Thankful Thursday

Here is the first of many (we hope I can stay that consistent) Thankful Thursdays. Where we stop our busy lives, for a moment to ponder and praise all the areas the Lord has provided in abundance.


I am thankful for:

• My sweet husband who desires to wash me in the Word and loves me too much to let me stay the way that I am....no matter how much of a fight I put up.
• My healthy, thriving baby girl; who is a gift from the Lord that I must remember to continually surrender. Her development and health are outstanding. I confess I worry too much when she teethes or seems more irritable than normal, when I should be looking at the great picture. Shes healthy, happy and thriving....all credit due to our God.
• Our home. I confess I often complain about it being old or having little living space. So soon I forget the amazing blessing of Bryan's parents providing this place for us to dwell safely in this season of our lives. It is more than enough to meet our needs.
• Our jobs and the financial provision it allows. I confess, again (lately there has been more confessing) that I have been given to complaining about the lack of finances when I should be thankful that we DO have money. It may not be enough at a given time, but it is enough to support our immediate needs.
• Our church. The incredible teaching, fellowship, worship, accountability and community it fosters. The challenge it gives in encouraging its members to take the Gospel not only to our streets and homes, but to the nations. I am thankful for this challenge, as it certainly is one for me; and with that I confess.

• I am thankful for conviction like this:

"Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth--you, then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." Romans 2:17-24

• I am thankful for Romans 3 that clearly states that "NO ONE IS RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE!" Romans 3:10a. SO apart from Christ....of course I would find ultimate condemnation in the above verses (Rom. 2:17-24). I am not bound to the law, but to grace. Which I need every day to make sure I am not given to bragging, boosting, adultery, lying, dishonoring God, worshiping idols, stealing and the list goes on and on.

• I am also thankful for the circumstances that I curse the most. That I HATE the most. The circumstances that I wish were over. The circumstances that call me to suffer because: "For it his been granted to you on behalf of CHRIST not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him." Philippians 1:29

• We are happy about this because: "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the SURPASSING GREATNESS of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him." Philippians 3:7-9a.

So you see....I am thankful. Thankful because had it been based on my performance I deserve none of these things I am thankful for, but because of the love of Christ and His effective grace to the believer (and common grace to the unsaved) we are able to enjoy such blessings. Thank you Lord.