Happy Thanksgiving

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” (Ps 100:4-5 AV)

 You had to know this one was coming!  Happy Thanksgiving!  Today is the day in which we slow down enough to list our blessings from a loving and gracious God.  Something we should be doing all year.  God is good.  All the time.  He has showered us with blessings too numerous to count.  The biggest of all is salvation in Jesus Christ.  The blessing to have one’s sins absolved is something I will never get used to.  Divine forgiveness is something that makes no sense.  Not when one compares all that he or she has done and will do contrary to the holy law of a loving God.  We deserve the pits of hell for what we have done and will do.  Yet, in Christ, we have eternal forgiveness.  But, God’s blessings don’t end there.  Rather, that is from where all blessings flow.

Because Jesus saved me, I have a wife who loves Him and serves Him with every ounce she has in her bones.  She loves God with all her heart.  She prays faithfully for me, others, her family, and her church.  She is disciplined to stay in her Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit of God as she walks intimately with the Father.  She has been a perfect wife and mother to our three sons.  She is an amazing person with a sense of humor that vanquishes any semblance of a bad day.  She is brilliant.  She is the most perfect person God ever created.  And, for some reason, the LORD decided to bless me with her.

The LORD has given three amazing sons.  Each serves the LORD in the manner in which He has called them.  One serves as a Senior Pastor in Tennessee.  Another serves as a missionary in Brazil.  And the third works very hard as a caregiver to a very ill wife while battling his own serious illness.  These three men have married very godly wives who are a jewel in our crown.  They love the LORD and reflect that love back towards their families and friends.

The LORD has blessed me with six wonderful grandchildren.  They are starting to grow and several have made professions of faith in Christ.  What a privilege to watch Dad baptize their own child.  Something many families do not experience.  These young people will grow up to dedicate their lives to service for our King!

Space hinders me from thanking God for our church and her people.  I am thankful for my soul-winning partner who has taught me so much.  I am thankful for the ministry and all the challenges it brings.  The young men who serve with me are astounding.  My Associate Pastor is a godsend.  All the deacons with whom I have served over the years are the most godly of all men.  Their wives surpass even their husbands.

Most of all, I am thankful for the fellowship I can have with the Father through His Spirit and His word.  What an amazing ride I have had.  And it will only get better.  Praise the LORD for His goodness to the children of men.  What a wonderful Savior is Jesus Christ our LORD!