Thanks-living

"How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness."

Psalm 116:12 

 

I'm so looking forward to fall!
 

The following hymn came up in my readings recently. I'm not familiar with it and couldn't find it on YouTube or an online hymnal site. But the last line of each verse gave me pause to consider.

 

Thanksgiving/Thanks-living

 

"Our life and its sustaining breath, and life that's promised after death, come from God, our heavenly Father.

He gives us freedom from our fears; food, friends, and purpose through the years.

All the words of our Thanksgiving fail to say what we can show by our Thanks-living.

 

"A life of living thankfulness moves lifeless words to willingness; willingness to serve our Father, 

That service, born of love, demands our hearts, our minds, our strength our hands.

All the words of our Thanksgiving fail to say what we can show by our Thanks-living.

 

"Our deepest love and highest praise in both routine and festive days sing of You, our heavenly Father.

Yet, while our songs of praise arise, deep in our hearts we realize

All the words of our Thanksgiving fail to say what we can show by our Thanks-living.

Terry W. York, 1949-

 

1949 was a good year! I know Linda, Roy and Penny agree! Thank you, Terry, for this hymn.

 

A pretty scene in Gettysburg

 

"The most important thing in life is to live your life for something more important than your life."

William James, 1842-1910

What is important in your life? Of course, your family. Is there something else that is important? Is it more important than God? Hopefully you said no. What could ever be more important than God? If you live for God first, everything else falls into place. It may not always be easy or fun. You may have difficult and troubling days. But with God your life is covered by His Amazing Hand.

I learned something new about fawn last month. You would think after taking pictures of fawn all these years I would have noticed. But I hadn't. They each have two rows of spots going from their neck down their back. Every one of them. I've never noticed that before.

We give our thanks to God everyday in word and song, but our living is a wonderful way to thank Him. Living is what people see. Living is what encourages others. Living is thanking our God for all He's done.

 

"The rule that governs my life is this: Anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it."

J. Wilbur Chapman, 1859-1918 

This front porch is getting into the season!

 

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."

Acts 20:24 

Regarding the above verse, the Liberty Bible Commentary said: "The point is that Paul had a clear conscience before God and man, knowing that he had used every occasion and opportunity to witness to those that he had come in contact with in his extensive travels. He was also pure of the blood of all men because he had fully declared unto them all the counsel of God."

I know I fall short of that statement, but it's something I can strive for in my daily living. Thanks-living. Words and songs are important. Daily living is one more way to say "Thank you, God" for your hand upon my life.

 

Colors of Fall

Dancing in the Wind

No, not a snowflake yet, but a lovely snap of Queen Anne's Lace, by my friend, Barbara.

 

“David danced before the Lord with all his might.”

2 Samuel 6:14

 

Are you a dancer?  I can remember in grade school dancing with my friend, Janet, in her basement to the hits of the day. My we were good and had so much fun!

 

Junior High brought dances and I twisted like the best of them. A little more refinement came in Senior High, but dance I did.

In later years, one of my Sunday School teachers, Jackie, who was in her late 60s, danced one morning during class while listening to praise music and gave all us girls a good laugh (and we were in our 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s)!

 

 My question is: Am I dancing? And who am I dancing for?

 

I've always liked this snap of a deer eating corn at our back gate in MD.
 

 "Joy is peace dancing and peace is joy at rest."

F. B. Meyer

Most of us are familiar with the Scripture telling of David dancing before the LORD when the Ark of the LORD was returned to the city of David.

“Too often we are hesitant to dance, whether it’s dancing in the literal or figurative sense of the word . . . Life is not meant to be a solemn, morose affair. It is not meant to be endured. It is meant to be lived, which includes working .sleeping, eating, loving, hurting, weeping, laughing and yes, dancing  . . .There will always be difficult times, but don’t let them completely steal your joy and your desire to dance. Dare to delight in the God who loves you whatever the season you find yourself in. Twirl in the arms of a springtime rain. Shuffle along with the rustle of falling autumn leaves. Tap your toes in winter’s first snow. Be led by the waltz of a summertime breeze . . . Don’t hesitate. Dance for the sheer delight of being alive, of being loved by the One who will be your Partner through all eternity.”

                                          365 Devotions for a Thankful Heart, September 7

 

Found this new flag painted on this building that I pass on my early morning drives.
 

 It is, indeed, a more sober time in our land and you may not feel like dancing. But the more I age the more I try and keep my thoughts in line with all the joy God wants me to experience. There is so much we have no control over, but we do have control over our thoughts.

 

"We are all strings in the concert of God's joy."

