{"id":22799,"date":"2014-11-14T00:25:01","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T05:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=22799"},"modified":"2014-11-14T06:27:55","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T11:27:55","slug":"season-gratitude1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/11\/14\/season-gratitude1\/","title":{"rendered":"Season of Gratitude"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"encouragementbloggraphicromans15\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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But thanks be to God!
\nHe gives us the victory
\nthrough our Lord Jesus Christ.
\n1 Corinthians 15:57<\/p>\n

‘Tis the season to be grateful<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. \u00a0All around are commercials about gifts and then there’s the occasional “I want that!” \u00a0We stress and we try to figure out where the money will come from to buy these gifts and think that ‘if we had just kept Christmas about His birthday’ there would be more joy. \u00a0So today, as we enter into this season, may we focus on just being grateful<\/span> <\/em><\/strong>for the gifts that He has already given us.<\/p>\n

See, before the Christmas tree, there was a Baby. \u00a0He was born in a manger, made of wood from a tree, and He was surrounded by His parents and the animals of the barn. \u00a0His coming is the greatest gift of all. \u00a0That little tiny Baby would grow up to take the big sins of all the world and nail them to the cross with Him. \u00a0He would die and rise again, and then ascend to Heaven to prepare our home. \u00a0And while we are in this place…as we wait for His second coming…we count all the ways that He loves us.<\/p>\n

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever.
\n1 Chronicles 16:34<\/p>\n

And because of this love, we have a joy that goes beyond circumstances. \u00a0Just sitting in His presence brings a warm feeling and so much love for Him. \u00a0He doesn’t promise a life without heartache and trouble, but He does promise that He would go before us and with us through it all.<\/p>\n

I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.
\nIn this world you will have trouble.
\nBut take heart, I have overcome the world.
\nJohn 16:33<\/p>\n

“For everyone born of God overcomes the world.
\nThis is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
\n1 John 5:41<\/p>\n

Then comes a peace that passes all understanding. \u00a0In horrible sickness and trials, we can rest easy knowing that He has it and will carry it for us. \u00a0He is<\/strong> able and He will<\/strong> make a way for us. \u00a0When the way seems so dark that you cannot see to take the next step, trust His hand to guide you.<\/p>\n

Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it.
\nGenesis 28:16<\/p>\n

He is with you and that is the best gift of all, and definitely something to be grateful<\/span><\/strong><\/em> for. \u00a0So as Thanksgiving approaches, \u00a0I encourage you to look for the gifts that right now are all around you. \u00a0And find something each day to be grateful<\/span><\/em><\/strong> for. It is the season of lists; so, instead of making lists of things wanted, make lists of things that you already have and make sure you thank the Giver for it all. \u00a0He is such a good God and all He gives is good. \u00a0So today we praise Him for all the many blessings and those to come…and for Jesus Christ, His Son, who came to save us all from everything we will ever do and all the sins we have committed. \u00a0To give grace freely even though we haven’t earned any. \u00a0These are the best gifts to start with, things to be grateful<\/em> <\/strong><\/span>for, on the top of your list!<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u271e \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 * <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you know this God…the Creator of this whole world and the Creator of you? Oh friend, you need Him and all you have to do is ask Him to come into your life and all will be changed. Pray this prayer with me:<\/p>\n

\n

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. \u00a0I am in need of a Savior. \u00a0I believe that You sent Your Son to die for my sins so that I am forgiven. \u00a0I will live eternally with You. \u00a0Come into my heart and be my Lord. \u00a0In Jesus’ name, amen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 ‘Tis the season to be grateful. \u00a0All around are commercials about gifts and then there’s the occasional “I want that!” \u00a0We stress and we try to figure out where the money will come from to buy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":20533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6228],"tags":[6282,7761,7762,338,4619,425,7767,7768,6403,1477,589,4560],"class_list":["post-22799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-encouragement-2","tag-1-chronicles-1634","tag-1-corinthians-1557","tag-1-john-541","tag-encouragement","tag-genesis-2816","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-grateful","tag-grateful-for-what-he-has-already-given","tag-gratitude-and-thankfulness-to-god","tag-john-1633","tag-kim-spring","tag-thankfulness-scriptures","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/encouragementbloggraphicromans15.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-5VJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22799"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22829,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22799\/revisions\/22829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}