Coffee With The Lord

“THANKSGIVING” – A SPECIAL DAY AND SEASON – is just around the corner… May I offer a suggestion to you as a Bible-believing Christian as you seek to commemorate “Thanksgiving?” This suggestion comes from my Bible reading today during my time of “Coffee with the Lord”…

Why not take David’s prayer of thanksgiving offered as he provided for the construction of the temple and make it a personal thanksgiving prayer… and then why not plan a special gift of thanksgiving as an act of gratitude and godly stewardship!

Here’s David’s prayer of thanksgiving (edited and adapted a bit for your personal expression of thanksgiving)…

“Blessed are You, O Lord, our God, forever and ever! Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Yours! Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head above all! Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all! In Your hand are power and might, and in Your hand makes great gives strength to all! And now we thank You, our God, and praise Your glorious name!

“But who are we that we should be able to offer so willingly? For all things come from You, and of Your own have we given to You! For we are but strangers and sojourners on earth! All our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided comes from Your hand and is all Your own.

“I know, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness! In the uprightness of my heart, I have freely offered all these things to You! O Lord, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in our hearts and direct our hearts toward You!” (From 1 Chronicles 29:10–18 ESV)

So here’s my suggestion… Sometime during this “Thanksgiving season” sincerely pray this prayer – and also prayerfully consider making a special thanksgiving gift to a special need or ministry. I think God would be honored and you would be blessed abundantly!!

As I read my Bible every day I discover that it gets right to the bottom of most issues in our lives… Like the passage today…

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:1–3 NIV)

Encouraging words – comforting words – reassuring words for those going through deep trials… I read them this morning embedded in Stephen’s sermon in the book of Acts. They reminded me of the truth upon which they are based in Exodus. I believe they will be a blessing to one of my Facebook friends that is a part of the “Coffee with the Lord” group today… Someone out there needs this reminder.., GOD CARES!!!

The Lord spoke to Moses and said to him… “I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come to set them free.” (Acts 7.34 NIV)

And from Exodus… “The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant … He looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” (Exodus 2.23-25 NIV)

“The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt, I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them… and bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.’” (Exodus 3.7-8 NIV)

As I read those words today I was reminded of the reassuring truth in 1 Peter 5.6-7… “Humble yourselves, therefore under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your care upon Him because HE CARES FOR YOU!”

Don’t know who needed to be reminded of this truth today, but here it is… You may feel forgotten, even abandoned… you wonder if God is even aware of what you’re going through… He is! He’s aware! He’s concerned! HE CARES! He will act to sustain you, help you and rescue you! He did for His people Israel… He will for you!