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A Week of Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving Week - a celebration without gifts to give, tinsel, or jingles.  It's a time to reflect on how grateful we can be because of the good that has happened...even when we're struggling in life's circumstances.
Here's Psalm 107...look at the times he says "give thanks", and the circumstances that surround them.


1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
4Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
6Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
7He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
8Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for humankind,
9for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
10Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.
12So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
14He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.
15Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for humankind,
16for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
17Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.
19Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
20He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
21Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for humankind.
22Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

We give thanks, not because all things are right and just, but because in all things, God is still there, and our lives are better with Him than on its own without him.

It's a week of Thanksgiving....

Peace

Comments

Paul said…
E, I will comment with a question as Jesus did sometimes. What would the world be like if everyone believed your last two statements?
November 19, 2012 at 10:06 AM
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