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I am thankful for many things this Thanksgiving day. I have spent the last week or so really thinking about thankfulness. Thankfulness is to have an attitude and heart that is appreciative, grateful for who God is and what He has done. It also acknowledges His sovereign control of our lives. When I think about thankfulness in this light, wow! I have a lot to be thankful for! So I began to think of all the things I am thankful to God for. Because really God is the one who has allowed me to have, be with, experience, and enjoy anything! My list is not in any specific order. It is just as they came to my mind and is not an exhastive list. I am equally thankful to God for all and everything. Here it is: God, salvation, God's Word, God's provision, God's protection, Opportunities to serve God, Maggie, Elijah, Dad, Mom, Amy, Philip, Susan, Maggie's parents and siblings, home, car, job, Jesse and Katie (Hayden, Owen, Silas), Tim and Anna, Jeriah and Shawna, Nick, Pastor Brian, Pastor Thompson and family, Pastor James, Bethel Baptist Church, the ability to run, play basketball, play soccer, or do just about anything. I know I am so thankful, but sometimes it is hard to put into words how thankful I am. God is so, so good all the time; all the time God is good! I love serving God and praising Him for all the worderful ways He works! Today and everday I need to praise Him! I am thankful today!Press ON!
Today is a very special day. As of today, I have been a father for one year. Yes, a father for one year! I cannot hardly believe that this is part of God's plan for Maggie and I, but I love it! Elijah Bradley Cox is one year old today! I am so excited that Elijah is part of Maggie and my's life! No, he does not really realize that he is a year old. Kind of funny that we as parents make a big deal about him turning one, but he goes on like nothing ever happened. Oh well! Maggie and I are rejoicing in all the memories of the first year of Elijah's life! God has been so good! Praise God!Press ON!
This morning I had another good time in God’s Word! I was in Proverbs 20. Wow. I was challenged with a lot this morning from this passage. First from verse 3,”It is honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel.” Any person can start a quarrel or an argument. Avoiding strife is honorable. Many people jump right into quarrels or arguments thinking that it is honorable, admirable, or praiseworthy to be in them and win. God says rather to refrain from striving or quarreling and then that will be honorable, admirable, and praiseworthy. This is something that is often forgotten by me. I need to remember that overlooking insults and dropping issues that may blow up is honorable before God. I am asking God to help me with this.
Second from verse 9, “Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?” No one can claim that they are pure or have made themselves clean from sin. We are all sinners and need the free gift of salvation that Jesus provided with His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection. This is the only way we can say we have been cleaned. God continually works in us to conform us into the image of His Son. Only in heaven with God will we be pure and clean like Christ. This was a good reminder to me that I am not where I need to be and should strive to be like Christ.
Third from verse 15, “There is gold and a multitude of rubies, But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.” Gold and rubies are very nice and are worth a lot of money. There are also many people who have these. But there are not a lot of people who have lips of knowledge. I need to be one whose mouth speaks wise and good things at the appropriate time. Then I will be one who has lips of knowledge. I need to be quiet unless I am going to speak things that are needful at the time.
Fourth from verse 22, “Do not say, “I will recompense evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.” I should not try to play God and repay evil or act as a judge. I should make it my aim to seek the good of others as well as myself. Also I should try to pursue peace with all people. I need to leave the revenge and repaying business to God and simply trust that He knows best. Then seek the good of others and pursue peace with all. I know this will be difficult but I am praying that God will help me to love others whether they deserve it or not.
Today was such a good day in God’s Word (although they all are). I am really enjoying Proverbs.
Press ON!
This morning I was in Proverbs 17. As I read through this chapter I wrote down thoughts that I had as I read it. Five verses were really challenging to me this morning. First was verse 3, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.” This reminded me that as silver and gold are refined and purified under intense heat, God uses the heat from trials to refine and purify me to be more like His Son. God wants me to be pure and untainted from sin. Second was verse 9, “He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.” When I choose to cover or overlook a sin done to me I am seeking to love the person who has wronged me. I love the person, but not their sin. I am promoting love at this point. But if I repeat, tell it to someone else out of frustration or anger, I am gossiping which may or will cause lack of trust in a friend at another time. Third was verse 22, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” A merry, joyous heart does good. The good it does is like medicine; it helps the medicine be even more useful to the body. A broken, discouraged spirit dries the bones and leaves a person done. I need to work on having a heart that is merry and joyous! Lastly it was two verses together 27-28, “He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.” To be wise I need to have knowledge. A man who has knowledge knows when to speak and when to hold back his words. This same man has knowledge and understanding is of a calm spirit, he is not stressed or anxious and keeps his “cool”. A fool is considered wise when he is quiet, holds his peace/words. He is then considered perceptive, discerning when he is quiet. I need to love knowledge to where I am this man who knows when to speak and when to hold his words back.
Press ON!
I have noticed that in stores, on TV, in advertisements of any kind, and on the Internet that people are ready for Christmas. I thought that there was another holiday, day we as the United States celebrated on the last Thursday of November, which so happens to be the 26th this year. What I am talking about, if you are one of those who forgot or is so focused on Christmas, is Thanksgiving! My wife has been interested in starting to listen to some Christmas music. I at first told her that we should wait till after Thanksgiving. But as I began to think about it. We should listen to this music because it helps to be thankful to God for sending His Son to earth as a baby that He might grow into a man who would take away the sins of the world. I am extremely thankful for that! So we are actually listen to Christmas music now. My other concern about "forgetting Thanksgiving" is that Christmas in today's world focuses people on getting. Children see santa as a big jolly, bearded guy who comes down chimnes to give toys and things to them. All advertisements are focused on enticing people to ask for certain things from others so that they may get something. I think that we need to remember Thanksgiving because it is a time for us to reflect on all that God has given us and rejoice because of them. I am not saying that we should forget Christmas but that we should not just skip over Thanksgiving either. My thoughts are that we should be thankful to God for who He is and what He has done and then be excited about an opportunity to give to others something that would be helpful to them at Christmas; a time where God gave us His Son so that we may have eternal life. I am striving in my own heart to be thankful for what God has done and given to me and my family. I am also praying that God would help me to know what I should give those whom I love to help them become more like Christ and to simply help them. I would encourage you to think about this as well.Press ON!
I read in Proverbs 16 today for my devotions. Verse 9 says, "A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." When I read this verse I had to stop and think. Then I remembered what verse 1 said, "The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." I was realizing that these verses were saying very similar things. I may plan how my day, month, year, or life may go; arranging things in a certain order. I make plans for how I am plans for my actions, how I will live my life. The thing that I need to remember is that God is sovereign over all things. God has perfect plans for me. I need to trust His sovereignty even when it seems to be different than my own ideas. I need to make sure as I plan that my ways please the Lord. God is sovereign! I should strive to make plans that are in accordence to what His Word says I should be doing.Press ON!
