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Thank You!

Have you ever been brought
to tears by a beautiful sunset, thrilled to the glory of a sunrise, been
touched by the shimmering gentle rain as it waters the land, or sat on a river
bank as the water sings its love song to you?  How do you respond in
thanksgiving?  
When I drive to a
destination and all the traffic lights are green, I give God thanks and
adoration.  Or when I find a parking place just for me, I praise God!
 How often, in our self-imposed busy-ness, do we close our hearts and are
unaware of God’s gifts of love all about us.
I love the word, delight.
 God delights in us and we are to delight in Him.  He labored six
days to create our earth in a huge universe. 
Each day I see a new design or a new texture or a heart-stopping shade
of color and I give thanks.  I delight in
His Goodness that feeds my soul.
In a relationship when one
delights in another, there is respect, consideration of the other person’s
feelings.  A ‘thank you’ or a ‘please’ are the words that create respect.
 These are ‘passwords’ to a happy relationship built on honor for the
other person.  

The Lord your God will delight in you
if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of
Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your
God with all your heart and soul.  
Deuteronomy 30:10
The Lord directs
the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives
. Psalm 37:23
Enter with the password: “Thank
you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. For
God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.
Psalm 100.4
The Message
When Mom taught me those
words – please and thank you, I didn’t realize that they were a foundation for
the greatest of these – love.  I didn’t realize
that the perfunctory use of thank you is just a beginning of living in a world
that is ‘not all about me’.
In our culture today, we are
concerned about getting our way.  It is
an age of entitlement for earthly gifts of wealth, power, and control.  Belonging to Jesus gives a spiritual-entitlement
of peace and joy.  Living in abandonment
to God and His ways creates a servant-heart in us.  We desire to serve others in the name of
Jesus Christ, giving our all.  We cannot
love without the quality of forgiveness. 
Forgiveness and unconditional love can only come through the
relationship with the One who forgives us. 
Many years a go, I stood in
a circle of prayer just before a revival meeting.  I heard my name mentioned by someone unknown
to me and lifted up to God. This prayer stripped away my ‘can do’
attitude.  Years later God answered a
prayer so clearly that I know He is real and knows my heart.  I know I am not floating in sea of people
without guidance. And I am filled with gratitude and love and unending praise.  How can I respond to such unfathomable
love?  What is love?

I
go to I Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient and kind. Love is not
jealous or boastful or proud
 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not
irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
 It does not rejoice about injustice but
rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is
always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown
languages
 and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last
forever!
I test my life, fall to my knees and praise God.
 I ask Him to cleanse me and make me
clean – filled with unconditional love for those around me. This great love can
come from no other than Jesus who gave His life in humility – for me – and for
all those who call on His Name.
My dear husband slowly made his way to the
breakfast table and wondered aloud at the effort it takes to grow old.  God has designed us to grow old to teach us
trust and dependence on the One Who gives us life.

The Psalmist, David, gave us a treasury of
Praise and Adoration that gives us an insight to His relationship with our Lord
God.  May these words of praise seep into
our hearts and give us joy.
I will
thank the Lord because
he is just;
I will
sing praise to the name of the Lord Most
High. Psalm 7:17
• Rise up, O Lord, in all your power.
With music and singing we celebrate your mighty
acts. Psalm 21:13
  Praise the Lord! For he
has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Psalm 28:6-7
  Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has
cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived
in complete honesty!
  Psalm 32:1-2
•  Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in
his mighty heaven!
Praise him for his mighty works;
praise his unequaled greatness!
Praise him with a blast
of the ram’s horn;
praise him with the lyre and harp!
Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; Praise the Lord! Psalm 150


Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song! (Fanny Crosby)

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