4 Offer a Sacrifice of Thanks to the Lord

I started to look up verses in a concordance about thanks, thanksgiving, bless, blessing, blessed. And, the first few verses I looked up were those found in this chapter. Let’s look at the first verse:

Psalm 50:23--Expanded Bible (EXB)

23 Those people honor [glorify] me

who bring me offerings to show thanks [thank offerings; v. 14].

And I, God, will save those who do that [go on my way/path].”

*****

{Note: Friend, and fellow thanksgiving and joy pursuer, read this verse in several versions of the Bible before you read from here. Trust me. You want to. This is a good verse and is highly informative. We don’t want to miss anything from it and want to get the full meaning out of it.}

{Another Note: If you have a computer and use it, I have a gem to share with you. Go to:

http://www.biblegateway.com/

In the search field at the top, enter, “PSALM 50:23.”

Go there.

Then, scroll to the bottom of the screen. Do you see where it says, “PSALM 50:23 IN ALL ENGLISH VERSIONS?” Click on that. (Just so that you know, you can only use that feature for looking up one verse at a time.)

Now, in front of you, you will have every English version of the Bible’s version of that verse in front of you. Talk about an incredible resource. For this verse, I recommend printing them out so you can refer to all of them and get as much out of this verse as you can. It’s an important one with lots of facets we don’t want to miss.}

*****

BACK TO PSALM 50:23:

Lord, this verse is a multi-faceted one. Help me to understand it and everything it offers and tells me to do. Help me learn this verse and apply it to my life.

The bottom-line is this: Thanksgiving is an offering or a sacrifice we are to give God.

It is a sacrament.

We are to take it seriously and approach the altar, if only in our mind and usually in just our mind, with this offering and sacrifice: Thanksgiving. We are to offer Him thanks. It is a holy rite and a sacred moment and is not to be taken lightly. And, it isn’t supposed to be ignored. After all, there are several verses that talk about how we are to always give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and Ephesians 5:20, for example). Consequently, thanks is our offering and sacrifice we offer God at the altar in our minds and hearts. It is not to be taken lightly or ever taken for granted.

It is a moment of worship. It is sacred, holy, and set apart. It is consecrated.

We approach the altar and bear our minds and hearts to Him as we approach the altar and offer the sacrifice of our thanksgiving. We lay our thanks before Him.

How can I ever look at thanksgiving the same again?

How can I not keep a daily list and offer them at the altar? 

EXB

Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

3 What I’m Starting to Learn

I tend to grasp at every verse, every Bible study, every Christian Living book, looking for answers, for ideas, when a question comes to my mind. Therefore, with the door slammed shut eight days ago today, I started to look all over for answers to the questions which swirled through my mind. I tried this Bible study and that, this Christian living book at that one. I even bought a few. I longed for more. I longed for answers.

How can I find true, deep healing? I knew I had to deal with my stuff, and once and for all, or it would deal with me.

Then, the realization came to mind that well before this latest storm, how for years now, I have wanted to find a way to forever deepen my faith. It’s been this way for over two decades. I want to grow forever deeper in my faith, Lord, and can only do it through You.

I have proof, though, of how this has already happened. Nevertheless, I still feel like my faith is only surface-skimming. I want to grow forever deeper in You, Lord, and in your Word. Is there a secret on how to do this? I keep grasping at a little bit of this, that, and everything holy, as I try to find the secret of this mystery. My faith can grow deeper and deeper because when I am in eternity, I will then know the absolute depths of faith. Therefore, while on earth, in this tent, I can keep growing in my faith.

Lord, how can I grow my faith deeper every single day for the rest of my life, grow closer to You, and find more joy?

The question kept going through my mind as I skimmed book after book, verse after verse, I felt as though I was on to something. But, what? I start to search through my bookshelf on my Amazon Kindle Fire 8.9-inch HD 4G and come across a book that I bought long ago, but never read. I read a few pages until something else sidetracked me.

ANN VOSKAMP AND “ONE THOUSAND GIFTS”

The book, “ONE THOUSAND GIFTS: A DARE TO LIVE FILLY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE” by Ann Voskamp was the change agent in my life. I started to read it three days ago (or was it four?). God, I kept feeling the words nip at my heels whenever I set it to the side. And, this is one of those books I have to set aside often so I can ponder what she said and let it sink in deep into my mind, heart, and soul.

I’ve even mentioned it here and there to B. That’s usually a sign when something has started to grip me. At this point, I am only 21% of the way through the book and I’ve been changed. Thank You, Lord, I’ve been changed. I keep getting weepy because this book has touched me so deeply and thoroughly.

