills to pray.
Mark 6:46

But He Himself withdrew to the wilderness (desert) and prayed.
Luke 5:16

Now in those days it occurred that He went up into a mountain to pray,
and spent the whole night in prayer to God.
Luke 6:12

Within the context of each of these glimpses into Jesus’ life, we observe that He:

  • before even beginning His day, went and prayed
  • in the midst of trying circumstance, went to be alone with God in
  • preparation for important decisions, got alone with His Father and prayed
  • after much time ministering to people and teaching them, left and sought God and prayed

How much more do we need to emulate His heart in recognizing our great need to be alone with our heavenly Father, seeking Him, and praying?

Perhaps the most poignant example that Jesus left us is His time seeking His Father in prayer just prior to His betrayal and arrest in the garden of Gethsemane.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told His disciples, Sit down here while I go over yonder and pray. And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed. Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me. And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire. And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour? All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again a second time He went away and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass by unless I drink it, Your will be done. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were weighed down with sleep. So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, using the same words.

Matthew 26:36-44

Words escape me to express how deeply I recognize my Lord’s awareness of His need of His Father at this incredibly stress-filled, sorrowful time! But my heart is convicted and reminded of my own need to do the same! If Jesus, the Perfect Man, who was totally without sin and always able to rise above any temptation, so needed this time seeking His Father…then I am without excuse to ever think I do not need the same…and much, much more!

How very blessed we are to know that this is God’s Will…that He desires us to seek Him…that He is always available to us…that our yearning hearts will always be welcomed into His presence. How very thankful we are to know that through His suffering, persecution, death and resurrection, Jesus—our Redeemer, our Savior, our Lord and Master—has broken down any barrier between us and Almighty God, and made it available for us to approach His Throne of grace!

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away,
through the blood of Christ have been brought near.
For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony).
By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law
with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two
might create in Himself one new man, so making peace.
And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off
and [peace] to those who were near.
For it is through Him that we…now have an introduction (access) by one [Holy] Spirit
to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him].
Ephesians 2:13-18

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Keep seeking Him and enjoy your quiet time with your Lord!  Express your needs as well as the praise and adoration that is in your heart!  As you seek Him, He will be found…He promises!

I’ll Do My Best For You

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Love
I’ll love
I’ll love You, Lord
Forever

I’ll do my best
I’ll do my best
Oh, I’ll do my best for You
Oh, oh, oh
I’ll do my best
I’ll do my best
Oh, I’ll do my best for You

Serve
I’ll serve
I’ll serve You, Lord
Forever

Praise
I’ll praise
I’ll praise You, Lord
Forever

I’ll love
I’ll serve
I’ll praise You, Lord
Forever

I’ll do my best
I’ll do my best
I’ll do my best
Oh, I’ll do my best for You
Oh, oh, oh
I’ll do my best
I’ll do my best
Oh, I’ll do my best for You

GoFish Guys
Jamie Statema, Jason Folkmann and Andy Selness

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

My grandchildren (probably just like yours) love music!  And they know oh-so-very many songs—from little ones Bible lullabies to Sunday School songs to popular praise&worship that their Dad and Mom (and PopPop and Tata!) play while travelling out and about.  But this little song from the GoFish Guys seems to be popular on everyone’s playlist!

I asked them “What does it mean to ‘do my best’ for God?”  Kaylie Joy responded, “Welllllll, I guess it means to obey Him…the best I can.”  Levi, singing away (with his voice AND his body!), “obey my dad and mom…and you, too, TaTa!”  And when I prompted Elijah, a man of few words, singing “God, I’ll love You forever” he signed ‘LOVE’ right back to me.

And I thought to myself that from their perspective, it is pretty darn simple.  But sometime it gets rather complicated for me.   At times, I am tempted to think that my efforts, my good works, my trying hard are the things that i should be doing to do my best for my God.  (Ummmm…no.)  I was convicted in my heart…as I realized it is no more complicated for me (a follower of Jesus Christ for almost 35 years) than for children who have just begun a relationship with Him.  The motivation for each of us is exactly the same—doing my best for God is LOVEHis love for me and me proving my love for Him!

His love for us (oh-how-He-loves-us-so! ) is unconditional.  We cannot earn…or do anything to provoke Him to love us.  He simply DOES love us.

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up
His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish
(come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
John 3:16

And our love for Him  is proven or shown by our adherence to His commands.

But whoever keeps His word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.
1 John 2:5

By this we know that we love the children of God,
when we love God and observe His commandments.
1 John 5:2

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
And His commandments are not burdensome.
Verse 3

And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments….
2 John 1:6

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 14:15

So ‘doing my best’ for God is much more about loving Him and wanting to live in such a way that proves my love!  Whether I am serving Him, praising Him, or loving others…it is all to say ‘I love You, Lord!’  And any good works that I do, as I endeavor to do my best for Him, are all for His glory!

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God!
1 Corinthians 10:31

To the praise of the glory of His grace,
wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:6

Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Veggies

Yummmm…stuffing!  Call me crazy but, if I had to choose just ONE carb-y dish for Thanksgiving dinner, it wouldn’t be pie, or rolls, or potatoes.  It would be stuffing!

This recipe fits well within our healthy but oh-so-yummy POV since it is made with chicken sausage (low in fat) and is loaded with lots of veggies.  Feel free to make this to your family’s preferences:  change up the sausage (spicy is great!), substitute different veggies, season with other varieties of herbs.  This can be made with your favorite cornbread: whether gluten-free or traditional, from scratch or a boxed mix, or even a bag of cubes you purchase.  I would love to hear how you switched it up to please your loved ones!  Enjoy!

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Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Veggies

ingredients:

1 batch of your favorite cornbread (I used a GF mix)

coconut or olive oil
1 onion, cut into a small dice
2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
1 fennel bulb, chopped into small pieces
sea salt, freshly ground pepper
1# uncooked sausage, (I used chicken sausage)
2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon each dried thyme, rosemary, sage
1 large apple, cubed
1 cup dried cranberries
3 to 4 cups chicken broth/stock

directions :

  • first thing you need to do is make a batch of cornbread.  you can make this a day or two before.  after removing from baking pan, cool thoroughly, wrap loosely, and store in a cool, dry place.
  • when ready to prepare the stuffing, cut up the cornbread into small-ish cubes and place on a rimmed baking sheet. bake at 250-275 for 30 minutes or so ‘til the cubes are getting crispy and drying out. pour into a very large bowl and set aside
  • heat the oil in a large saute pan, over medium heat, warm the oil
    then add the onions and celery and fennel; season well with s&p and cook until the vegetables start to become soft
  • push to the edges of the pan and add the sausage into the middle; cook ‘til the sausage begins to brown
  • add in the garlic, herbs, and apples; stir all together for a minute or so; remove from heat
  • increase oven temp to 375
  • into the bowl holding the cornbread, add the cranberries along with the cooked sausage/veggie mixture and stir together
  • pour 2 cups of the chicken broth evenly over the whole bowl; knead together with your hands (adding additional broth ‘til the bread is very moist but not mushy)
  • taste to check for seasoning, adding additional s&p if needed
    transfer to a large ovenproof dish/casserole and cover with foil
  • bake the stuffing until it is hot all the way through about 30 minutes.
  • if your family likes some crispy bits, too, remove foil and increase oven temp to 425; bake for additional 10 minutes

♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥ 

God loves you!  ♥  (Don’t ever forget that!)

♥  coleen

Give Thanks

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Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.

His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
Psalms 136:1-3

*   ~   ♥   ~    ✞    ~   ♥   ~   *

 

Give thanks to the Lord (for He is good)
For He is good
Give thanks to the Lord (for He is good)
For He is good
Give thanks to the Lord (for He is good)
For He is good
His love endures forever

His love will reign forevermore
His power will reign forevermore
His grace will reign forevermore
His peace will reign forevermore

His love endures forever (praise the Lord)
His love endures forever (Hallelujah)
His love endures forever

This Week…Colossians 3:15-17

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 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.
For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.
And always be thankful.
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.
Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives.
Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
And whatever you do or say,
do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:15-17

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Here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we are focusing our thoughts for the next few weeks on giving thanks, gratitude, and being thankful.  This week our devotional writers have been so encouraging in their reminders to always give thanks to God through our Lord Jesus.  Please click on the indivdual links to read each complete devotional; here are a few excerpts from their thoughts….

In Good Deeds, Ann posted a few excellent questions to consider regarding our actions, our deeds.  And reminded us of the reasons…

“Sisters, it is good to do good deeds to everyone around us as it gives glory to God…”.

In God’s Peace, Tina shared Jesus’ example of peace…

“I like how Jesus always paced himself.  Taking the time to pray…being intentional about it.  Jesus always had a peace about Him…”.

In Thankful Representatives, Clella encouraged us to be thankful and draw others to Christ…

“When we live in peace, joy, thankfulness, and God’s wisdom, we will be representatives that show the world around us our God of love. With thankful hearts, we can sing, speak, and do that which draws others to Christ…”.

In Be Thankful, Ahmee reminded us of a few of the many things we do have to be thankful for…

“We can decide to focus on what we do have or what we don’t have.  When we choose to focus on what we do have we are generally going to find ourselves in a happier disposition than if we focused on the negative…”.