I Am Thankful for...

With Thanksgiving approaching, I decided I should write about what I’m thankful for. I figured it would be predictable…family, friends, home, job…and don’t get me wrong, I am truly thankful for these.

However, at the end of a long, exhausting week, that ended with an afternoon of disappointment in myself, different thoughts took hold, and a new list emerged.

I am thankful for God’s Grace…His free and undeserved love and kindness. I cannot earn it, nor can I lose it. Without His grace, I would be lost in my sin, without God and without hope. By the grace of God I am saved.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV)

I am thankful for God’s Mercy…His compassion and unfailing love. He is slow to get angry, but when He does, He does not stay angry forever. In His abundant mercy, He gave us life through His risen Son, Christ Jesus. In His mercy and compassion, God comforts and gives me strength in my every day.

      But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:15 NLT)

     

      But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) (Ephesians 2:4-5 NLT)

I am thankful for God’s Forgiveness…His pardon for my sins, though I am unworthy and undeserving. Where there is repentance, there is forgiveness and a new start. When God forgives, He chooses to remember my sins no more.

      O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. (Psalm 86:5 NLT)

      For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (Jeremiah 31:34b NIV)

     

I am thankful for the Hope I have through Christ…the confident trust I have in God, knowing that His promises will be fulfilled. Through God’s Word, we know He keeps His promises. I have hope because nothing is impossible with God; nothing is too hard for Him.

      Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1 NLT)

      But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. (Jeremiah 17:7 NLT)

      Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23 NLT)

May you see God’s blessings in your life this Thanksgiving, and every day.

In Christ,

Laura