from http://dictionary.reference.com
thanks·giv·ing
[thangks-giv-ing] - noun
ɪŋ
1. the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, esp. to God.
2. an expression of thanks, esp. to God.
3. a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.
4. a day set apart for giving thanks to God.
Normally, our family celebrates Thanksgiving with extended family - a time of eating delicious food when everyone brings her specialty dish. We visit, say a prayer of Thanks to God, eat & then some have a nap (due to tryptophan coma). After reading the definition above I ponder how much of the 24-hour day called Thanksgiving do we set apart for God - to give Him proper thanks - how can we give Him proper thanks?
Pastor Kolia preached today on the 1st of God's Commandments - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The following 3 commandments also deal directly with man's relationship with God (Exodus 20:1-11). One way to show our Thanks to God is to follow His Commandments every day. Jesus gave 2 Commandments in Mark 12:29-31 which are most important: "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
I am now alone - without my husband or children. I am Thankful God has me here; thankful to be at our church in Kiev amongst God's people. My heart keeps repeating Ola's words after court "I can't believe I have a family. It has been my dream." I also know that Ola prayed diligently for God to bless her with a family & asked others to pray with her. She asked, "what if God does not answer my prayer?" to one friend. I am so Thankful that God in His divine plan has orchestrated me to be Ola's Mother, Denton to be her Father, and Emary, Alex, & Abigail to be her siblings. I am certain that even with a much larger vocabulary I could not express my thanks to God. My prayer is that we will show our thankfulness through obedience to the Lord our God who has brought us out of bondage.
Exodus 20:1-2 "I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
Normally, our family celebrates Thanksgiving with extended family - a time of eating delicious food when everyone brings her specialty dish. We visit, say a prayer of Thanks to God, eat & then some have a nap (due to tryptophan coma). After reading the definition above I ponder how much of the 24-hour day called Thanksgiving do we set apart for God - to give Him proper thanks - how can we give Him proper thanks?
Pastor Kolia preached today on the 1st of God's Commandments - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The following 3 commandments also deal directly with man's relationship with God (Exodus 20:1-11). One way to show our Thanks to God is to follow His Commandments every day. Jesus gave 2 Commandments in Mark 12:29-31 which are most important: "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
I am now alone - without my husband or children. I am Thankful God has me here; thankful to be at our church in Kiev amongst God's people. My heart keeps repeating Ola's words after court "I can't believe I have a family. It has been my dream." I also know that Ola prayed diligently for God to bless her with a family & asked others to pray with her. She asked, "what if God does not answer my prayer?" to one friend. I am so Thankful that God in His divine plan has orchestrated me to be Ola's Mother, Denton to be her Father, and Emary, Alex, & Abigail to be her siblings. I am certain that even with a much larger vocabulary I could not express my thanks to God. My prayer is that we will show our thankfulness through obedience to the Lord our God who has brought us out of bondage.
Exodus 20:1-2 "I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
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