“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.” Psalms 95:2

His blessings are new every day. A beautiful sunrise.

We celebrate Thanksgiving this week. Happy Thanksgiving! It is always nice to gather with family and friends to share a delicious meal of traditional turkey or family favorites or something unique. It also provides us an opportunity to thank God for all His blessings in our lives. We would go around the Thanksgiving table and take turns telling something we were thankful for this past year. Not that we should wait a whole year to thank God, but it was always a great conversation starter.

When we begin our conversations to God with thanksgiving for all He has done for us, we enter into His holy presence. We acknowledge His power and divineness and His marvelous works in our lives. When we come before God with awe and thankfulness, we can feel Him close.

One of my prayer verses is Ephesians 5:20 “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Because we have been saved by our faith in Jesus, God sees us all as His “righteous” sons and daughters. He gladly welcomes our thanksgiving and our prayers.

I continually thank God for all His blessings in my life; husband, children, family, and friends. I thank God for His protection and guidance, for safety and a small part of His wonderful creation that He has allowed us to enjoy and care for. I thank God for healing He has brought to me and others. I thank God for beauty and serenity and the peace “that passes understanding”. I thank God for my love for writing and pray that He will use me to touch and inspire others. I thank God for each of you who take the time to read and share my blog.

But I also thank God for the difficult times in my life that have helped to make me stronger in my faith and have forced me to rely on Him in my weakness. (Check out last week’s blog.) I also realize that I may one of His more hard-headed daughters as I seem to need some extra “strengthening”. But the wonderful and amazing thing is He is with me through all my issues and offers love, strength, guidance and a path through.

This week as you celebrate Thanksgiving, remember your blessings. Thank God anew for all He has given you in your life. And thank Him for all the times He helped carry you; the sorrow, the grief, the illness, the addiction, the angst and brought you through to the light of His love and grace on the other side.

I thank God for each of you! And I thank you for joining me this week as we enter the presence of God with thanksgiving.