Michael Harrison's e-devotion

One of my favorite resources is an email, devotion and reminders from the organization called the Navigators.  I was first introduced to them when I was a teenager.  Through the last four decades I have been blessed by their focus on discipleship as well as the tools they produce. Here is another.  Spend November being thankful.  The following is what they call “30 thankful prayers”, and I think this is an excellent tool and encouragement for our lives. Being grateful will change our attitude and give us greater insight.  You can down load this tool from their website at this link . Enjoy … 30 Thankful Prayers … When was the last time you focused your prayer on being thankful? Often, prayer becomes a one-way conversation to God with a list of our needs. This resource is all about praying from a heart of gratitude. At the beginning of your day or at the end of your day, start the habit of thanking God for your blessings and praying these verses out loud. Invite ...

  November is the month that we celebrate the holiday known as Thanksgiving.  It is also a time to choose to give thanks.  It is a choice to be thankful, to have a heart of gratitude and to know how blessed you are. This weekend I read a passage that we know pretty well.  These voices are almost shouting what being thankful looks like and what need. Psalms 100 is a powerful reminder of how God looks at giving thanks and how we should follow the example that King David set.  Verse after verse gives us a place to begin and even time to spend being thankful for what God has done and will do in the days ahead. Psalms 100  NLT Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! 2  Worship the Lord with gladness.  Come before him, singing with joy. 3  Acknowledge that the Lord is God!  He made us, and we are his.  We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  4  Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give than...

It is November.  Have you noticed what some people do on social media sites during this month?  Some each day share something else that they are grateful or thankful for.  I think that is an awesome practice.  Maybe we need to do that. Why be thankful? 1 Thessalonians 5:18  NLT   Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. That’s right.  It is God’s will that we are thankful. This month is the one where we in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving.  It is an exciting time.  Lots of food.  Sometimes you spend it with family and friends.  There is football.  And lots of things going on. But what is most important is a time to slow down and be thankful.  Stop being selfish and making life all about you.  Be thankful and do it often.  Maybe share it daily. Take time and be thankful.  Not just on that Thursday that we know as Thanksgiving.  But be thankfu...

  1 Peter 2:9  NLT But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. November is always a time of giving thanks as well as the celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday.  Maybe you have watched the last several years how some people take each day and share what they are thankful for. I have done that.  But more often I will simply focus on being thankful, thinking about what gratitude looks like and how it works in my life.  It does.  Being thankful changes us.  It will change how we see things.  It will change how we respond to others and to our struggles. Thankfulness gives us a view of God that is more clear and most likely more accurate than at any other time.  I pray we will find ourselves being thankful even when we aren’t thinking about it. There has b...

Maybe you have noticed I have that some friends are posting their November Thankful 30.   I mean this is something that they will each day post 1 thing that they are thankful for.   I like it. Thanksgiving is a great event.   Not just because of food and the cowboys playing football on that special day.   Giving thanks is important because God told us this IS HIS WILL for our lives.   Being thankful is a natural overflow for the Jesus follower.   Or, it should be natural. Colossians 2:7   NLT Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives   be   built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with   thankful ness. Overflow with thanks! 1 Thessalonians 5:18   NLT Be   thankful   in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who   be long to Christ Jesus. Yep.   Being thankful is part of God’s best and His will for your lif...