Giving My Thanks (To God!)

Two things came across my Facebook recently that have me thinking much about this season and, really, all year long, what we are thankful for, Who we are thankful to and why we are thankful.

First: I thought this was a ponder-worthy saying - "What if we only had what we thank God for?"

Wow.

I am thankful to God for everything, but I don't think that I have "thanked" Him in my heart as I should. I mean, I say all the time, "Thank God," but I say it and move on. Once I heard that question though, I had to really stop and think hard about all my blessings. I woke up this morning, I didn't have anything major go wrong with my health, my family is safe and warm in their various homes, and whatever struggles we are dealing with, we are struggling and not defeated. So, yeah, there is much to be thankful for & I don't pay as much attention to my blessings as I have been to my struggles. Forgive me, Lord. And thank You!

Second: a woman I know from Twitter and Facebook mentioned that, to her, Thanksgiving is not a "religious" holiday but a "sacred" one. Well, my faith is not religious either. My God is holy. Thanksgiving is not just about being thankful. Thanksgiving is, to me, more about Who I am thanking. I am thanking a holy God. I am not just "celebrating" a joy that is born of nothing or no one. I am being reminded of my blessings AND from where (or, rather, from Who) those blessings have come. God.

(Let me stop and say here that I hope that my lovely friend will come to know the God I serve and trust in!)

I am certainly thankful for friends and family and health and joy, but I am thankful to God.

For my 'Net friend, maybe she is just thankful to a god or fate or ... I don't know. That's fine for her. But for me, I have to know Who I am relying on, not just for this Thanksgiving day, but for every breath and every joy and every trial and hope and moment in my life.

So, thank You, God. Thank you for every blessing - the ones I recognize as blessings and the ones I haven't yet understood. You have put people in my life for a reason. You let me suffer through trials for reasons I don't understand here in this life. You have let me cry tears for a reason. You have given me laughter and pieces of joy that sustain me. Everything for a reason or reasons that You understand even though I may not. And when I get to Heaven, You will multiply those joys and wipe away the tears. Thank You, Father. Thank You. I am giving my thanks to You.

Peace
--Free

Psalm 27:1

Struggling vs Mocking

I was listening to a bunch of James Cleveland music this morning while I worked on the other blog. I ran across some YouTube footage of his funeral and it got me to thinking. There were always rumors about Rev. Cleveland being homosexual. When I'd first heard about this, I was really shocked, but then I realized that Cleveland was from the old school of gospel music. That's probably why I was shocked. It does not surprise me even a little bit to hear the things I do about Bobby Jones or Kirk Franklin and other "new school" gospel folk - but James Cleveland? Wow.

Anyway, I got to thinking about the whole gay/lesbian issue that is going on in the churches. I will say right out and right here that I do NOT think that you can be an unrepentant gay/lesbian person and claim to be Christian. Just like you cannot be unrepentant in ANY kind of sin and claim to be a child of Jesus. Period.

Because I don't know whether people are "born that way" or not, and because I don't know a lot about what gay/lesbian people suffer through, what I have settled on is that sin is sin & God will not be mocked. If you are a sinner (and we all are) and you are mocking the Lord with your sin while pretending to be His child, then you are in serious trouble. But if you are struggling with that sin and really depending on God's love and forgiveness to see you through, then you are just like every other Christian - no matter what your most troubling sin is.

My sin happens to be a difficulty to forgive. I also smoke (which is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but I feel convicted of the sin of damaging the body God gave me) and I will let my temper get the best of me at times. Those are my struggles - especially the forgiveness thing. God warns me about not being forgiving. I know about that warning even as I struggle with it, even when I am sitting in church, praying for more strength in that area.

Just like I struggle with my sin of a sometimes hard heart, someone out there is struggling with their sexual sin. I no longer will take sides on the issue. I'll just say that "God will not be mocked." And I will keep right on working on my temper and anger issues.

Peace
--Free