Jakob Bohme, 1575-1624

 

God gives us the great pleasure of talking to Him about everything and leaving it all in His hands. After that our trust is secure in His Love and we can walk through life knowing He is in control of all things.

 

Let's dance! Let's shuffle with the rustle of falling leaves as we greet this season of Autumn. I know I can't twist like I did in Junior High, but I can float along with joy experiencing all God wants me to have. 

 

 

 Not sure I can make the moves,

but I think I'll try!

 

 

 

 

 

I did find the following quote (which I know is true) but I might ask the author if he ever danced:

 

"The heart that is to be filled to the brim with holy joy must be held still."

George Seaton Bowes, c 1875

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Personal Library

 "Memory is the cabinet of imagination, the treasury of reason, the registry of conscience, and the council chamber of thought."

Saint Basil, c 330-379

 

Strolling at Clear Creek.
 

 Memory: the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.

 

That's a good definition of the memory that is inside our head. But I like the following definition better:

 

"Memory is the library and the treasury of the mind . . . Memory is not just the imprint of the past upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears . . . Engrave God's blessings in your heart, and you'll never grow weary of praising Him." Warren Wiersbe, Prayer, Praise & Promises 

 

Fawn are growing and spots are fading.
 

God has given us a tremendous gift of the ability to remember all the things in our life from just a young child to the present day. Our brain is so unique that nothing else can match it, even a computer or the web.

I've remembered so many things through the years that are sitting in my brain to be recalled at a moments notice. Is there anything else so miraculous?

Memory is the treasury of the mind. That's why we should engrave God's blessings in it for they will never disappear.

 

Okay, how much is the toll?
 

Yes, there are diseases that cause the brain to lose it's power, but even when that happens God is still there. I'm sure you've heard of a man or women who came to life when they heard a song being played and sang with it, all the words. God's Word never leaves us. 

Genesis 28:15 “ . . .  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

“No matter what you may lose in this life, you can never lose your relationship with Me.”

Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, September 10

 

 Make sure you are putting good into your brain so your memories will help you all through your life. Fill your mind with good things, good words, good ideas, good music, good friendships and good works. You will always have them with you and they will always encourage your heart.

The fields are alive with Golden Rod! I see it most everywhere we drive, and it's a delight to see yellow fields in September.

 

There's even a small patch in our backyard.

 

 

Your own personal library. Be generous with yourself and fill it with good thoughts. They will sustain you all through your life!

 

God gives us memories that we might have roses in December."

Sir James M. Barrie, 1860-1937

Being Loved

Love these dahlias from my friend, Kathy's, garden. 

 

 Charles Spurgeon wrote the following words on being loved by Jesus. His devotion was on the five words John said in his gospel: "the disciple whom Jesus loved." I've heard it said and probably read these words a number of times, yet I enjoyed the perspective Spurgeon shared as he wrote regarding the following Scripture verse:

"One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him." John 13:23

 

"Five different times in the book of John, the disciple John referred to himself as: 'the disciple whom Jesus loved.' That phrase--does it strike you as just a bit . . . arrogant? Was John claiming that Jesus loved him more than He loved the other disciples? Who exactly did John think he was?

 

"The answer to that question isn't in who John thought he was; it's in who he knew he was: 'the disciple whom Jesus loved.' Just as Jesus perfectly and completely loved Peter, Andrew, James, John, Martha, Mary, and all the rest, He loved John. Perhaps John's phrase was simply his way of reminding himself that he was wonderfully loved by the Son of God Himself. It was his way of hugging that knowledge to himself, of gratefully and joyfully wrapping himself in the love of Jesus. When John audaciously recorded this fact about himself five times, he showed he wasn't afraid to claim the love of Christ as his own.

"So don't you be either. Don't be afraid to claim His precious love for your own. Wrap yourself in the cloak of Christ's love; hug it tightly to yourself. Lean into its solid, immovable strength. Rest your head and heart in its certainty. You know who you are--the one whom Jesus loves."

 

Lovely Dahlias from Garden Answer

If you're anything like me you have a hard time reckoning that Jesus could love someone likeyou. When I think of my actions and my thinking it's so easy to believe I'm not loved. That Jesus would love me. That Jesus would die for me if I was the only person on the earth.

I think Spurgeon is right to lean into Christ's solid, immovable strength and rest with the certainty, that yes, Jesus loves even me. Hugging that knowledge and being grateful and joyful because of Christ's love for me.

 

Lovely Zinnias bouquet from Floret Flower Farm
 

The women who Jesus loves. I like the sound of that. Maybe I will type that up and tape it to my computer screen. Seeing it each day may have a renewing affect on me to stand tall and share His love with others. Why? Because he loves even me.