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Monday, November 23, 2015

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.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Maturing in a Godly Manner with Gratitude and Grace - Guard your words & heart

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


  • Lift up 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 for 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 I no doubt the choices we should make if we want to please God.  Let’s see what the Psalms say about this.

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 mentally repeat this scripture 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 you are asking God to accept what you are about to think or 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 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 said, 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 also be broken.

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 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.”

We have been looking mostly at our speaking words; now, let’s zero in on what God has to say about our hearts.  Our hearts and our words are both so important to God that we often find them linked together in the same Scripture.

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

God gives us the following scriptures as His directions to 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 16:7-9 – “I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.  I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.  therefore my heart is glad and my  glory rejoices, my flesh also will rest in hope.”

I would like to end this second lesson with a prayer based on Psalm 141:3 – "Set a watch O Lord before my mouth, keep the door of my lips”.

Dear Lord Jesus,
I pray that my words and thoughts will promote life and encouragement, not destruction nor discouragement.  Soften my heart and my words.  Please give me a tender, forgiving heart.  Help me to be a grace giver instead of a fault finder.  I want others to see You in me that they would also seek to develop the same kind of relationship with you.  Thank You Lord!

Thank you for reading this,

Great Granny Witt

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Maturing in a Godly Manner with Gratitude and Grace - God's Provision, Protection and Peace

Normally, Psalm 23 is read during the eulogy at a funeral service to suggest to the family and friends of the deceased that their loved one is in a better place.  That is what I always thought.  But, after studying each verse and thinking about what God is saying to us about trusting Him, I realized He was confirming that we could be in a better place while we are still alive.  His care for us is the same on earth as in eternity, IF WE completely TRUST IN HIM.  

Before we can experience the Peace of God, we have to realize and believe that He is the One who provides our every need and that He also Protects us and everything He provides for us.  We must not take what we have for granted.  As we digest each verse of Psalm 23, we will see how He Provides for us and Protects us and also all that He gives us.  

Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
  

This means everything we need and does not always include everything we desire.  A need is something essential we cannot survive without and can only be given to us by God.  Such as, The breath of life, the ability to move about and think, Seeds to grow food, Animals to provide meat and milk, Families to love and care for, Shelter, clothing, rest and sleep.  A pessimist has a half-empty cup, an optimist has a half-full cup, but a person blessed by God has an overflowing cup.  

Psalm 23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head With oil; My cup runneth over.” 

The phrase “in the presence of my enemies” seems to say that unbelievers are watching you to see how God is taking care of you and how you are responding and sharing these blessings.  We are a living example of how God provides for us and it is important that you tell others and be sure to give God the credit.  

Psalm 105:1 “ O, Give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His Name; Make known his deeds among  the people.”

I experienced a  personal connection with Psalm 23.  As a brand new Christian under the mentoring of my daughter who had led me to the Lord I was also newly widowed for the second time.  My daughter had invited me to join her at a prayer meeting.  I was nervous about praying out loud.  But, I did listen to the prayer requests and silently prayed for God to answer their prayers. It never occurred to me that He would prompt  me to be involved in bringing about the answer to one of the woman’s prayer requests.  She was asking for financial help to pay for her children’s Christmas toys that were on layaway at a nearby department store.  Her husband had recently left her for another woman and she was devastated, and unsure of how she would be able to give her children  a nice Christmas.  Since I had set aside enough money to pay for my deceased husband’s final medical bills, I felt secure in being able to also pay anonymously in cash for this mother’s Christmas layaway. The total bill for the toys was $100.00 and my husband’s final medical bills was $100.00 less than I had expected to pay.  I learned quickly that the Lord would take care of my needs as a widow and would also allow me to help others.  That was many years ago and He has never failed to provide me with everything I needed.  It was the beginning of my placing my complete trust in Him, which is as real today as it was then.
 
Thank you for reading this,
 
Great Granny Witt

Monday, November 2, 2015

Note: It has been one year since Granny began her blog! She has faithfully shared what the Lord has taught her, and continues to teach her, each day as she walks with Him. I look forward to learning more from her Granny Grams!  ~Jen
Over the past twelve months of focusing on 51 different situations in our daily lives, I, myself have gleaned much wisdom and comfort from the scriptures that covered each situation.  I truly believe there is a scripture that will influence us on how to handle any given situation.  I pray that you have been blessed by reading them.  Before I wrote each one, the Lord brought to my mind a scripture on which to base each subject.  Even now while my heart is broken because of my sister Jeanne’s death, I have hope and victory in my grief.  

Psalm 147:3 – “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”  

I praise the Lord that all of my memories of her are sweet and loving.

I will starting another series of devotionals next week titled “Maturing in  a Godly Manner with Gratitude and Grace” which will be based on the Psalms, beginning with Psalm 23. Come join me for a walk through the Psalms, pausing to absorb God’s wisdom for this time in our lives.  

I also have many stories to share about how God has taken care of this widow for the past 42 years since I accepted Jesus as My Savior! The first time I became a widow 57 years ago, I did not have a relationship with Jesus and was on my own.  What a difference Jesus makes when you rely on Him for everything you need.  I pray that those who will be reading these devotionals will be blessed
as I share the blessings I have received from knowing that I can lean on His Everlasting Arms! 
 
Thank you for reading this,
 
Great Granny Witt