Are You A Thanks-Giver? Then Give Thanks HERE!
by Pastor Gene
Remember the ten lepers Jesus healed in Luke 17:11-19? Leprosy was a devastating and separating disease. It separated one from his or her loved ones and community. It rendered them an outcast. Well, the ten lepers showed themselves to the priest and were indeed declared healed!
Then we read this: “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
YIKERS!
It was a Samaritan who thought to thank Jesus for healing him OF LEPROSY! Samaritans were ‘other-thans,’ a mix-raced of people who were despised by the Jews. So, this leper was an outcast before he ever came down with leprosy!
The other lepers who were healed we apparently Jews – those to whom the oracles of God and the prophets had come. They should have known better.
But, no. Each of the other nine took God’s blessing for granted. They didn’t even bother to thank Him, never mind follow Him.
We don’t want to be like them, right? If we are born-again and saved, we’ve been given SO MUCH from the Giver of every good gift” (James 1:17).
This week is Thanksgiving week. So, we’re opening this blog as an opportunity for all in the Body to say, “Thank You” to the Lord for whatever you like.
Thanks-givers have always been a minority group. In the Luke 17 story they were 1-in-9. Well, let’s shake up that ratio a bit this week! Whichever side of the ratio you’re usually on, feel free to join the thanks-givers this week. I know your comments will bless the heart of our Heavenly Father, and encourage your brothers and sisters.
Happy Thanksgiving, thanks-givers!
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I am thankfull for having GOD IN MY LIFE AND HE BLESSED ME WITH THIS CHURCH AND THE PASTER AND HIS FAMILY AND BLESSED WITH THE OTHER PASTERS AND THER FAMILYS.THE PEOPLE ARE SO NICE THERE .IAM THANK FULL THAT GOD HAS BLSSED ME WITH MY CAT.ILOVE GOD SO MUCH.
I am thankful for so much this year. I think as we get older we tend to realize all the little things we took for granted and are mindful of how quickly that can change. I am thankful first and foremost for my Jesus without whom I would be lost. I am thankful for a husband who loves the Lord and follows Him I am thankful for children and grandchildren whether by birth or other ways. I am thankful for my church family and the many ways they show they too are following the Lord and his Word by being Jesus in the flesh here on earth to me and others. I am thankful for the trials we have had and continue to have as I know in each one it is moulding and shaping us into the people He wants us to be. I could actually fill up this page with all of the things I am thankful for if I listed them all- I could go on and on but I know that we are a blessed people and whatever may come the most important thing is JESUS- His name is above all names – Happy Thanksgiving !!
I am thankful that in times of trial we can remember that He is God , we are His and , He is good. I am thankful that He gave parents who are still together after almost 38 years,who raised me to lean on that good,good father. And I am thankful for the ladies in my harvest group, who are such encouragers, just by the fact that they go through their own trials and help me realize I am not the only one.
This morning I am thankful that God gave me the voice and the freedom to defend the marginalized in our midst. I believe it will lead to an open door to share the gospel!
I’m first and foremost grateful that the Lord saw fit to save me! Dan and I are thankful that our daughter has returned to the Lord. We prayed for this for nearly 7 years and this is been a huge blessing to us to see her growing in her faith! I’m thankful to be a cancer survivor of 18 years! I’m thankful for a wonderful godly husband who is faithful loyal and hard-working. I’m thankful for my children and grandchildren sons in law. I’m thankful for my church ( with the freedom to worship in this country still!) for my family my pastor and especially my small group with whom we have bonded beautifully with in the last 13 months. I’m very thankful that I have a job I love where I can share my gift of music and my faith in Christ and pray with my elderly friends in the nursing homes. My cup is filled to overflowing! Ty Jesus!
I am so grateful and thankful for a God that could save a man like me I am thankful for my beautiful wife that loves me so much and loves the Lord I am thankful for my family and thank you for all he’s done in my life and will continue to do in my life god is so good I am thankful for my church family to the pastors in the deacons they are all a blessing I could go on and on happy Thanksgiving Church God bless
Living in this nation of affluence, it becomes a battle to maintain our focus and not take these blessings for granted. They all come from the Lord, who, in His graciousness allows us to participate in His plan so we can receive blessings from His hand. The greatest is the sovereign grace and mercy in calling my name out of the market place of sin and redeeming me by the blood of the Lord Jesus. I’m thankful for a godly wife who is a servant and my partner and co-laborer in ministry. I remain amazed at God’s goodness in knowing my 4 children are saved and nurturing their children in the Lord, which to my knowledge 3 of the 8 grandchildren have made professions of faith. I believe the other 5 will be brought into the kingdom at their appointed time. They are all being brought up in the Lord, even the 2 youngest, almost 5 and 2. My 2 oldest serve the Lord, one in a Christian school, and one with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. Thinking of the point that we belong to Him brings me to 1 John 3:1,2, ” See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should called the children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”
I am thankful for my health. I am thankful that we can all be together to share in good times for the holidays.
