Intentional Encouragement

     I'm enjoying a week of vacation with Thanksgiving Day right in the middle of it.  I have done that for the last 2 or 3 years and I really love it.  As a matter of fact, Thanksgiving is nearly my favorite holiday of the year.  It's a delightful opportunity to reflect on God's goodness.      But rather than any lengthy post, I thought I'd just reproduce one of my favorite sections of "Thanksgiving Scripture." Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!   For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.   In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.      The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the...

     “We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near.  We recount your wondrous deeds.”   Those words from Psalm 75:1 are a fitting reminder to us as we think about the next part of our Thanksgiving preparation.  I quoted Psalm 119:68 in my previous post: “You are good and do good.”   I encouraged you there to think about God’s character and his nature as you prepare yourself for Thanksgiving.      Today, I'd like you to begin shifting your thinking toward what God has done.  This is a little bit dangerous because we can sometimes allow it to be a process in which God answers to us for how well he has treated us.  Don't fall into the trap of thinking that the more good things God has done in your life; the more reason you have to be thankful.  It is valuable to think about all that God has done though.  Think about the sending of Jesus to accomplish the possibility that you could have a relat...

     A little over a week from today, we'll all sit around a table filled with more food than we probably should consume in a day to celebrate a national holiday designed to focus our attention on the goodness of God to us over the previous year.      I thought I'd spend the next couple of posts talking a little about thanksgiving; not the holiday, but the attitude.  Thanksgiving always begins with a foundation of some sort.  For many people, thankfulness is directly connected to possessions and provisions.  When I have enough to pay the bills and some left over to have some nice things; I am thankful.  If, on the other hand, I am struggling month to month or I seem to have less than someone else that I am observing, then my thankfulness drops and I begin to be frustrated with something that is missing from my life.      When I approach thanksgiving from a different vantage point, I start to understand something very i...

     That's how Charles Schultz described happiness; a warm puppy.  Well; I can relate.  We had at least one dog through more than half of our marriage.  In the last dozen years or so, life happened; including a son who developed allergies to pet dander.  We gave it a go about 7 years back, but his system couldn't take it.      That all changed about 2 weeks ago.  A cute little stray ended up in our home for a few hours.  Mitch didn't react.  The pooch was delightful.  The owner posted signs and we obviously had to give the dog back.  But we had the bug.  We've been checking around for a couple of weeks and visiting shelters looking for a dog to rescue.  We brought one home yesterday.  Who could resist that little face?      I was reminded this morning of a few lessons to be learned from "man's best friend" and their connection to my relationship to my master, Jesus.  I ...

I was reviewing a few of my early posts to this blog, when there were very few people following or reading.  I have decided to occasionally re-post one of those posts and offer them for your encouragement.  Here's a reminder about God's grace that was a lift to my spirit this morning.  Hopefully it will be to yours as well. I read a statement a while back that struck me.  Patrick Morley was commenting on Paul's words in Ephesians 4:1; "I...urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called."  Pat's emphasis was that God gives us sufficient grace to live this worthy life.  Then he made this statement: "Most Christians under-apply their grace." While I'd like to think that it's not applicable to me :-), I really like that phrase.  I wonder if it resonates with you.  We sometimes keep our gratitude for grace reserved for our salvation experience.  That's certainly worth focusing on.  If it weren't...