A Thought for Thanksgiving Day

A Habit of Praise
A Thanksgiving Day thought from Savanna Kaiser

First of all, I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I also want to thank Alexis for inviting me to stop by today. I know you’re all probably busy with family festivities, so I’ll keep this short.

I’ve been reading lately the Sermons on the Miracles by Charles Spurgeon. Every book of his I’ve ever read has blessed me in countless ways and this one is no exception.

The recent chapter I read covered the miracle of Jesus where He healed the 10 lepers and only one returned to thank and praise Him. “Where are the nine?” Jesus asked the healed and humbled one at his feet, but the Samaritan man had no answer for him. He was too busy worshiping the true Physician.

I loved the picture of this meager man made whole. His heart overflowed with gratitude and his simple actions left a legacy for all of us to mirror. If only worship – and less of the world – filled more of our hearts.

Spurgeon writes, “The Lord gives us blessings, new every morning, and fresh every evening, great is His faithfulness; and yet we let the years roll round, and seldom observe a day of praise. Sad is it to see God all goodness and man all ingratitude!”

Today is Thanksgiving and it’s a wonderful time to thank the Lord for His many mercies, but too often I’ve been guilty of letting gratitude slip away all too quickly. Jesus deserves so much more.

Spurgeon adds, “Most of us pray more than we praise…Prayer is not so heavenly an exercise as praise: prayer is for a time, but praise is for eternity.”

I’m so thankful Jesus invites us to come to Him at all times. After studying this miracle in Luke 17, I realized just how important it is for me to come to Him, not just in times of need, but in times of praise. I want it to be a habit of my life. He deserves more praise than I could ever give, but I want to chase after it all the same.

Spurgeon continues, “From the healed leper, we see his humility. “This man fell down at Jesus’ feet; he did not feel perfectly in his place until he was lying there. ‘I am nobody, Lord,’ he seemed to say, and therefore he fell on his face… There is no place so honorable as down at the feet of Jesus. Ah, to lie there always, and just love him wholly, and let self die out! Oh, to have Christ standing over you as the one figure overshadowing your life henceforth and for ever! True thankfulness lies low before the Lord. Added to this there was worship. He fell down at Jesus’ feet, glorifying God, and giving thanks unto him. Let us worship our Savior. We shall never cease to adore him who has delivered us from the leprosy of sin.”

That’s what I want my life to be about. Something my Mom and I do to seek this continual spirit of thankfulness is by writing down notes of blessing throughout the year. We get together close to Thanksgiving Day and read our notes aloud. We’re blessed all over again to see the Lord’s hand in every area of our lives. Memories we cherished and moments we forgot are all recorded on sticky notes. Laughter and tears usually follow.

We look forward to this every year. It never ceases to amaze me of the variety and creativity of answered prayers and God’s many surprises. I encourage you today – and every day – to watch for God’s delights and tokens of His grace. Praying He opens our eyes to see more of Jesus at work in our lives. He’s always there, friends. Sovereign and strong.

Allow me to conclude my thoughts with this quote from the great Charles Spurgeon:

“Let us learn from all this to put praise in a high place. 
Let us hold praise-meetings…Let us pay our praise to Christ himself. 
Personal praise to a personal Savior must be our life’s object.”

Wishing you all a life of Thanksgiving!

~*~
Author bio: 

Savanna Kaiser is a freelance writer of over 50 magazine articles, web designer, blogger, and gardener from the Missouri Ozarks. 

She also serves as the president for her local ACFW group. 

When she and her husband aren't chasing their one-year-old daughter around, they love to hike, kayak, and explore Civil War battlefields. 

Connect with Savanna:
Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

31 Days of Prayer: What really matters

I think this picture (above) says it all for today's blog post.

Christmastime feels different depending on your age and life experience. When you're a child, you can't wait for Christmas Day so you can rush to the Christmas tree in your house and see if "Santa" granted your wish list. When you're a young adult you may have reached the point where you don't ask for material gifts, you just ask for what you need which often simply is money. When you marry and have kids of your own, you want to give them all the joys of the holiday season that you experienced as a child. So what matters to you is creating a happy home not just for the holidays but forever. And then as your hair starts to turn gray, your kids are grown and moved out of the house and it's just you and your spouse or just you and your pet dog/cat/fish...All of a sudden you may start to write your own "wish list" because all you want for Christmas is more time spent with your family or better health or a few more years of life here on Earth.

It's when we grow old and have a lot of life experience, that we start to realize what really matters in life. No, it's not how beautiful you've decorated your house to celebrate the holiday season. No, it's not how much money is in your bank account. No, it's not about the kind of car you drive. No, it's not about where you live or who your friends are. But yes, it's about spending time with the people who matter most to you. It's about taking time to appreciate all God has blessed you with in this life. It is about asking for more of what mankind cannot give you-- more time, perfect peace, bountiful joy, eternal hope and unfailing love. Only God can give you those priceless gifts!

So this Christmas, I'd like us all to pray that we learn more about what really matters in this journey we call life. And once we realize what really matters, may we make the proper changes in our lifestyle to embrace life for what it is--a gift from God.