I cannot recommend her book enough. In fact, get everything she has ever written, in every form you can. I have the devotional and Bible study. I also got her Christmas book I will start to read after I finish this book. Unless, I stop so often to get through this book, I realize I will need to stop reading it so I can get through the Christmas book, “THE GREATEST GIFT: UNWRAPPING THE FULL STORY OF CHRISTMAS” by Ann Voskamp. I even ordered a perpetual calendar. I think I will buy this book for the women in my lives for Christmas this year. Nevertheless, I think men would get a great deal out of this book as well, please don’t misunderstand.

I’ve been changed because of this book.

I started to think about thanksgiving. Sure. It’s the perfect time of year right now, the season of Thanksgiving. Today, as I prayer journal this, is 03 November 2013, Sunday. My life-changing storm eight days ago is another reason. The Bible says repeatedly how we are to offer thanksgiving to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:20-- Expanded Bible (EXB)

20 Always give [ …always giving] thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Question: How often are we supposed to offer thanksgiving to the Lord? Is there an exception or a time when we should not? (Can you guess?)

Answer: We are to offer thanks always, at all times, in every season, for whatever reason.

Huh.

Always. That means without exception.

Oh, boy. Conviction sets in. Sigh.

I give thanks sometimes. I catch glory sightings from time to time throughout my day and week. These glory sightings are blessings. They are times God reveals His glory to me, in which He is revealing Himself to me. But, the question was and still is, how many do I miss?

Years ago, thirteen or so I would say, there was a fad in Hollywood where people were keeping Gratitude Journals. For once, Hollywood did a good thing. The only problem was they didn’t give God thanks. They threw it out to the universe. I tried it, but didn’t get much out of it, and surely didn’t look at it as much as I could from the biblical standpoint, and haven’t tried it since.

Nevertheless, I have tried to keep a list here and there. I still didn’t get much out of it. So, what makes this different? How will it be different and successful this time? And, what defines success anyway?

I could, and can, tell a difference in Ann Voskamp, just through her writing of how much this has made her who she is. She’s been doing this since 2008. This caught my attention. The more I read her words, the deeper I am impacted by her, her writing, and the concept of “ONE THOUSAND GIFTS.”

It got to the point two days ago where I had to start to try to keep a list. That list got tossed to the side. It wasn’t working. It was all wrong. I didn’t feel it.

However, something else started to happen. Even with the list that didn’t work. I started to feel a deeper healing from the storm eight days ago.

‘Interesting. Why is that?’ I remember thinking to myself as I chewed on this on and off for twenty-four hours or so. I will get back to this question in a moment.

Let me clarify something. No. I do not want to emulate her and write a list because she said so. No. I don’t want to write this book like hers either. She has had her journey and I have mine. They are different because hers belongs to eh and mine belongs to me. However, I can sure learn from her. I can listen to what You, God, want me to do with this material and lessons I am learning. So, I want to try my own list of thanksgiving and I want to try to write about my experiences thereof.

That being said, this book, and the idea thereof is because of her. God used her words, and is using, through a very painful time in my life. Welcome to my journey—thanks to this beautiful, Christ-Follower.

It’s rather ironic, though. She has six kids. I would give anything for one. She has six. Am I envious? Maybe a little. But, reading this book right now, knowing this, and of the times she refers to them, should be painful. But, it isn’t. Again, she has her journey with You, Lord, and I have mine. I cannot be jealous of any journey. They have theirs. I have mine. Each is God-ordained and chosen. So, there is nothing to be jealous over. Also, I cannot get sad over everything that mentions kids. I would have to live in a hole or paper bag if I wanted to avoid babies and kids. Instead, a joy shared is a joy doubled. Her joy in her children can feed me a little as I share in her joy.

WHAT I’M STARTING TO LEARN

Why am I feeling a deep healing occurring, simply because of “ONE THOUSAND GIFTS” and because of my thanksgiving list and thinking on it? Do they go hand-in-hand? Or, are they separate?

I am starting to see and learn how they go hand-in-hand. Giving thanks brings a healing. At this point, I will not lie. I have no idea why, but the change in my life is proof therein. Giving thanks is a healing balm.

