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.

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

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

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  

Grieve with no regrets and you will be able to focus on happy, positive memories

My words and thoughts are coming out of a  grieving heart.  My heart is broken because my younger sister, Jeanne died last Sunday, October 18th.  We were very close.  She had moved from Ohio to the West Coast many years ago. Ever since then she has called me every Wednesday morning at 10:00 and I called her every Saturday at 10:00.  I always spent my vacations with her in California.  We never lost touch with each other.  When her husband had a stroke a couple of years ago, I went to stay with her until he recuperated.  She also came to be with me whenever I was in a crisis situation.  

My heart is broken but my memories of our lives are sweet memories.  She sent me the following poem in January, this year, with a sticky note saying:

"Hi, I don’t know when I wrote this but evidently it never got sent!"  Signed “Much love from your sister Jeanne.”

SISTER DOROTHY

HERE’S TO A SISTER WHO IS VERY DEAR

WE’VE ALSO BEEN FRIENDS FOR MANY A YEAR

WE HAVE LAUGHED TOGETHER, CRIED TOGETHER, BEEN SAD AND BEEN GLAD

BUT NOTHING WE SAID OR DID EVER MADE US MAD

FOR THE LORD BROUGHT US LOVE AND CARING AND SHARING

AND NOW THAT WE ARE OLDER AND OUR BODIES ARE WEARING

HE STILL LOOKS AFTER US FROM ABOVE AND THERE’S

NOTHING MORE PRECIOUS THAN SISTERLY LOVE

JEANNE

I thank the Lord for the time I had with her.  She is now in His care and I now I will see her again when Jesus calls me home and will be able to spend eternity with Him and my sister.

Many emotions come into play at the death of a loved one.  COMFORT because they are no longer in pain.  PEACE because they are with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  LOVE because of the many loving memories we have of our lives with them when they were still here with us.  JOY because when our days here on earth are ended and the Lord calls us home; we will be united with them again for all of eternity.  

While our loved ones are still here with us, we need to build up a treasure chest filled with happy memories to be recalled by us at any given time.  We also need to be sure our relationship with them is not marred by unforgiving hearts or any other negative emotions that would cause us to have memories of regret after they are gone.  Family, friends and loved ones are of the essence.  We all seem to draw close together when we are in the midst of grief.  I intend, in the very near future, to write a letter of love to each member of my family and my closest friends. I want them to know how blessed I am to have them in my life.  Prayerfully, that will comfort them when I no longer can.  

Some scriptures to substantiate this are as follows:  

Psalm 23:4 – “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For you are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they COMFORT me.  

Psalm 40:1 – “ Comfort, yes, COMFORT my people ! Says your God.” 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 – “Therefore COMFORT each other and edify one another, just as you are doing.”  

Isaiah 53:3 – He is despised and rejected by men.  A Man of sorrow and acquainted with GRIEF.” 

Hebrews 13:17 – “Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account.  Let them do so with joy and not GRIEF, for that would be unprofitable for you.”  

Galatians 5:22, 23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (loneliness), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control, Against such there is no law.” 

Paul’s advice to us in

Ephesians 4:1,2,3 – “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness with longsuffering (loneliness) bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  

Colossians 1:11– Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power; for all patience and long suffering (loneliness) with joy.”  

Ephesians 2:13,14 – “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the wall of separation.” 

Colossians 3:15 – “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

2 Corinthians 13:11 – “Finally brethren  farewell.  Become complete.  Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace:  and the God of love and peace will be you. 

Thank you for reading this,

Great Granny Witt

Trust in our Omnipotent Almighty God Who guides and protects us

Have you ever heard the worldly saying, “All the plans of mice and men often go astray"? The definition of ‘'astray” is off the right path or route, or away from what is proper or desirable.  We start out our day with a list of activities we hope to accomplish one by one as we planned.  At the end of the day, we look back and find that this expectation was not necessarily so.  Our day had gone in an entirely different direction.  As we pray and ask God to bless us and protect us in all of our ventures, we should add “If it be Your will” or, “Your will be done, not mine.”

I recently heard of a young man who was returning home from a dental appointment.  As he drove down a narrow country road, his car swerved slightly to the right, hit a ditch, then went airborne, hit a lamp post, rolled over and landed upright.  This could have been a fatality, but God spared his life. He had no broken ones, just a few lacerations from the broken windshield glass.

When what could have been a catastrophe like this happens, we need to praise the Lord for what did not happen: a saved life is far more important than a wrecked car and also that no other person or car was involved.  God’s will allowed the accident to happen but God’s will also allowed this young man to come out unscathed.  Our young man was responsibly following the guidelines of the  authorities such as:  his seat belt was fastened, he was not texting, his cell phone was in his pocket available to call for help, and he kept both hands on the steering wheel.

A lesson to be learned from this is to praise the Lord first for His protection, then ponder on what could have happened.  If the results had been the opposite we would have been devastated, but comforted knowing that instead of coming home to us he had gone home to be with Jesus and we would one day be with him in eternity.

As parents and adult relatives of young drivers, we need to teach them to learn and practice the guidelines of the authorities and also be sure that they know our Omnipotent Almighty One who protects all of us.  Omnipotent means having virtually unlimited authority or influence over us.  He is also always watching over us from heaven. We find these truths in the following scriptures:

Revelation 19:6 – “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of many thunderings,  saying, “Allelula! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” 

Psalm 33:13-15 – “The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.  From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.”

We can be confident that we are never out of God’s sight and He is watching out for us.  Never fear – God is always near. Praise the Lord for His provision, protection and peace.

Thank you for reading this,

Great Granny Witt

Focus on the Fields - As God's laborers tell, teach and train the unsaved

Laborers have to show up for work to get the job done and reap His benefits.  The job description is as follows:

FOCUS ON THE FIELDS

Focus on the Fields – the harvest is out there,

You can’t look at the hurting and still not care.

Jesus is sending us out to the field,

To bring to Him those who need to be healed.

Their souls are in jeopardy, as they wander aimlessly about,

We have the answer and need to shout it out:

 “Jesus is the only way”,

That is what we have to say.

All hope is in Jesus – but they do not know,

How can we reap if we do not sow?

Let us put God’s Word on our lips and feet to our prayer,

And bring in the lost who are waiting out there.

They need to be told and they need to be trained,

Not left in the crowds of the spiritually maimed.

Once they believe, they must have a foundation,

Built on the Word of the God of creation.

Then they can go out as we have done,

And bring in their crops to the Holy One.

John 4:35 is our command.

To lead the lost to the Promised Land.

by Dorothy Witt aka Granny

Do you want to apply for the job?  Your wages will be in blessings, not dollars. although sometimes the blessings are in a financial situation.  You will never need to retire until Jesus calls you home. And, prayerfully, He will greet you saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant”

Thank you for reading this,

Great Granny Witt