Another Two for ONE Thanksgiving Devotional

What Thanksgiving Reveals about You
by Pastor Adrian Rogers 

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15

If worry is the opposite of faith, then thanksgiving is the expression of faith—in fact, the highest expression. God has blessed you, but you may not think so if you’re measuring blessings by the barometer of health, wealth, and happiness. 

You say, “I don’t think I have as much to thank God for as some other people.” Well, the apostle Paul was in a filthy Philippian jail, awaiting a possible death sentence, when he wrote, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
Unthankful people are never happy people. They’re filled with bitterness, fear, negativism, selfishness and self-pity.

My friend, let me tell you what blessings we have. “Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits…” (Psalm 68:19). God has loaded your wagon. How often? Every day! “It is of the LORD’S mercies we’re not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning…” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Every day you wake up to blessings.

Thank Him for spiritual blessings. Thank Him for the simple blessings of good, clean water, enough food, shelter, the simple things. We are so blessed. Refuse to worry. Instead, carry everything to God in prayer. Rejoice in the presence of the Lord. Rely upon the power of the Lord. Reflect on the provision of the Lord. Rest in the peace of the Lord. Do everything with thanksgiving.

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For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers, please visit www.lwf.org. 

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Leftovers
by Skip Heitzig

One of the great joys of Thanksgiving is leftovers. For some reason, turkey and dressing taste just as good reheated as they do fresh out of the oven, maybe better. But I found a website that added up the calories from that delicious stuff, and the exercise necessary to burn it off. How much walking would you need to do for a turkey sandwich, some stuffing, some mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a piece of apple pie with ice cream? Over 13 miles! Add some gravy, and you're up to nearly 15 miles! I don't know about you, but I don't have the time to walk 15 miles after a meal!

But thinking about leftovers brings me back to what I was talking about last week, because we're right in the middle of the long Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving is an indication of the heart. It shows that our lives are in balance—that our communication with the Lord is not all about our wants and our needs.

There are two levels of gratitude. Let's call them the lower level and the upper level. Unfortunately—and I admit I'm in this category—we kind of dwell in the lower level. That's where we see God's work in our lives as intermittent spurts of goodness. Some big blessing comes along and we say, "Thank you, Lord!" But living on that level of gratitude only shows that we are selfish, and that we miss the total perspective of God's goodness. We thank Him for the pleasurable things, because our view of goodness is comfort, rather than becoming like Jesus.

The upper level, the higher level, is consistently thanking God, in the good and the bad, believing that all things will work out for good to those who love Him (see Romans 8:28). I admit I have a long way to go on this one! I often complain instead of saying, "You're in control and I thank You, even though I don't understand it."

Corrie ten Boom was sent to a prison camp for hiding Jews from the Nazis. There, her sister said they should thank God for everything in their barracks. Corrie refused to give thanks for the fleas that infested their bedding, but later she found out that those fleas kept the guards from entering the barracks, enabling them to have daily prayer meetings. So she said, "Thank you, Lord, for the fleas!"

So while you're thanking the God "who satisfies your mouth with good things" (Psalms 103:5), remember that He's in control and He knows best. Let's bless the Lord in all things, because God is good all the time!

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