Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a few hours away and I want to encourage you to count your blessings. Yes, one by one.
It might sound time consuming, but try it. You will be surprised at how much better you feel.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday. But thanksgiving is something we can celebrate daily as we think on those things which bless us.

In the Old Testament there were different types of offerings. Some were required by the Old Testament law and some offerings were free will offerings. In other words, offered at will by the individual in gratitude..

Today, Jesus shed blood made the final sacrifice by the offering of His shed blood and body on the cross. And His offering fulfilled all that was needed.
Yet, I can still offer God by my free will, a thanksgiving offering.
A thanksgiving offering of looking for the good and thanking Him. Offering Him my grateful attitude. By expressing in word and deed, that I am thankful for His provision.
You can chose to look for the good in your life and be thankful.
Give thanks with me and may you have a time of thanksgiving that does not end by the end of the day but continues in your actions daily.

~Debbie




Leviticus 22:29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer [it] at your own will.

Volunteer

You have the opportunity to make a difference in the world.
Your input, your presence, are needed.
Reach out.
How can you add value to another person or a situation?
By volunteering to help outside of yourself and your needs.
This might be as simple as helping someone close to you. Example: A neighbor.
You have been gifted to bring about positive change in your world.

There are people and things that make up your world and your circle of influence.
You can make a positive difference.
Prayerfully consider the needs around you. The world is full of needs.
Make a choice.
Not once, but daily. Prayerfully consider where your time and effort should be spent today.
Do not make a job of it. Today. You are giving something from yourself today.

Your gift of volunteering could be 10 minutes of undivided helpfulness toward another persons need.
This is not an opportunity to be used but to be useful.
Regardless of our time commitments we can schedule a bit of volunteering.
Obviously you have commitments that need to be fulfilled. Work and family.
Yet, we as a complete package belong to the Lord. Therefore our time belongs to Him also.
So volunteer.
Give the Lord your hands, feet, understanding, abilities, etc...
Give a few minutes or a chunk of your very precious time on a regular basis.
We all have 24 hours a day, but minute by minute we are spending our allotted time, not knowing how many minutes are in our lifetime bank.
So spend yours prayerfully and carefully.

~Debbie


Colossians 3:23
And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Leftovers! Again

I love to have a gourmet meal prepared for me. To see that someone took the time and effort to gather the ingredients, prepare and serve a great meal intended for me.
How great is that? Even leftovers can be a great meal from such an effort.
But for most of us, a thrown together batch of ingredients make up our meals and our lives.
Bits and pieces gathered together as we live and shop in a hurry to just get the task accomplished.
I have noticed that we tend to handle our relationships with one another in the same way.

This will work for a while, but eventually you will discover that something is missing.
Relationships are not prepackaged meals.
And a great leftover is still a leftover.
Relationships require hands on prep work. They take time. Your time.

Relationships require a gourmet meal approach on a regular basis.
This ensures that our emotional bank will be replete.
We all need to be fed.
No exceptions.

When cooking, you can find nutritious viable options for feeding yourself and your family.
Prepackaged. Packaged meals with instructions.
It feeds you a meal, yet something is missing.
That something is the knowledge that it was intended and prepared specifically for you.

Life demands a huge investment in time and effort.
Do not give those you care about....leftovers on a regular basis.
They might be time savers, but they are not relationship savers.
We all need to feel special on a regular basis.
Anything worth doing. Is worth doing right.
Leftovers are fine occasionally.
But no one who has a relationship with you, will only want the leftovers of your time and effort.
What's for dinner?

~Debbie


Galations 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Do Not Give Up

There are times and seasons in which we need to let go, but not give up.
There is a need to hang on to God's word and God's timing.

There have been times, when I started to give up on a situation or a person.
Yet, the Lord would impress me to give the situation or the person a bit more time.
Time to grow, time to be watered, time for the light of God to shine forth in our hearts.
In the natural our faith is matured through a growth process.
As with all things this takes time.

If the Lord plants a seed in your heart to believe for something beyond your natural mind, you need to let it mature.
Maturity happens as a thing, person, or situation is left in the ample, sovereign hands of God.
If you try to make something happen before its time, results can be less than expected.

It is hard to wait. And wait. And wait.
But wait.
The Lord of the harvest knows when the seed is matured and ready to be harvested.
God knows the desires of our hearts and the good plan that He has for each of us.

Prayerfully consider your decisions.
Is it harvest time?
Or is it a Sabbath rest for you and your fields?

~Debbie

Sabbath Man?

© 1998 Debbie Turner Chavers

John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.