heart and thanksgiving are inseparable

The holiday season is here. Signs of the season are all around. But the signs are more of Christmas than of thanksgiving. Think about it. The world makes more money off Christmas than Thanksgiving. Buy food for one, but buy everything else for the other.

We all understand that we have to be careful. Be careful to do what is right. Be careful not to fall or hurt yourself. Be careful not to offend others. Being careful is always right, but what we are careful about doesn’t always make it right. Who is it that we care about and who do we listen to?

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB

in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

It is the will of God to be thankful. Being thankful honors God. Having a heart of thanks brings us and others into the place where we can see, sense and seize our God in grand ways. We cannot move on with just being thankful for food for the stuff on the surface. It is time to be thankful for more, but how do we do that?

Colossians 4:2 NLT

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

Prayer often changes situations. Prayer most often changes the one praying. It changes me. Prayer has also been known to make me or the one praying thankful.

We lead others by the choices we make and the directions we go in. The passage we are looking at today is one such place we see the leading.

It is our heart that holds our thanks, our faith, our strength and more. Take some time to examine what God says about our hearts.

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Matthew 6:21 NLT

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Matthew 12:35 NLT

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

It is hard to worship or be thankful when everything around you as well as your heart is in turmoil. That is another reason to seek to be, plan to be and to be thankful. It is contagious to be thankful. It makes a difference to have a thankful heart.

Philippians 4:7 NLT

Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" (brand new book)

One of the most powerful preachers, writers and leaders of our time, in my opinion, is Francis Chan. His first book, Crazy Love , revolutionized my thoughts about God's love as well as my interacting with God. Now it is time for a brand new book from Chan being released tomorrow, September 1st. The book is Forgotten God . This is a phenomenal book about the power that Christians and the church can and must tap into. All of it is within the Holy Spirit. Francis talks about the power that was seen in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit began to move among people. It is true that many have avoided or maybe forgotten what the Holy Spirit is all about. And like the Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts. We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and ac...

inspiration from C.S. Lewis

There are many people, past and present, who get our attention by what they write or say or share. For me C.S. Lewis is one of those. He was a prolific writer who continues to grab the attention of thinkers from many different points of view. Lewis first grabbed my attention when I was in 5 th grader, and our teacher, Mrs. Foy, shared The Chronicles of Narnia with our class. It was a powerful time that this dreamer opened doors to thinking like I had never lived before. He wrote of faith, of far off places and of strong figures who found their character rooted deep in God. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963, 7 years before I was born. It wasn’t until his 30’s that under the influence of his friend Tolkien that he came to be a Christian. He was raised in a traditional church going home, turned away from God as an Atheist in his teen years and through trying to stay away from God and faith returned to God with...

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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