Tomorrow is decorating the sanctuary Sunday! 10-12. We need some help! All welcome!
Good Morning Thanks Living Followers of Jesus! We know our lives should be characterized with much thanksgiving as we live and love more and more like Jesus. May it be so Lord! may many see you and be drawn to you as our gratitude for you and all you do overflow to streams of Living Water as we follow Jesus and His examples better. Amen!
We move from a national day of thanksgiving that was started by one of our presidents to recognize that our God is indeed worthy of our heart felt thanks for His provisions, protections, and many blessings in establishing and sustaining our great nation. Thanks Lord! And thanks for placing us here for such a time as this! Use us well!
We move to TGIF Friday=Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday and our practice of thanking God for all the nuances of our forgiveness and faith and building our gratitude lists. Today is often called Black Friday because retailers get out of the red and move to making money. However, I am reminded of Good Friday that started out as the blackest of days. Yet because of God's love for us and His grace and mercy, turned to a day of celebration and promised forgiveness, victory over the grave and resurrection for us. PTL! his blood overcame our debts and sins and lead us to living debt free in Christ! PTL! Let us celebrate and continue to live in Christ with much thanksgiving! Amen!
Some of us have been traveling some very hard roads in our journey. Some are carry some heavy things to like unforgiveness, bitterness, guilt and sicknesses. Release those to God and allow Him to transform you, your thinking and choices to ones that focus on, trust, and follow His best ways. Check out our devos below as God ordered them today and spoke to my heart and is speaking to some of you. Choose joy, thanksgiving, forgiveness and to follow Jesus and His example more and more as we work on living sacrificially and loving lavishly like Him. he is speaking to you and many of us today. PTL! He is loving on you and wanting to lead you to His best. PTL! Thank Him and find some friends to process with. Sometimes, well all the time really, we need to die to self, take up cross and crucify some things to be ready to follow Jesus. help us Lord! May we overflow with thanksgiving and obedience and we worship and trust you each step of each day! Come! Fill us o overflowing! help us forgive and move on heal us and restore us. You have great plans for each of us and us together, remember Your promises. Come! Help! Lead! All for Your glory! Amen!
Time for day two of Family Thanksgiving for us. Sometimes we need to be flexible to be able to share love. May it be so Lord! Help us to really love like You and more and more! Amen!
REMEMBER:
ODB:
A man in court filed a restraining order against God. He claimed God had been “particularly unkind” to him and had exhibited a “seriously negative attitude.” The presiding judge dismissed the suit, saying the man needed help not from the court but for his mental health. A true story: humorous, but also sad.
But are we so different? Don’t we sometimes want to say, “Stop, God, please, I’ve had enough!” Job did. He put God on trial. After enduring unspeakable personal tragedies, Job says, “I want to argue my case with God himself” (Job 13:3 nlt) and imagines taking “God to court” (9:3 nlt). He even puts forth a restraining order: “Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me” (13:21). Job’s prosecution argument wasn’t his own innocence but what he viewed as God’s unreasonable harshness: “Does it please you to oppress me?” (10:3).
Sometimes we feel God is unfair. In truth, the story of Job is complex, not providing easy answers. God restores Job’s physical fortunes in the end, but that isn’t always His plan for us. Perhaps we find something of a verdict in Job’s final admission: “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (42:3). The point is, God has reasons we know nothing of, and there’s wonderful hope in that.
By Kenneth Petersen
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What occasions have prompted you to “take God to court”? Why is it okay for you to ask Him tough questions?
Dear God, I sometimes feel angry about what I’ve had to endure. Please help me bring my complaints to You.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
We rightly remember Job as an exceptionally good man. “They have the patience of Job,” we say when we notice someone who demonstrates remarkable restraint under pressure. Not to be missed, however, is Job’s obvious humanity. Having lost his children, his health, and his wealth, we see him lash out at his friends who offer him useless counsel. “You . . . smear me with lies,” he says, and calls them “worthless physicians” (Job 13:4). The problem with Job’s friends is that they imagined they were speaking wisely when they were merely spouting empty platitudes. Job says of their advice, “Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay” (v. 12). This raw picture of his response to his trouble and his alleged “comforters” (16:2) humanizes him, enriching our understanding of human pain and suffering. We also learn to guard our speech when we encounter another in deep pain.
Tim Gustafson |
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TWFYT
UR: Working for Good
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28 (NIV)
When I attended the memorial service of a person very dear to me, a reference was made to Romans 8:28. It troubled me to say that “all things work together for the good” about a dear friend’s death. But the words remained with me, and I revisited the text, trying to make sense of it. I decided to start keeping a journal where I noted different situations — good and bad — to see what the outcome was.
One particular experience helped me to appreciate fully how God worked for good in my life. I joined an organization where, despite my being a senior manager, responsibilities were taken away from me without consultation. To fill the emptiness, I started to coach young colleagues informally. My manager noticed and acknowledged that I was good at helping people develop their skills and talents. I was encouraged to seek appropriate training, and the organization would pay for it. What a blessing! God had truly worked out all things for my good.
Over time, as I continued with my journal, I was amazed to see the ways that indeed God was working for good, even when the circumstances seemed otherwise.
Today's Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for showering us with blessings in all life’s circumstances. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
SY
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