Psalm 103

¹Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

³Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

⁴Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

⁵Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

⁸The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

⁹He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

¹⁴For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

¹⁶For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

¹⁷But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

¹⁸To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

¹⁹The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

²⁰Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

²¹Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

²²Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

SO, here’s the challenge: Can you make a list of 100 benefits/blessings the Lord has given you?

Last year, it took me 3 days, but I got it done. It was very good for my soul to truly and deeply appreciate all He does for me!

Will you join me for this year’s Thanksgiving Challenge?

Make a list. Keep adding to it through the day. Can you top 100 things that you can thank God for?

In the 8 years that I have lived here, I have never seen the cranes. But I hear them every year. I know their call because I grew up in Florida and know them well from their winters there.

Sandhill cranes are large heron-ish birds and they like- sandy hills, and grassy fields. They have a crazy, noisy mating dance that very lucky people during Florida winters might see. However, right now, right here, they are only passing through- just stopping at a Maryland farm to rest.

I rejoice each year when I hear the cranes call. They are like old friends that only keep in touch once a year, but are appreciated nonetheless.

Do you have any friends like that? You only hear from them at Christmas, but that greeting card brings you joy each time.

All things have times and seasons, even friendships. A blessed few will stay close forever. Many friends will be close, then the Lord will move that friend off to a state far away. The affection will remain but the day-to-day closeness will have to wait until eternity. These things are in God’s hands and his will is good.

Do you have friends, near and far that you need to thank God for? Do they need to hear that you have thanked God for them?

The bugs, on the other hand, are engaged in non-ending joyful pandemonium. The cicadas, crickets, and katydids are rejoicing loudly day and night.

I think that God made blasting hot weather because he loves his insects (and perhaps the reptiles, too). All year long these creatures just muddle along. Then for a few blazing weeks each summer, their body temperature hits a point where they feel fully alive.

And what do they do with all that joy?

They praise God all day and night.

So, I can be like the spoiled child at someone else’s birthday party. Or I can be happy that it is someone else’s turn.

What can you do during hot, summer days to remember God’s handiwork and be thankful for someone else’s turn?

Good Friday is drawing near. Let us pray a prayer of remembrance.

Will you take some time with me to remember what our Lord has done for us?

Please read a passage daily until Easter:

Matthew 26-28

Mark 14-16

Luke 22-24

John 18-20.

Let us then pray, simply remembering the story back to God by telling him the story. It is a very respectful thing to do.

Keep in mind, there is not a format for this. Simply a time of remembering. You could pray something like this:

“Father in this Easter time I am remembering Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that paid for my sin. I remember how he shared the last supper with his disciples. I remember that accepting “the plan” for my salvation was difficult and that Jesus sweated drops of blood while he prayed in the Garden. I remember that his friends fell asleep and that he was betrayed into soldiers’ hands….”

Remember right through to Jesus’ resurrection!

Let God know you treasure Christ’s sacrifice, his great power that raised Christ from the dead, and his love for you.

Wet squalls buffeted the vehicle; snow froze right to the windshield despite the fact that the defroster was going full-blast. I couldn’t see where the lanes were- just had to guess.

As I sweated down another hill and around a slick corner, I caught myself grumbling, “And as if the snow isn’t bad enough- I’m going to miss another day of work- and pay. Ugh.”

Then, almost embarrassingly (well, it WOULD have been embarrassing if another human had heard me whining), I heard a corrective “thought” down inside me.

“At least, you can be grateful for what you DO have.”

I mean, really. I was going home in a heated car to a heated home to enjoy a cup of hot tea. I could spend the next day watching the blizzard from safety. I could spend a day in wonder of the beauty that God placed in his creation.

So, that is what last night’s prayer looked like. It was just a list of those things that I have been so abundantly given by an abundantly giving God. Large and small gifts.

I don’t want to miss the good God is giving me by pouting.

Now, I know we are all trained to have good manners, right? Remember when you were a kid, your mother nagged you to write thank you notes to the relatives who gave you presents at Christmas?

So, what should we do with the most important gift we have ever been given (Jesus)?

We should say thanks.

It is just good manners.

The groovy thing is- when we use our good manners, we get stronger inside. It is good for us.

I would like to offer a one-year experiment to my blog friends:

Would you take this year and at the end of each day this year, right before you go to sleep, take a good length of time and thank God for:

1) all the beautiful things you have seen or experienced that day (there are some things- find them),

2) for the things you have learned about Him or from Him,

3) for Jesus, the awesome gift.

Let’s go for it, and see if God blesses us and changes us. Keep me posted…

A prayer of thanksgiving is simply saying thank you to God for the things He has done. That is just good manners…

One way to pray thanksgiving is to make a “gratitude list”. Write a list of things you are thankful for and read it to God. (This, by the way, is a very wise way to end your day- makes for better sleeping patterns.)

Another way to make a prayer of thanksgiving is to read to God some of the verses in the Bible that share thanks for what He has done. Offering up to God his own words is a powerful form of thanks. (Think about it- did you ever hear anyone quote something positive you had said? It feels awesome. That is how God must feel when we value His words enough to quote them to Him.)

Here are some thanksgiving verses from the Bible that you could read to him (thanks to Biblegateway.com):

Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

Psalm 75:1  We give thanks to you, O God,
we give thanks, for your Name is near;
men tell of your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 105:1  Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

I Corinthians 15:57  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 2:14  But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

II Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Ephesians 5:20 Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:12  Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[a] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Colossians 3:17  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

What are some ways that you have found to thank God for what He has done?