Hello friend
Lately I have been losing track of time. Seriously I have lost actual days of the week and I am always asking my husband what day it is. I believe that this is in part due to having so much on my plate to get done each day. Do you ever have more “To Do’s” on your “To Do” list than time in the day or even week to get them all checked off and completed?
When I get so busy and with that overwhelmed I find that I don’t take the time to just take moments out of my day and give thanks to God. I keep a gratitude journal and that helps me to some degree but I don’t always personally tell God that I am thankful for all that He has done and is doing in my life.
No Thank You Cards
In the past several years I have been to several weddings and at each wedding I gave the newly wed couple a gift. Do you know how many thank you cards I received from the couples? — Just one. For awhile I started to think that thank you cards are a tradition of the past and although that saddens me, I was able to let it go and not mention anything to anyone.
The other day I was at my ladies bible study and we started talking about wedding traditions. I brought up the lack of thank you cards and how I assume it is no longer something that people do. The women at my table (from ages 20 somethings to 60 somethings) were surprised and stated that they did not think that it was a dead tradition.
As I pondered it more since the bible study I came to realize that it wasn’t really about the thank you card in of itself. The truth is I don’t need to be thanked — I didn’t give the gift so that I would be thanked. In fact I would still of given the same gift even if I knew that there was not going to be a thank you. The gift was given out of love for the couple getting married. However, it would have been nice to have received a thank you. It would have been encouraging to know that my gift was liked and appreciated.
Questioning Self
My thoughts moved on to God and my relationship with Him. I started to question myself — Have you said “thank you” to God for all that He has done in your life? When was the last time you wrote Him a letter? When have you spent time in prayer and instead of asking for anything or venting about your life – you only thanked Him?
Confession time ~ ~ there are times when I get so “busy” being “busy” that I don’t take the time to just “Give Thanks”. Sure I pray daily – “God, help me”, “Lord, thank you for this food – amen”, “Father, did you see what he/she said and did to me?”. — I am sure you get the point.
It Would Be Nice to “Give Thanks”
It’s not as though God needs to be thanked. I am confident that He does the things that He does for you and I out of the love that He has for us in His heart. He is not blessing us and providing for us and giving gifts to us, because He is looking for a thank you card. However, it would be nice. It would be encouraging to Him to know that we are grateful for Him and all that He does. In addition, it would be honouring to Him to “Give Thanks” and express our gratitude. It would also do something in our own hearts – make them more pliable and fill them up with joy.
Psalm 136
I want to encourage you to take time today to read through Psalm 136. It is a Psalm that fills my heart with such gratitude. It makes me see how vital it is that I give thanks to God. Giving thanks is not really for Gods benefit as much as it is for my own.
Psalm 136 is an overview of the vastness of the love that God has for us. It shows us how big He is and how small we are. This Psalm shows us the greatness of our God and it fills me with joy as it also humbles me. In all 26 verses we are reminded of the fact that, “His love endures forever”. When something is repeated that many times it tells me that it is something important that I need to pay attention to. It also starts by telling us 3 times to “Give Thanks” and it ends with a “Give Thanks”. I think that it is time that I put this scripture in action and actually take the time and simply – give thanks.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever“. ~ Psalm 136:1
**for an extra filling of your cup – take some time and write out all 26 verses of Psalm 136.
You Are Invited to “Give Thanks”
I want to extend an invitation to you to participate with me in this months Scripture Writing Plan – “Give Thanks”. This month we are going to take a few moments every day to simply “Give Thanks”. My hope is that God will use this month’s scriptures to draw you close to Him and to encourage you in wherever you are in your life’s journey. I pray that you will be able to see the great love that Your Father has for you. May you see His hand in every aspect of your life and may it cause your heart to fill with gratitude. May the gratitude be so full that it pours out of you. I pray that you will walk in His love, safety, peace and protection.
What Is A Scripture Writing Plan
A scripture writing plan is basically spending 10-15 minutes everyday writing out a passage of scripture. It’s a plan that I have created that you can follow everyday to glean more from the Word of God. It is simple and effective tool that can help you enrich and grow your relationship with God. In addition, it will help you to learn and apply more of God’s Word in your daily lives. This month we will be writing scriptures out of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Directions
Each day read and write out the corresponding scripture with the day of the month. Keep the following questions in mind as you write the scripture down.
What is the Word saying?
What does this mean to me personally?
How can I take action on it?
How does this enhance my view of God?
You can use any bible translation that you like. I prefer using the Amplified, NIV, or NLT. Two fabulous websites that has numerous translations to choose from are Biblegateway.com and biblehub.com (click on the links). I enjoy reading from the various different translations as it gives me a deeper perspective and a greater understanding.
If you are needing some further instruction on scripture writing plans and how to follow them please read the post in the link – Scripture Writing – What is it and How to implement it.
Prayer
I want to encourage you to end your daily writing sessions with a prayer. If you like you can pray the following:
Father God, Thank You for the vastness or Your love. I am so grateful for Your Word that You have given as it has provided me with wisdom, knowledge and guidance. Thank you Lord, for all the blessings that You have gifted me with this day (you can spend a few moments and list them).
Thank You for being a light on the path of my life’s journey. I am so very grateful that You are not only with me during the mountain top experiences but that You also walk with me in the dark valleys. Please forgive me for the times that I neglected You and allowed the busyness of my life to sidetrack me. I pray that You will also forgive me for the times that I only came to You in my time of need. Today I want to simply say “thank you”.
Lord, help me to be a blessing today. In Jesus’ Name ~ ~ Amen
Additional Scripture Writing Plans
In addition to the “Give Thanks” scripture writing plan I have included several links to additional scripture writing plans that I have written.
What Does the Resurrection Mean to Us
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Are you doing this writing plan? Let me know how it is working for you. I would love to hear from you as well as pray for you.
Be Blessed 💞💞💞
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I looked up some of the prompts in the scripture writing plan. Really beautiful and soothing. Thank you. I enjoy visiting your blog, Shelley!
Thank you for visiting Vidya. Blessings 💞💞