Thanksgiving Challenge by P. Oliveira

To my fellows Christians,

I have been thinking, for the past few days, about this holiday of Thanksgiving. I have come to the conclusion that is very hard to be glad only one day out of the year. Of course, you are faking your way through it -if we really come to think on it- because being thankful can not just be a yearly thing. It has to be a every-moment-that-you-are-living thing. 

The reason why I am saying this is  because I also have come to the conclusion that being thankful every day is very much like exercising a muscle. You have to keep at it. You have to find a time or a moment, every day, and just do it. Dig deep down and find the will, the joy, to be thankful, no matter where you are in life. For some, it can be being thankful for having a family (even though it may be as dysfunctional as it can be) or for having a job after years of non-employment. For others being thankful for the time you had with the loved ones that have gone from this life. 

It is not easy being thankful all the time, trust me, but if you take a moment of everyday and practice it- be really glad for something good that happened in your life or a person's that you know- when the holidays come around, you wont have to fake your way through it. You are going to be genuinely glad for it, for the moments that have pasted and for the ones that are yet to come. 

So, in the spirit of "Thanksgiving Exercise", a few friends of mine have put together a list of thanksgiving verses. I challenge you to read one, hold it in your heart and practice it. Live it. When the next thanksgiving rolls around, lets see how much you have to be genuinely glad for.

• Psalm 95:2-3Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.
  1 Corinthians 1:4-5I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.  For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge--
  2 Corinthians 4:15-16All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
  2 Corinthians 9:11-12You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
  Ephesians 1:15-16For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,  I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
  1 Timothy 4:4-5For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,  because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
  1 Chronicles 16:34Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
  Psalm 7:17I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
  Psalm 28:7The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
  Psalm 100:4Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
  Psalm 106:1Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
  Isaiah 12:4In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
  Jeremiah 33:11the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying, "Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever." For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,' says the LORD.
  Colossians 3:17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
  1 Thessalonians 5:18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

A Piece Of The Puzzle- odb.org

November 13, 2013 — by David C. McCasland

Read: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. —1 Corinthians 12:18

Bible in a Year:
Lamentations 1-2; Hebrews 10:1-18

At her birthday celebration, the honored guest turned the tables by giving everyone at the party a gift. Kriste gave each of us a personal note expressing what we mean to her, along with encouraging words about the person God made us to be. Enclosed with every note was one piece of a jigsaw puzzle as a reminder that each of us is unique and important in God’s plan.

That experience helped me to read 1 Corinthians 12 with new eyes. Paul compared the church—the body of Christ—to a human body. Just as our physical bodies have hands, feet, eyes, and ears, all are part of a unified body. No follower of Christ can claim independence from the body, nor can one part tell another that it is not needed (vv.12-17). “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased” (v.18).

It’s easy to feel less important than others whose gifts are different and perhaps more visible than ours. The Lord, however, wants us to see ourselves as He does—uniquely created and highly valued by Him.

You are one piece of a picture that is not complete without you. God has gifted you to be an important part of the body of Christ to bring Him honor.

Lord, help me not to compare myself with others
in Your family. May I seek instead to be the person
You’ve made me to be, and help me to use what
You’ve given me to bless others today.

Your life is God’s gift to you; make it your gift to God.