Thanksgiving!!

We take a break from our Daniel series for the sake of Thanksgiving. 

Congratulations, everyone! For the past day, you got to be out of work, and spend some time with family, eating Turkey. And you probably spent some time giving thanks for some things in your life. Now you might be off spending all your time buying Christmas presents for those close to you, for whom you are most thankful.

I must admit that the whole Black Friday meme jokes are getting a little on my nerves this year. As much as I would never actually participate in Black Friday because I hate lines and crowds, I think there isn't a problem with spending money buying things for OTHERS after being thankful for what you already have. I mean, yeah.

Anyway, I want to challenge you to do something different today. You've taken some time to thank God for His blessings; now I want you to spend even more time realizing what those blessings are. Today, I want to challenge you with something that has twice gotten me through times in my life where I have irrationally made myself stressed about stupid things. It gives a rather nice perspective.

This little challenge is based on a sermon given by my pastor a little over a month ago, while I was home for Fall Break. It was a simple message, designed around people giving testimonies pertaining to the message after each of his three points. I decided to make a catalogue of how those points pertained to my life.

Writing that catalogue and looking back at it was a wonderful perspective change. Thus, today, I ask that you also take a look back at your life, and do the same through these three areas.

1. Places

There are certainly some places in your life that seem particularly meaningful, where the Lord has done wonderful things. The place where you got saved, the place where you met a special friend (I don't necessarily mean a significant other, but you can read it that way if you want), the place where you decided what you wanted to do the rest of your life, the place where you came to rededicate your life to the Lord, etc. There are so many different possibilities, and it's refreshing to think about it. 

2. People

This is the one who consistently gets me. This is where you record the people who have had a positive impact on your life. And for me, it fills a full two pages. I think you probably know what kinds of people have had an impact on your lives. People who trained you, people who led you to Jesus, people who encouraged you through suffering, your parents, people who listened to you when you needed someone etc. 

I think you might be surprised how many people you can come up who have had tremendous impact on your life. 

3. Problems

At this stage in my life, this particular category is fairly empty. But the idea is the problems that the Lord placed in your life that have ultimately ended up for your good. 

For me, the primary one is of course when I was unable to attend Grove City College as I intended. That was devastating to me, and I hated it so much, but it is now the best thing that ever happened to me. Now as I pursue the role of a pastor, I could never be happier about where my life is headed. I love it so much, and could never see myself doing anything else. 

So how about you? What places, people, or problems have had tremendous impact on your lives? I challenge you to make a catalogue of it. You might very well be surprised. 

10 of Your Blessings (It's a Start for Counting)

1. God created humanity. There was no need for an incredibly magnificent God like ours, to take any interest into creating humans. We did not need to exist for God to find fulfillment, though yes, our purpose is to please God.

2. God placed man in an ideal world with luscious fruit and luscious fruit, and no animals hunting us humans. Wouldn't it be an incredible sight to watch dinosaurs walk with humans, and not be trying to eat them? 

3. But God wasn't a deistic type God, which would have made sense. He has no reason to be interested in us as individuals, but He stayed and communed with man.

4. (Also, God didn't just destroy the world altogether after Adam's sin. We know that one day He will create a new heaven and a new earth, so He obviously had that ability. But He didn't use it after man corrupted the ideal world that He placed them in.)

5. Indeed, even after man messed things up, He remained in a relationship with man, going to great lengths to set up a sacrificial system that allowed the Israelites to enjoy a relationship with him, albeit a broken one.

6. Further, He refused to leave it as only for the Israelites. Contrary to negative popular opinion, God allowed His covenant with Abraham to extend to non-Israelites, like the men of Gibeon, Barzillai the Gileadite, and so on.

7. Then the Lord wasn't content with keeping tne relationship as purely broken. Jesus then laid down His crown to be born from a virgin in a manger.

8. Jesus went through and lived a perfect life, then went and died on the cross to take away the punishment for all our sins, to all who will accept His death as a substitution for their punishment. Raising again the third day, we have a promise that we too will raise again to life eternal.

9. Furthermore, the Lord refused to leave it to just the Israelite, but opened up His route of salvation to the Gentiles. All people now have the opportunity to get to have that intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that brings with it salvation.

10. Even still, God doesn't just give us eternity, and then become a deistic type God when it comes to this world. He still cares for us, and tells us that He will "never leave us, nor forsake us." We have His words that through our struggles, we will have Him strengthening us.

Count your Blessings

Thanksgiving. The day in which we feast and feast and feast. Oh and I think there's something to do with celebrating the blessings God has bestowed upon us, too. Obviously everyday should include us thanking God for his blessings, but during the hustle and bustle of this weekend, jumping from feast to feast (or store to store), take extra time to remember what God has done for each of us.

He has no need to do anything for us whatsoever. He is an all-powerful being, who could have just walked away from this world after He created it. Although he had the power to do whatever He wanted throughout the evil history of man, He has decided instead to show mercy unto this world, in instance such as Noah and the flood and Jesus on Calvary.  

Beyond showing us mercy and granting us eternal life, He has taken the opportunity to make himself approachable to us. He's made himself real to us, so we can craft a relationship with him.  

As if that wasn't enough, He has gone a step further. He has been sure to be there for us through all our need, 

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:19

So I urge you today, to take some time to "Count your Blessings,"

"Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done."