Attitude of Gratitude

Do you realize it's only 2 weeks from this coming Thursday until THANKSGIVING?!?!

On Saturday I talked about how Thanksgiving seems to be the holiday that so often gets left out!!! That is very disappointing to me...especially, as a Christian...that Halloween would get much more publicity than Thanksgiving!!!

So...I want to dedicate a few blogs for the next few weeks to Thanksgiving....being thankful....being grateful...having an attitude of gratitude!!!

When I got to thinking about this topic, the story in the Bible about the ten lepers that Jesus healed came to mind.....remember how He healed the ten and only one came back to thank Jesus? Here's the story:

Luke 17:12-17 (NLT)
As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?"

I remember reading this story when I was young and I thought, even then, how said it was that out of ten men...only one was grateful enough to go back and tell Jesus. How often do we.....do I....fall into the category of the nine? Just because they didn't go back and show gratitude, did it mean they weren't thankful? I don't think so. I'm sure that they were so amazed at their healing that they hurried home to show their families. Maybe some of them, later on, wished they could find Jesus to thank Him for what He had done for them.

But...only one....took the time...
immediately...
to thank Jesus.

I've had something on my mind lately....something that I've taken to God...and I'm getting much better...with age...at realizing that He is still in control and that He really does have my best interests at heart. So...that being said...why do I still fret over certain things? I've prayed about a situation a lot over the past two years...and every time when things look a little bleak to me....
God comes shining thru!!!

Last Sunday, God blessed me in such a way that...beyond a shadow of a doubt...it had to be Him....and, He chose to do it in front of several other people....I hope that they realized, as well as Pap and me...that it was nothing but God. Did I thank Him? You bet I did!! But, most of all, what it did was it truly humbled me. That out of all the millions of people in the world...that at that given moment in time....He had me on His mind!!! Just like Jesus did when He died on the cross!! He had each and every one of us on His mind, and that's why He took our sins upon Him....to SAVE us!!!

So...in this season of Thanksgiving...let each of us take the time to thank God for our many blessings.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Written by Thomas Ken - 1674

In His love...and with mine!!!