I am grateful for everyone who has touched my life. I am thankful for the Lord who has blessed me and helped me in times of trouble.
We are all fortunate to have our church family and church leaders who help us and pray for us.
My daughter is my world and I pray for her health, spiritual life, safety, love, etc. I am thankful for Louis.
First, I am thankful for my heavenly Father who shows mercy and forgiveness to me and all who call on Him. I’m blessed with a God loving husband and son, and God willing, my daughter will be added to His Book of Life one glorious day. My Lord has always been there for me, even when others weren’t; how very thankful I am for that! For my family, my job, my home, my pup;for good health, for prosperity, for freedom in this country; for HCC and my Disciple Group; for the ability to see and smell fresh fruit/flowers, to walk on a beach, to discover new roads. Thank you, Lord. Happy, Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Thankful for a smile and a few words given through the fog of advanced dementia. Thankful that I can go to a job which is becoming increasingly challenging knowing that my God goes before me and makes a way. Then he remains there with me! Thank you, Jesus!
Someone somewhere said that gratitude has a way of turning whatever we have into enough. I think that’s true. And I think that contentment with what we have will save us from a million sorrows.
I’m thankful that I’m still in fair health, and that I can pay my bills.
I’m thankful that I live in a country where I can worship Jesus without fear, and where I was blessed to experience a childhood free of falling bombs and air raid sirens, and was able to get an education.
I’m thankful for clean water – a luxury in much of the world – and for indoor plumbing – which spares my community from untold diseases.
I’m thankful for my family and friends who walk this journey of life with me.
I’m thankful for my parents, and my brother and sister, that they were the perfect family for me. And that there was always enough love to drown out any dysfunction lurking in our walls. I’m thankful that God placed me in a family that was never hard to love.
I’m thankful for the laughter that filled our home, and still does.
I’m thankful for the woman that God gave me to share this life and journey of faith with. If there is anything at all in me that God’s ever used to bless anyone, I know it was only because of her. I’m thankful for all she’s taught me about life and love and family and faith.
I’m thankful for my children – that they walk with Jesus and who do good wherever they can. I’m thankful for their concern for those who lack. I’m thankful for their generosity of spirit and for the warmth of their love. I’m thankful too for their husbands – for their faithfulness, and care of our daughters, and for their welcoming of Mary and me into their families.
And I’m thankful for my grandchildren whom God has set as two great lights in the sky of my life. They are the Lord’s great joy-bringers to their mémère and me. They make me think of heritage and continuity. And, in their eyes, I imagine the promise of the Gospel continuing to be shared with a still-future generation.
I’m thankful for the mistakes that I’ve made that have made me wiser and more sensitive to shortcomings in others. I’m thankful that my own weaknesses remind me to never stand as a judge over someone else who is trying to figure it out.
I’m thankful for the heat that was in my home when I awoke this morning – and for the heat that was in our men’s shelter this morning that warmed the bodies of those who have no home.
I’m thankful that I can read in a world where 2 out of every 10 people still cannot. (In Niger, only 36.5% of young people (age 15-24) can read in 2018.)
I’m thankful for the kindness of strangers, and for the food on my table, and for the cool breeze that swirls the autumn leaves around, and that the air I breathe is clean and fresh.
I’m thankful for art, which enriches every day of my life – God’s ‘art’-ificial re-creation of beauty in a fallen world.
And I’m thankful for the Body of Christ – for the partnership of other Christians, each doing their own part to realize the kingdom of God, to win the lost, to encourage the downcast, and to love the unlovely.
I’m thankful that God’s Word lives not only in our books, but in our hearts.
I’m thankful for the way we breathe life into one another by sharing the very Words of Life in our times of coffee and conversation.
I’m thankful for the work of God that goes on in a hundred largely-invisible ways in our local assembly by those who have decided to follow Jesus and live serving others.
I’m thankful for the prayer and investment that happens in our Harvest Groups each week – and how each group has developed its own distinct personality. And that they are places of prayer and sharing, of refuge and weeping with those who weep, and rejoicing with those who rejoice.
I’m thankful for all who lay down their lives to share the Gospel on the mission field, either at home or abroad.
I’m thankful for the rising and setting sun that reminds me of the passing of time – time which is passing faster than any of us can possibly imagine. I’m thankful for the reminder that it’s passing far too quickly to waste even a single day, that each hour is too precious to let slip by without experiencing the joy of the Lord.
