Vaccinate from Virus of Grumbling

[S] Matthew 20:11,15 --
11 When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?'

[O] Especially during this season of Thanksgiving this passage highlighted the criticality of how grumbling can steal away the spirit of thanksgiving and replace with jealousy instead.  I recall the whole theme during the time of Moses leading God's people through the wilderness for 40 years.  The grumbling never ceased among them which became the root cause for their wandering and delaying His promises to be fulfilled.

[A] Before I start counting my blessings, I must vaccinate myself from the virus of grumbling because it will so quickly nullify the blessings into the downward spiral of envy and jealousy.  Identify areas my heart is grumbling and surrender them all at Jesus' feet.

[P] Dear God, I want to have my heart filled with thanksgiving leaving no room for grumbling.  Please continue to fill me with Your Spirit so I may be filled with giving thanksgiving for all the blessings showered upon me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Deeply Respected Leader

[S] Genesis 50:3,7 --
 ³Now forty days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 
 ⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

[O] The word that comes to mind is "respect."  The Egyptians respected Joseph and thus Jacob's death was observed with most respect by the whole nation represented by how long they wept by how many of the leaders paid respect to the burial of Jacob.  Joseph was forced into this nation as a slave and then accused unfairly into prison, but as he stayed focused on God and His provision, he became the top leader of that nation and God continued to shower favor upon all he did to this point of honoring his father's death.  This is a true picture of a man after God's own heart who let Him lead the way through ups and downs of his life's turns.

[A] Stop complaining even if I deserve it.  Give thanks to God always, and in all circumstances look on the bright side by asking "what if things could've been worse?"  God always provides what's best for me even though I may not see it, so get used to giving Him thanks despite the circumstances I may be in.

[P] Dear God, train me to always see the bright side of my circumstances especially when I seem to have a right to complain.  You are the ultimate judge and the provider of my needs and since You will never make mistakes, I am going to thank You for all that come my way from You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Crumbs of Thanksgiving

[S] Matthew 15:27 --
 ²⁷But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

[O] This statement always warms my heart.  This mother's love and care for her daughter's well being as well as her belief on the feasibility of Jesus' healing allowed her to have a tremendous heart of gratitude for even an infinitesimally small amount of Jesus' grace and touch of love.  She had already surrendered everything else and all she needed was just a drop of God's touch which she was ready to receive with utmost thanksgiving.  There were no strings attached.  Her motives were pure.  And Jesus used that to bring forth God's glory.  Or stating differently, her fully surrendered self was prepared to display the amazing grace of God.

[A] How is my scale of "thanksgiving" especially during this time of Thanksgiving?  Am I still trying to reach a certain level before I can have a "thankful" heart?  Or am I going to be thankful even if just a drop of God's grace skims by my life?

[P] Dear Father, I want to have a heart like this woman to be thankful even for crumbs of Your love and grace dropping into my life. And through that may Your glory be revealed as I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Keep Multiplying Seed of Thanksgiving

[S] 2 Corinthians 9:6,10-11 --
 ⁶Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ¹⁰Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; ¹¹you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.

[O] It is one thing to not look for what I had not sowed in the first place, but saying that I didn't have enough resources to sow in the first place is not going to work with God (or Paul) because God has an abundant quantify of His resources for us to sow to reap His harvest of righteousness which eventually produces thanksgiving to God.  I may run out of things to sow if I'm seeking for other results than what God is intended but as long as my purpose stays within this boundary, we won't have to worry about running out of sees to sow.

[A] In this time of Thanksgiving Day I want to receive His abundance of His seed of thanksgiving and create opportunity to sow them into hearts of those who may be in need of just that during this time season of the year.

[P] Dear Father, please provide Your abundant seed of thanksgiving to hand out to those we're reaching out to some people during this Thanksgiving Day.  May Your Spirit permeate through the time we'll have together.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Raising the Bar of Conversations

[S] Ephesians 5:3-4 --
 ³But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
 ⁴and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

[O] Following yesterday's passage, Paul continues on about raising the standard of excellence for Christ followers.  This begins by avoiding immoral or impure thoughts in our hearts, not even mentioning any of that either.  Whenever we gathering around with other Christ followers we need to remember this passage of being very careful of what we talk about for fun or not because Paul's clear about one thing that we should give thanks to God and others instead of exchanging of unfitting words with one another.  This is very easy to do, however, and so must be careful not to fall into that mode.

[A] Verse 3 talks about how Christ followers must keep up the standard of their reputation and also to keep their conversations clean.  It's not that we have to use filthy or offensive words to fall into this category but also when we gossip and talk down on others we are guilty of what Paul charges us not to do.  I need to have more of an appreciation of people around me and to praise them with kind words.

[P] Dear God, please fill my heart with more gratitude about everything and everyone you've put around my life.  I want nothing more than the thankfulness come out of my mouth when I'm around others.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Got Thanksgiving?

[S] Colosians 3:17 --
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

[O] Do I start with thanksgiving in whatever I say or do? This is one area I need to improve in and especially when I pray, I need to start with the awesome thanksgiving for all He's done for me. This could be the glass half full or empty concept but if I start counting my blessings this may come easy. So I need to veer away from complaining attitudes about what's going on around me. Whenever we do our group prayer at BSF, we start with Praise + Thanksgiving and I really like that model to follow after.

[A] Follow the ACTS sequence for prayer.

[P] Dear God, I praise You for who You are and what You are doing in me and my family's lives. You are always working to bring out the best in us. Thank You for the family and the relationships we sustain. Thank You for our children who love Your word and desire to follow Your ways. Thank You for providing resources for us to enjoy freely and the Spirit to guide us each day. Forgive me for not recognizing this enough throughout the day and may I continue to remember this. I give You what I have today such that Your glory will shine because of that. In Jesus' name. Amen.