Happy Thanksgiving, my friends

Desiring to thank God for who he is, I search my mind for Scriptures read, Scriptures studied and memorized, and indeed remember Psalm 100~

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

And then, from my own heart, I remember what the Lord said when he was asked which was the greatest commandment: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength; and the second is like it—love thy neighbor as thyself. My personal prayer of thanksgiving flows from these precepts. [Perhaps you could craft one similar to it]

Love the Lord thy God-

-with all thy heart~ Thank you, Lord, that you really love me! That in matters of the heart, you have given me family, (name them) friends, and others to love, and that marvel of marvel, they love me too! Thank you for the emotions to feel and share love. All love flows from you, dear Lord; without you, there is no true love. O God, without love, where would your children be?

-with all thy soul~ Thank you, God, that you created us with a soul that will live forever. And that you made a way through salvation for us to spend eternity with you! Thank you for the Cross—the bridge from earth to eternity in Heaven.

-with all thy mind~ Thank you, God, that I can love you with my mind, because you blessed me with a mind that can think, reason, remember, and together with my heart, dream. O God, Giver of all good things, thank you!

-with all thy strength~ Thank you, God, that I can love you with my strength by serving you. Indeed, I commit every fiber in my being to serving you with my life—loving others and meeting their needs, just as you said, ‘When you did it for the least of these, my brothers, you did it for me.’ Thank you, Lord, that though I am a sinful person, you see fit to use me, and give me the physical strength and fitness to lift and carry, to teach, to pray for, and encourage those in my ministry path, which of course, is everyone!

O God, thank you for how I am seeing you move in the teen-agers at San Clemente High School—for several, including the star quarterback, who chose you to be their Savior three weeks ago! They have such a hunger for you . . . they want to know you . . . they want to know and do right; oh, they really do! Thank you—that, wonder of wonder, I have found favor with them. It still amazes me that you use me in the teen-age arena—it is kinda funny, eh Lord? But use me, Lord. Use me in any way you see fit.

Your turn, now …Thank God for your heart, soul, mind and strength, naming the ways he has graced you in each area—and then, let us thank him again tomorrow and the next by truly loving him with our heart, with our soul, with our mind, serving him with our strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Happy Thanksgiving, precious ones.

Christine Todd DiGiacomo

PastorWoman.com