A Thanksgiving Poem

My definition of Thanksgiving Day:  “ It is the beginning of another 365 days for all of us to live out “An Attitude of Gratitude for All of God’s Blessings”.  Of course every “leap year”, we have an extra day to be grateful.

THANKSGIVING

If you had to list the things you are thankful for,

Would it be a short list, or would the paper reach the floor?

I, myself, have  long list – on and on it goes.

The top priority is my family – each and everyone of those.

My friends run a close second and are important in my life.

Next is my home environment – away from stress and strife.

A job that I am grateful for – that adds onto my wealth.

A hearty appetite – that contributes to my health.

My Church is most important – that’s where my friends hang out,

That’s where we learn to handle what life is all about.

My Bible is my map and guide book and I consult it every day.

It shows me what road to take, so I don’t get lost along the way

I am thankful that I live in this great nation.

Where, so far, I can talk about Jesus without retaliation.

All of this would not be possible without God’s great love.

So, first, to Him I give thanks for these blessings from above.

Dorothy P.Witt – November 1996

Since everything we have comes from God, and we would have nothing without Him giving it to us, including our lives, we need to be thankful to God.

"Psalm 107:1 – “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever.”

Do we pause to thank God for a beautiful day, a good meal, a restful night, or do we take everything He gives us for granted? God is good to us.  Are we good to Him?

A closing thought from Granny Witt:     

God’s goodness goes unnoticed in all the little things.

Take time today to thank Him for all the joy He brings.

Test Your Heart

Last week we looked at our speaking words, now let’s zero in on what God has to say abut our hearts. Our hearts and our words are both so important to God that we often find them linked together in the same scripture:

 Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45 both say “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

Many physicians recommend an annual stress test to determine if your physical heart is operating properly.  I believe Our Great Physician would also recommend an annual test of our spiritual heart. Are we following His Directions for our hearts?

Psalm 15:1-3 – “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?  Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend.”

Psalm 24:3-4 – “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?  Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

If you think no one can read your mind, think again.  If your mind is filled with His teachings, He will be pleased.  If it is filled with your own ego, He will not be pleased:

Psalm 94:11 – “The Lord knows the thoughts of man.  That they are futile.”

God loves a perfect heart that is following Him but hates a proud and wicked heart:

Psalm 101:1-5 – I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O Lord, I will sing praises.  I will  behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will you come to me?  I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.  I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.  A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.  Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.”

The Lord loves a heart full of praise, privately and publicly:

Psalm 111:1 – “Praise the Lord!  I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.”

This is the very first scripture verse I memorized as a brand new Christian:

“Psalm 119:11 – “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

I want to share this story with you of how and when this came about.  In 1973, soon after my second husband had died, the church women invited me to a luncheon on Valentine’s Day.  The theme of the luncheon was the heart.  The scripture on my place mat was Psalm 119:11.  I followed the advice it gave me 41 years ago and am still doing so.  When we read the Bible and really meditate on what God is telling us to do, we will remember His instructions.  I have found that there is no circumstance in our lives that is not covered by a scripture.  When we are tempted or troubled, these words that we have hidden in our hearts will come to mind.  We will remember what God has instructed us to do and we will choose His solution. We will run to Him for guidance or forgiveness,whatever is needed at the time.

I would like to end this week’s Granny Gram #2 with a prayer:

“Dear Lord, I pray that my words and my thoughts will promote life and encouragement, not destruction and  discouragement.  Soften my heart and my words.  Please give me a tender, forgiving heart like Yours.  Help me to be a “grace giver” and not a “fault finder”.  I want others to see You in me.  Thank You, Lord.”

P.S. Since this Thursday, Nov. 27th is Thanksgiving Day, I will be posting a poem I wrote in November of 1996.  The contents are still relevant 18 years later.  Four more blessings have been added since then.  At that time, I had only one great granddaughter. I now have three more great granddaughters and one great grandson.  I Praise The Lord for each and every one of them.

Guard Your Words

We seem to have two choices for everything we do.  Let’s look at what we say when we speak.
We can either:

•         Lift someone up in prayer or tear them down with gossip.
•         Share our faith with them or deny our faith by ungodly actions.
•         Be thankful or critical and judgmental.
•         Be truthful or dishonest.
•         Admit our mistakes or blame someone else.
•         Apologize or ignore our bad behavior.
•         Help someone in need or neglect them.
•         Give a sincere compliment or insincere flattery.
•         Be optimistic or negative.    
•         Be an encourager or a discourager.
•         Tell others about God’s good deeds or take the credit for yourself.

There is no doubt the choices to make if we want to please God.  The Word says:

     Psalm 19:14 - “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.”

I say this above scripture as an antidote when my critical spirit rears its ugly head.  I find it very difficult to think in a critical way about someone or some situation at the same time I am asking God to accept what I am thinking and what I am about to say.

        Psalm 34;1 – “I will Bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

James addresses this same problem:

James 3:8-10 – “But no man can tame the tongue.  It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we Bless our God and Father, and with it  we curse men, who have been made in His Image.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren these things ought not to be so.”

Replace criticism with praise:

Psalm 35-28 – “And my tongue shall speak of  Your righteousness and of Your praise all day long.

Determine to think before you speak:

Psalm 39:1 – “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle.”

Sin breaks God’s heart and our heart should be broken also.

Psalm 51:15-17 -“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.  For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;  You do not delight in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart.  These, O God You will not despise.”

Don’t brag about yourself.  Give God the credit.  It’s not about us.  It’s all about Him.

Psalm 71:7-8 - “I have become as a wonder to many.  But you are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day.”

Keep in mind that God knows what you are going to say, before you say it:

Psalm 139:4 – “For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”

We should also think twice about what is in our heart before we open our mouth.

Psalm 139:23-24 – “Search me, O God,and know my heart; Try me and know my thoughts; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in Thy way everlasting."

I would personally like to add a few words of wisdom from my many years of experience. It is so easy to slip into a bad habit and not recognize it as an ungodly habit.  I believe it is necessary, every now and then, to take an inventory of our actions and see if they live up to God’s standards. We can always ask His forgiveness and start over.  I pray these scriptures have been helpful to you.  Please feel free to share my thoughts and advice with others.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Granny Witt