I’m thankfully for my cell phone, and social media, and for all the electronic beeps and pops and sounds that interrupt my reading and prayer times. (Just kidding.)
I’m thankful for the aches and pains that remind me how fragile life is, and how those who truly suffer need my prayers.
I’m thankful for the place I live, New England. For the changing seasons that tell of the cycle of life. For the explosion of color each Summer and Fall, for the beauty of Winter when the world is drained of all its hues, and for the promise of each green Spring when the Lord shouts: ‘See! I am making all things new!’
I love the mountains, and the oceans, and the sunsets, and the sounds of the laughter of the children who gather for the bus on my corner each school-day morning. I’m thankful for a life lived in a community.
And I’m thankful for the heavens with their stars and planets – all of them far beyond our reach. I’m thankful that they remind me to wonder after God, to remember that I don’t have it figured out. That the One who made these wonderous things says He loves me. They remind me to dream. To see the invisible. And to remember that, as vast as God’s great creation is, I am never, never alone.
And I’m thankful for my salvation, that the Lord has removed from me the fear of death. And for the promise that even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for He will be with me. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord, with those who have gone before me in faith, forever and ever and ever.
Gene
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow! I am very thankful for the common bond that we have in Christ Jesus, by His grace, for His glory and for the fact that all things work together for our conformity to the image of our Lord Jesus. I am grateful for being welcomed into the Thursday night home fellowship (over a year now) at Steve and Anne Brassard’s. They have been loving and gracious hosts and the fellowship with our God and with each other is very important to me as we continue on this sacred journey together. Praise Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
I’m grateful for the joys and sorrows of life that have shaped my perspective and caused me to look deeper into God’s word for wisdom and comfort. The past few months have been filled with blessings of Gina and I becoming new grandparents to a beautiful granddaughter and in-laws to our oldest son’s wife.
These events of immeasurable joy ran along side the deep sadness of Gina’s twin brother passing into eternity. He was my best friend. So it is quite hard to be thankful in that I admit. Through that time, our family came close together and peace has begun to soften the hard places that accompany loss. So I’m thankful, Thankful for all that my Lord has allowed to invade my life.
I’ve spent a lot of time in the last year thinking about being thankful and grateful and the things that I am thankful and grateful for. The usual things constantly came to mind; my church family, my sons and grandsons, my daughters-in-law, my parents and siblings, my home, God’s provision, my health, etc. But God had something more in mind for me to pick up. My thankfulness and gratitude needed to go deeper. I needed to live it, but I didn’t really know how and I wrestled with this nagging thought, pleading with God to show me what He meant. In His mercy and love, He answered me, but certainly not in the way I expected. The epiphany was hard-earned, but the lesson is what I am most thankful for this year. The lesson learned is that my greatest gift this year was the losses I suffered financially, physically, and emotionally. Without these trials, God’s Word would not have come truly alive for me in a way it had never before. “Living water”, “mercy”, and “transformation” became real and I saw my trials differently, look at others with a different attitude – one that is gentler and kinder. I am so thankful that God took me down this hard road (even when I don’t really show it or think it much of the time) because He is doing His work and I really can become “childlike” in my faith because He’s got the big stuff – I just have to lean on Him and the people He sends my way to encourage and those who encourage me. In this, He has never, ever let me down, once I’ve become willing to be taught.
More things to bring forth of how I have been blessed beyond measure from our Gracious God and King, the Lord Jesus. I never would have believed that God would have brought me to a church with so many precious saints who love the Word and strive to live by it. Also, serving alongside Godly servants in leadership and those who co-labor with me in JRock. For those in our home fellowship and how they encourage and challenge me to remain accountable to the Lord to be faithful in cutting the Word straight. In wrapping up, consider Ps. 16:11 and Neh. 8:10 and the place joy should have in being grateful.
For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. John 1:16. I am so thankful for this truth!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Thank you for the opportunity to post on the blog our Thanksgiving thoughts.
I am thankful that God was merciful to me providing a job this summer when I was in a tough spot.
I am also thankful for Jesus and his work on our behalf, and his word which tells us about it!
And I am thankful for Harvest and how you have welcomed me and the good fellowship that it is.
God bless, Evan
I am thankful for the joy of knowing Jesus, for the priority and the call He has on my life. I am thankful for relationships He has blessed my life with, often times hard but always always with value and purpose. I am thankful for doors God has opened and closed, for gifts He has given and grown, for places of stop/wait/go, and for a deeper and growing hunger and desire for more of Him. I am so thankful for the blessing of watching Him transform and redeem my sister’s life and watching/cheering her on in faith keeps me keenly aware of what God has done for me as well in Jesus…I echo what’s been said already: “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow”