May 7, 2024

Worry versus Thankfulness

November 23, 2015 by

seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.
Philippians 4:6 NLT

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.
Amplified Version

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God does expect us to care about our lives (and about the lives of others).  But when that caring becomes filled with anxiety and fear, it is counterproductive and wrong.  Life presents us with many things to worry about—family, friends, relationships, jobs, finances…and on and on.  There’s no end to this list if we let ourselves go there.  However, God’s Word tells us to do something very different about all those things.  He tells us not to worry, not to be anxious about anything. That’s a tall order, but it is possible.  How?  God says, “Pray.”

I urge, then, first of all,
that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving
be made for all people.
1 Timothy 2:1

These Scriptures in Philippians and 1 Timothy tell us to pray about everything-–every circumstance, every situation, every person in our life.  We are to tell God about everything we need (and even the things we perceive we need.)  Why? Because He cares about you (each of us.)

Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—
whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear.
Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
Matthew 6:25

When we pray, our focus is more on God and His mercy, grace, and provision. The more we pray, the more our mind is filled with Him.  It leaves less room for worry.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You,
all whose thoughts are fixed on You!
Isaiah 26:3

How often do you start your prayers with “Thank You, God….”?  I know I do pretty often.  In spite of my needs at the moment, I have so much to thank God for that I can’t pray without saying, “Thank You.”  He gave me the gift of salvation many, many years ago.  God has protected my family and me over the years.  He has seen me through many trials, and supplied for my needs.  Because of His faithfulness in the past, I can trust Him to care for me now and in the future.  Even as I write this, I am compelled to stop and say “Thank You, Lord!”

During this Thanksgiving season, make it a point to “thank Him for all He has done,” (Philippians 4:6) for all He is doing, and for all that He will be doing in your life.  Then make it a way of life to thank Him daily.  When caring starts to turn into worry…stop and pray with thanksgiving…reminding yourself how much He has done for you, and how much He cares for you.  Prayer, petition, and thanksgiving will bring you closer to God and farther away from anxiety and worry.  That’s what we all want, right?

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Dear Lord God, as humans we are presented with things to worry about almost daily.  But You said, “Don’t!”  Instead of worrying, You said, “Pray!” And pray “…about everything!”  Lord, we need our hearts and our minds open to Your Holy Spirit to help us to pray without worry, and to pray with thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for, and when we take time to be thankful our trust level goes up, and worry is pushed back.  That’s what we want, Lord.  Thank You for caring for us even beyond our comprehension.  May we grow in our trust that You will see us through the hard times.  You have done and are doing so much for us, thank You, thank You!  In Jesus’ Precious Name we pray, Amen.

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With A Thankful Heart

November 22, 2015 by

seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

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

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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

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This Week…Psalms 136:1-3

November 20, 2015 by

seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

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

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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 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?..”.

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God’s Goodness

November 19, 2015 by

seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

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

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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 (John 3:16).  All for His love for us—the love that endures forever.

The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of His unfailing love.
Psalm 33:5

Being full of His unfailing love means not ever reaching a point of lack in all aspects of life because He is giving Himself fully to us.  It is only  when we realize this kind of love and meditate on this kind of love that we appreciate how deep the Father’s love is for us, how incredibly vast beyond measure.

Our God loves us with all His heart.  Let us reciprocate by loving Him,  too, with our inner being.  Let us not live a life that displeases Him but rather a life that is set on pleasing Him.

Some people depend on chariots, substituting other gods for the One True God.  Remember God is the only One who is good.

“Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied.
“There is only One who is good.
If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.
Matthew 19:17

I just love how He loves us all! Even those that are living in sin He still loves them because He created them.  However there is judgement to them that are not in Christ Jesus. And those that are in Christ Jesus they testify of His love that endures forever for they shall not be judged and so the joys shall never cease.

Therefore let us choose, brethren, to live a life that pleases the Lord. We should love Him for He first loved us.  We should also exercise the same love and goodness to others for we are created in His own image and likeliness.  There has to be no difference.

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Father, we give You all the praise and all the glory for You are the great God, the ‘I AM who I AM,’ the all-knowing and always present God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.  The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, dear Lord, and so we worship You.  Heavenly father, thank You for showing us Your goodness and mercy that endures forever in Your Scripture.  We love You and adore You; and thank You for the love that is given to us.  We pray for forgiveness for at times we have taken Your love for granted.  Teach us to appreciate Your love more and more.  And to love others and do good to them.  We adore You and give You thanks; in Jesus’ name we have prayed. Amen.

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Aware Of Being Thankful

November 18, 2015 by
seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalms 136:1-3

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Two weeks ago, one of the ladies I volunteer with on Thursday nights came in asking for prayer for her husband. He has leukemia and has received a bone marrow transplant. He is now in remission but is having  infections from his compromised immune system. In his most recent emergency room visit, they discovered nodules on his liver. He was to have a test the next day to determine if the cancer had spread. We all gathered around her and one of the young women prayed such a powerful prayer filled with God’s authority to take this disease captive and acknowledging that our bodies are not made to be diseased.  We all declared his body would be healed and that no cancer would be present.  How inspiring that was!  The following Saturday, I received a text from the wife saying the test was negative!  She gave praise to her heavenly Father for His faithfulness as did all on the text!
Think about this: If we are praising God with our mouth, can we speak words of criticism of others without a check in our spirit?  I think not. 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. We will develop the courage to speak and declare God’s words over any and all situations.
With reference to Psalms 136:1-3, Matthew Henry’s Commentary states, “Whom we must give thanks to him that we receive all good from, to the Lord, Jehovah, Israel’s God (v. 1), the God of gods, the God whom angels adore, from whom magistrates derive their power, and by whom all pretended deities are and shall be conquered (v. 2), to the Lord of lords, the Sovereign of all sovereigns, the stay and supporter of all supports; (v. 3). In all our adorations we must have an eye to God’s excellency as transcendent, and to his power and dominion as incontestably and uncontrollably supreme.”
God is in control. When things do not seem to go the way we want, we need to stop and ask God if we are going our way, or His. Have we asked God what He wants us to accomplish for Him? It may not be easy. We may have to make sacrifices to achieve His way, but I imagine the rewards will be far better than anything else we could ever have imagined on our own.
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Father, we give You all the praise, honor and glory!  You are the reason we are here.  You have the ultimate authority in our lives.  You, Who put rulers in place, and can remove them.  Father, lead us, let Your Holy Spirit direct our paths when we seek Your will for our lives. Forgive us when we are prideful and forget to ask You.  Teach us to wait, be still, and listen for Your guidance.  Father, we forgive those who have wronged us; and, in so doing, we receive the blessings You have for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen!!!
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Steadfast

November 17, 2015 by

seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

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

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“One thing remains Your love never fails
It never gives up, it never runs out on me
Because on and on and on it goes…”
One Thing Remains – Jesus Culture

Thank God! He deserves your thanks.
His love never quits.
Psalm 136:1 MSG

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines steadfast like this:

  • firmly fixed in place : immovable
  • not subject to change

Google’s definition states:

  • resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.

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. It is enduring. How thankful I am that it is NOT based on what I do or don’t do. Look at what Deuteronomy 7:9 AMP promises:

Therefore know [without any doubt] and understand
that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God,
who is keeping His covenant and His [steadfast] lovingkindness
to a thousand generations with those who love Him
and keep His commandments;

Isn’t it reassuring to know without a doubt that our God is faithful and His steadfast love and covenant extends to a thousand generations? God’s love never fails. He never gives up on us. The Lord will never turn His back on us no matter how many times we turn away from Him. We are always able to run back into His loving arms.

So I will thank God. He deserves it for His love never quits. It is unchanging, immovable, and eternal.

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Lord, thank You for loving me. Your faithful, steadfast love is the rock, the firm foundation on which I stand. Your loving arms are my Refuge and my Strength. That is more than enough reason to give thanks to You each and every day.  Amen- it is so!

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What If…

November 16, 2015 by

seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

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

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Being thankful is something that should be done on a daily, hourly, and minute-by-minute basis.  I had heard of people who kept gratitude journals or thanksgiving diaries.  For a complete month, I wrote down what I was thankful for, even on the bad days when I felt like nothing was going my way.  When I started, I was certain it was going to be impossible to write down thirty things.

I’ll admit, I did struggle on some days because I was being stubborn. This was during a time when I was having real issues not being focused on what was wrong in my life. You see, if all you focus on are the things that are wrong…then it sure will be hard to see what is right and good.

Psalm 136:1-3 says to, “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.”  When my brother and I were younger we used to do “what if” scenarios all the time.  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 think that if God were different, life would be a lot harder, and potentially unbearable.

  • What if God decided to be more like a dictator than a loving Father?
  • What if God did not care for our well-being, and we were just puppets?
  • What if we didn’t have freewill!?!??!

We can only imagine what our lives would be like if God were different.  So, I’m thankful that He is the way that He is and that He allows me to have freewill.

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Lord, thank You for being who You are—loving, caring, kind, compassionate, forgiving, faithful, trustworthy, honest, helpful, strong, Almighty, and just plain awesome!  Amen.

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Give Thanks

November 15, 2015 by

seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

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

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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

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This Week…Colossians 3:15-17

November 13, 2015 by

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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…”.

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Thankful Representatives

November 12, 2015 by

seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

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 NLT

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According to Google.com, a representative is “a person chosen or appointed to act or speak for another or others.”  And at Dictionary.com it is also defined as “a typical example or specimen of a group, quality, or kind.”

This passage of Scripture gives us a lot to consider.  As one chosen by God, we, as Christians, are to represent Christ Jesus to those around us.  We are to be a “typical example of His quality.”  And how do we do that?  “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives” (verse 16).

What is “the message about Christ?”  It is the message that God loves us so much that “He gave His Son, His one and only Son.  And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life” (John 3:16 MSG).  Does that good news fill your heart with thankfulness and joy to the point of singing?  It does mine!

“If thankfulness becomes a way of life, it will make it much easier to maintain a state of peace.  It helps us look on the bright side instead of focusing upon the events which can disturb our calm [our inner peace.]”

quote taken from The Complete Biblical Library,
The New Testament Study Bible Galatians through Philemon

God’s quality and quantity of love is beyond measure.  God is not asking us to “be Him” [which we know is impossible], but He is asking us to live and love “like Him.” When we choose to be the representative He wants us to be and in the place He wants us to be, we will have His peace.

In Philippians 4:1-9, Paul told Euodia and Syntyche to settle their disagreements, and he told the church to help them.  Paul wanted them to experience the joy and peace that God desires for His people, and to be the representatives God wanted them to be. 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, and that also strengthens our sisters (and brothers) in Christ.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7

“A life that is full of Christ’s peace and His Word
is a life that is thankful, and rich and wise.
It will enrich everyone around you. Thank You, Lord.“

(Many years ago I wrote this note in the margin of my Bible; I still believe it today.)

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Dear Lord Jesus, we come to You with thankful hearts.  Your Word—Your Good News—fills our lives with wisdom, peace, and joy.  Those are qualities people around us are looking for in their lives.  Lord, please help us to be Your representatives so that others will be drawn to You.  May our thanksgiving during this season of the year (and everyday) make people curious enough to ask why so we can share You with them.  In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

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