I listened to session one of Ann Voskamp’s Bible study for her book and it got me thinking about new material for me to prayer journal and share. I got a couple of pages typed up and that was when I realized that this is what I was meant to do. Maybe it was always what I was supposed to do:

1 Keep the counted blessings list.

2 Write and teach about thanksgiving.

Then, last night, I started a new list and it started to sink in and feel right. I found several things in my life, and from the day, to thank You for, Lord. I got them down on the page. However, it is what I started this morning that I started to write numbers 26 and on and things started to really speak to me and feel right. This was the answer I have searched for for all of these years.

How simple.

Give thanks.

(Thanks Ann Voskamp. Your writing is number nine on my list of 51 so far.)

EXB

Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 The Death of an Almost Forty-Year Dream on 26 October 2013, Saturday

Nowhere in the Bible does God promise us easy lives or easy journeys. Sometimes, though, doesn't it feel as though you've had more than others? Until you hear something or see something, another story, and it reminds you how your story isn't so bad. And, that is considering your latest blow, when you were blindsided by something which ultimately changed the course of the rest of your life.

Eight days ago, I had one of the life-changing, bring me to my knees moments, along with my husband, B. I am almost forty, and he is older. He is my one and only best fried, so I like him as well as love him. We have been together for twelve years now and have gone through some tough stuff. Really tough stuff. It has been those times that have defined who we are as a couple and as individuals.

We got the news eight days ago, how despite our best efforts, IVF didn't work for the second time and we were not candidates for any further cycles. We would not have our own kiddo. The one I have prayed for and dreamed of every day for nearly forty years. I will never know the blessing of You, Lord, creating a life in my belly. Feeling it grow and move. I will never know what it's like raising the kiddo to be God-fearing (revering) and Christ-following.

The pain was and is tremendous. We are both only children, so this adds to the pain for our family generations. It is the end of our family lines in the conventional way. There are other ways to have a family. And we know they mean no less. The unconventional ways usually mean more. We know this without doubt and to the depths of our being. Family is far more than blood. It is choice.

The worst part is we both knew without a doubt You, God, told us to do IVF the first time. Then the second. You told us both times, strongly, we would be successful. We weren't. So, did we hear You at all? Or did we hear what we wished we would hear?

Quadrillions of questions swirled through our minds then and now. Why, Lord, were You trusting us with such a test? And why now? And what now?

Every plan for the future included having a baby and raising them. And, of course, enjoying our marriage and one another immensely and some traveling each year. Now, we/I needed to change the plans. Not the marriage enjoyment and traveling plans, but the rest. Our four-legged critters are what we will have, at least for now.

One of the biggest blessings, though, has been how from the very moment we got the news, I didn't come undone emotionally as I normally would have. I usually am a wreck for a day, then find the logic in the situation, and bounce back. But, this time, I bounced back immediately. My heart was broken, but I trusted You, Lord, that Your plans are perfect. You know what You are doing. The answers would come in time. I just need to wait and trust. So, I have and am.

When did I get so solid in my faith? This comes as quite the surprise to me. I cannot stress how big of a moment this was and has been for the last eight days. I have no idea when it happened, but I finally surrender my all to Jesus Christ. I trust God with my life and my eternity. I trust that He knows what He is doing, when He is doing it, though I have no idea why and most likely will never fully understand the wholeness of the why until I am in the New Heaven in eternity.

But, seriously. When did I grow my faith to be the one like my Granny’s. No one I know has a faith like hers. It’s a familial thing. I can trace back to well before my ancestors from her side of the family lading here in Roanoke and in Jamestown. Each generation has been one of faith.

My Granny has a faith I have always wished I could emulate, even in a very small way. If it was even in a small way, I knew without a doubt I would be a woman with remarkable faith. Well, it seems like I am finally growing to be that woman of faith. How many hard times and life challenges did it take? How many times did God have to bring me to my knees? How many? Too many. But, I thank God for every single one of them.

There has been something else I have realized in the last eight days. Every single one of my plans have failed during my life. And, thank God. Thank You, Lord. Your plans are by far the best and are more than I can hope for or imagine.

You’ve got this. I know it. No. I really, really know it. I know it deeply. I know it deeper than anything I can ever grasp. Yes. You’ve got this moment. While it’s massive and life-encompassing to me, it’s small compared to you. If You can take care of the sparrow, how much more will You take care of B, me, and us (Luke 12:7). Just like You’ve taken care of all the other moments in my life.

Lord, thank You for the change in me and the deepening of my faith. I could not have done it without You. Help me to continue to grow in You.

{Written: 02 November 2013, Saturday, 829 p.m., Family Room, Sofa, Typed Journal, Day 2 of NaNoWriMo and on 03 November 2013, Sunday, 835 a.m. in Family Room on sofa and in study typed prayer journal at 10:09 a.m.}

Think about it: Your Thanksgiving List

If you started to keep a thanksgiving list of ten items per day between now and Thanksgiving you would have 250 items on you list. Imagine what you could share at the table. They are two hundred fifty ways God showed His glory in your life.
How could sharing even ten of them change the lives of those you tell them to? If nothing else, they would be more apt to start paying attention in their day to see what God is doing.
Then, imagine one year from now, you would have a minimum of 3,650 items.
How could your life ever be the same?
Imagine how on a bad or tough day, you could look at that list. And you can even return to your list and look back on the days when God seems far away.
Then, imagine after ten years, you would have 36,500 items on your list.
For me, I have about another forty years to live. That is 365 x 10 x 40 = 146,000.
What about giving a copy to every one in your house each year, or those closest to you, as a gift?
Think of every good thing that could come from this.

-- Stacy Duplease
Sent from my Fire.
Blog: agodlyvision@gmail.com

A Daily List of Blessings List

Add to a list every day of at least ten blessings you count in your life today and from the past. Make them new and unrepeated from earlier items. See how many blessings you can count for the rest of your life.

-- Stacy Duplease
Sent from my Fire.

1 What’s the Secret of Life?

 

What’s the secret of life?

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve missed it somehow. There’s always this sense of something more and of something different. It feels like there should be more to this existence than what I’ve found. There’s got to be more to life than this. There’s got to be more to life than a getting by existence. There’s got to be more than busyness.

What really matters? How do I live the best life possible? How do I live smack-dab in the middle of God’s will each and every day, all day long? And, Lord, how on earth do I stop this pain? What about this emptiness? Why can’t I get enough? Why am I always getting so side-tracked?

Why am I not getting enough out of my prayer life? My Bible reading? My Bible study? My life?

What’s wrong with me? My life is a good one. I count myself blessed. But, I feel stuck.

Questions are forever bubbling up inside of me. How do I find the answer, the Answer, once and for all?

Somehow, it all seems connected, doesn’t it?

What is the secret?

Is it different for me than it is for someone else?

How can I find the beauty in my life, even on the not so beautiful and dark days? And, how can I find such beauty, sacredness, and wonder that others find it catching from me?

The answer is Jesus. Yes, without a doubt. The Answer is found in Him and in the Bible. Yes. No doubt. No question. No arguments either. However, how does my faith in Jesus Christ, and in the Bible, provide me eternal life today, where I am, and what does that mean? In other words, how can I find heaven on earth? How can I live fully in the present? How can I live an intentional life that finds the beauty in the small stuff and in the big?

How can I heal from this wound? How can I let go? How should I live? How can I find wonder in my life? How can I find joy? How can I slow down and find the peace and joy that I am aching for?

How can I fully live today in the midst of a trying, busy, challenging life? How can I fully embrace the grace God has given me and live for eternity today?

How, Lord?

Can I?

How can I know the full and abundant life? How can I know You fully on this earth, Lord? Can I today?

Show me the way, Lord.

WELCOME

WELCOME

Welcome to my journey of learning the secret of how to live a full, abundant, eternal way of living life through a very challenging time in my life. This is my story, sure, but it is far more than that. This is my prayer journal, but it’s more than that.

This is a book for you to learn how to live a life of joy and a fullness of grace in our life today—not tomorrow. It is attainable. It just requires some intentionality on our part. We can live a for God in a whole new, deep way.

His love endures forever. Even when we don’t feel it. Even when a trillion questions swirl in our loud minds and busy lives. How can we grab hold of this, remember it, and live it?

1 Chronicles 16:34--Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB):

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

His faithful love endures forever.

Let us pray for a godly vision, which is eternal and infinite, so we can stop seeing from our finite, sinful eyes which are so limited and limiting.

And, let’s pray we learn what it means and how to always give thanks. This is the game changer, after all. This is the answer. This is the healing balm of our lives.

THERE ARE MORE BOOKS PLANNED FROM THIS BOOK AND FOR THIS SERIES

This is the first book in a series of books about always giving place. There will be a devotional, prayer journal, Bible study, and more. Stay tuned.

HOW YOU CAN CONTACT ME AND WHERE TO FIND ME

I would love to hear from you if you read my story and if it speaks to you. What does this story do for you and your faith? What does this story do to change your life? Your perspective?

You can find me and my blog at: http://agodlyvision.blogspot.com/

And my email is: agodlyvision@gmail.com

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

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