MY THANKS GIVINGS

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The Thanksgiving Holiday is just around the corner! I love this time of year! But this year in particular, I am trying to make more of an effort to remember the things I have in life in which to be thankful for. Often it's too easy to take our trials, and hardships on as burdens, and negate God's presence in those circumstances. Tonight, God took me to 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." My joy, my prayers, and what I have to be thankful for should not merely fluctuate with my circumstances or a roller coaster of emotions I am experiencing. It's easy to see where obeying these 3 commands, be joyful, pray continually, and give thanks, would go against our natural disposition in life...it's hard to have joy in hard times. But there is a difference between JOY and HAPPINESS in life. Happiness reflects your circumstances, but TRUE JOY COMES FROM JESUS! And, I have found, especially here lately, that when I make a concerted effort to look for God's presence in all those hard situations, and do what He says, I am also able to see God's will at work, and the "circumstance" in a whole new perspective. Think about times when you have relied on God's guidance, and how He showed up in those major ways that you needed him in those hard times...now, looking back, do you see Him more? Do you see how BIG he is? That's your JOY! There's your Thanksgiving! In verse 18, Paul is not telling us to thank God FOR everything that happens to us, but rather to give thanks IN every circumstance! A commentary note in my study bible says "Evil doesn't come from God, so we shouldn't thank Him for that, but we can be thankful for God's presence in the midst of our trial, and for all the good that He will carry out through our distress."
My daughter has an awesome song that she's just learned...and she's singing it all over the house these days. You may remember singing this as a child...

My God is So Big

My God is so big,So strong and so mighty,There's nothing my God cannot do.(clap, clap)
My God is so big,So strong and so mighty,There's nothing my God cannot do.(clap, clap)
The mountains are His,The valleys are His,The stars are His handiwork too.
My God is so big,So strong and so mighty,There's nothing my God cannot do.(clap, clap)

I love how the Lord uses my own kids to remind me how having the faith of a child is all I need to come to Him! It's so easy for a child to have faith in God. If you tell a child to have faith, their mindset is set! They expect God to act! WOW! My God Is So Big, To Use Small Children In Such Big Ways!!! Praise Be To GOD In Whom My TRUE JOY Rests!