Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
Psalm 100:4
Here it is the second day of October 2023.
Time is just flying right along.
Yesterday, as we walked into the front doors of our Church, I noticed these words from Psalm 100, verse four, as I do many times. The front entrance there has the words etched in stone.
Now that it is a new month, I am writing about a new theme. And since it is October, the month we celebrate “Thanksgiving Day” here in Canada, I thought I would focus on “gratitude” and “thanksgiving” for this month. I hope that sits well with you. If you are like me, you can benefit from focusing on gratitude for the next thirty-one days!
Yesterday was busy here. We went to Church twice, took part in a Pro-Life Demonstration at a nearby town.m Then we went to Bible Study after dinner.
Today it’s off to the Doctors and work this afternoon.
On Saturday I finished weeding flowerbeds around our house and yard for the last time in 2023.
So today finds me tired. A bit drained. But we carry on in thankfulness no less.
How has your Autumn been going the first nine days of Autumn, that is?
Have you had moments of quiet reflection where you fill your heart with the beauty that surrounds you and the great God who made it all?
Our Pastor reminded us in Church yesterday to be thankful most of all for the gift of grace in Jesus Christ that we have as believers. If I have ever omitted to focus on that, first let me reiterate those words here and now.
Certainly we can and should be grateful for God’s beautiful creation and His power to create it all. But we must always be thankful first for the gift of redemption in Jesus Christ!
We should never focus on nature more than we should focus on the Creator of nature, either. We are most thankful for God’s mighty power and majesty, and we worship God, the maker and not the creation itself. Of course as we gasp at the surrounding beauty, we give gratitude in our hearts as believers to God first.
So, as we take this journey together for the month of October, let us focus first on God’s greatest gift of all. His Son our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the way, the only way to salvation, through His death on the cross.
As you prepare your home and your family for your Thanksgiving Celebration, won’t you join with me in giving wholehearted thanksgiving to God, our triune King?
And sing the words to this great hymn along with me in your heart or right out loud:
“Wholehearted thanksgiving to thee I will bring,
in praise of thy marvelous deeds I will sing;
in thee I will joy and exultingly cry,
thy name I will praise, O Jehovah Most High.”
This song continues on with beautiful words and I recommend you to google them. The title of the song is “Whole-hearted Thanksgiving to Thee I Will Bring”
The chorus is fitting and since the song is for use for public domain, I will end with them for today.
“Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice!
O come to Jehovah, declare ye his fame,
and give him all honor, for just is his name.”
I hope you’ll join me on this journey of “thanksgiving” and “thanks living” for the month of October and every day of the year!
Blessed Monday Dearest Reader,
With gratitude in my heart, always,
Liz.