Sabbath Keeping – ThanksLiving!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34

“I think that is a better thing than thanksgiving; thanks-living. How is this to be done? By a general cheerfulness of manner, by an obedience to the command of Him by whose mercy we live, by a perpetual, constant delighting of ourselves in the Lord, and by a submission of our desires to His will.” ~ Charles Spurgeon ~

“If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.” ~ W Clement Stone ~

“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.” ~ W. T. Purkiser ~

“We are thankful for the care  That did not come to try us; The burden that we did not bear, The trouble that passed by us; The task we did not fail to do, The hurt we did not cherish; The friend who did not prove untrue, The joy that did not perish.

We are thankful for the blinding storm That did not lose it swelling; And for the sudden blight of harm That came not nigh our dwelling.

We are thankful for the dart unsped, The bitter word unspoken, The grave unmade, the tear unshed, The heart-tie still unbroken.” ~ unknown ~

It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thanksfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast.” ~ W J Cameron ~

“When you have an attitude of being thankful, you never take anything you have for granted.” ~ Skip Powell ~

“God’s mercy is not giving us what we do deserve while His grace is giving us what we don’t deserve.”

“ThanksGiving is good but ThanksLiving is better.” ~ Matthew Henry ~

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” ~ Colossians 3:15 ~

I’ve struggled with what to say to end this Sabbath Keeping and keep coming up with… nothing except gratitude…for you, for the mercy and grace of God, for the candles burning on the mantle, the dogs snoring on their beds, the cats purring on the back of my chair, family, friends, church, neighbors, the love of Jesus and His willingness to say “yes” to Our Father, to Our Father for His plan both prior and after the Fall.

Life is such a struggle and yet, I am grateful. I want to live a daily life of ThanksLiving, to cherish what I’ve had, what I have and what is to come. What is to come? I don’t know but I choose to trust God, to trust He has a good plan for my life and, ultimately, to accept His plan might not be for the here and now but for the hereafter. Eternity is a long, long time and I spend time now secure in the knowledge of His love and His continuing plan.

My life is quiet, very quiet and I’m grateful for you who tuck me in prayer. So many of you have sent me e-mails, asking for prayer and when you do, your name/request is placed in my journal. When I don’t know your needs, God does. When I don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit knows and, along with Jesus, intercedes with Our Father who is ABLE.

Keep the faith, keep going forward; keep trusting God.

P. S. If you’d like to read my post on Haghpat Monastery, Armenia please click HERE.