Thanksgiving Blessings to you, my blessed family in Christ!
Sometimes, the greatest way to remember what you have to be thankful for is to take a look behind you and see how far you’ve come and how faithful God has been in the journey. Eleven years ago, my Thanksgiving looked much different than it does today. I was just beginning to recover from my ordeal with cancer, dealing with the aftermath of two major surgeries and the effects of massive quantities of drugs on my mind and body. Yet, as painful as that experience was, looking back, I am filled with gratitude for it. That trial by fire helped me discover my sovereign God like I would never have without it.
I thought this Thanksgiving I would share a look back from my life with an excerpt from my book, Loved So Much It Hurts: Purpose in the Pain, written back in 2010. Maybe you, too, will look back to your own lives ten or eleven years ago and be filled with gratitude for what God has done in your lives since then. When you do, I hope you will be encouraged by a fresh anointing of faith and the knowledge of how very much your Heavenly Father loves you!
Feast
Monday, November 29, 2010
Blessings, Friends,
Today’s promise is Hebrews 9:14 NIV: “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” Hallelujah!
The precious blood of our great High Priest does more than make us pretty on the outside. When He cleanses us, we are clean through and through! So claim it, believe it, live it! It doesn’t get better than that. What an amazing Thanksgiving! With news of two of our dear friends getting much-needed jobs and God’s miraculous provision for our family as well, we can only say that our God answers prayers. It may not be in the way we want, or when we want, but it is always to our greatest blessing—and His greatest glory!
It was good to get back into the kitchen at the Christian Aid Center! We had so much fun cooking four thirty-pound turkeys with all the trimmings for more than 100 people.
Rachel, Gracie, and I had a lot of fun in our kitchen on Wednesday, while Chuck took care of the turkeys at the Center and made service calls. I won’t say I wasn’t hurting by the end, but my recovery time was much shorter than I anticipated. I just can’t thank God enough when I think of how I spent last Thanksgiving [in bed]!
There’s a saying that life is either feast or famine. But it occurs to me that we who live in Christ are the only ones who feast even in the midst of famine. So, there is no famine for those who eat of the Bread of Life.
No matter how bad circumstances seem, we know He is moving in all things—for all things are His—to pour out His blessings and show us how He cares for the smallest details of our lives. There is always reason to praise Him as He grows our faith through adversity, makes provision for us, and, most importantly, intercedes on our behalf, cleansing us from all unrighteousness and preparing a place for us in our Father’s house. That alone is worthy of our praise.
My prayers continue for you that you will be filled with a burning desire to know our Savior more and seek Him daily. That you may rise above the confines of the physical world and know the joy and peace of supernatural living in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is living!
God’s grace and peace be yours,
Rebecca
