A CHALLENGE DURING THIS THANKSGIVING TIME

"I will bless the LORD at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1, KJV

We quote the verse all the time. A lot of folks open up the worship service with that scripture. It's even a song. What does all mean though? What does the word all mean? It says "at all times" so what does all mean? Well I looked it up and one definition puts it, "the whole, entire, total amount, quantity, or extent of." That same verse in the Good News Bible says, "I will always thank the LORD; I will never stop praising him."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, KJV, "16 Rejoice evermore.

17 Pray without ceasing.

18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Same verses in the GNB, "Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus."

"In every thing give thanks..."

"I will bless the LORD at all times..."

"I will always thank the LORD..."

"...be thankful in all circumstances..."

During this Thanksgiving time, I dare everyone reading this to be thankful no matter what's going on. A song writer put it like this, "Praise now. It could be worse." Some of us are dealing with pain that feels like it's never going to go away. "Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God. Through it all, though it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word." I know it's a process, but a process can't be a process unless it gets started. So if you're been slacking on your gratefulness, I dare you and I dare myself to be thankful in spite of everything that's going on. Let's all start the I'm thankful in spite of process. I'm sure when we do that, God, in His own way, will show his gratitude.

Another song writer penned, "I'm covered, I'm not worried. Rest. On His promise. I'm still singing. I'm still shouting. I'm still dancing. I'm still praising." I dare you to get your still back. As the old saints say, I dare you to make a devil out of a lie, and say, "I'm still singing. I'm still shouting. I'm still dancing. I'm still praising." Why? Because "I'm covered. I'm not worried."

Proverbs 18:21, KJV, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."

in the GNB, "What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words."

My prayer is that all who read this and don't read this have a blessed Thanksgiving, and use this time to be thankful in all things. Despite of what is going on, be thankful. So much false hope is going on today, but my hope is built...

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

COMPLAINING ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE...WHAT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO HAVE

For i would say several months or more I was pulling triple duty at church. I was on the Praise and Worship team, I was the sound man, and I was the camera guy. Mind you I was the camera guy when I had a working laptop of my own I could edit the church services on and sell them on DVDs after church. Time went on and the lap top due to probably a virus. So I moved to the desk top and lo and behold that also got a virus and wouldn't turn all the way on. So I haven't had my fair share of "luck" if you will. So with no cpu to edit the dvds on I stopped filming the services which caused a bit of an uproar with certain people when even after I told them what happened wasn't satisfied. Which turned me into a complainer. People would look at me and ask me if i was filming and I'll look at them in a way like, "I've done told you what's up and yet you keep on asking me the same dang thing..." then that leads to insults...moving on. So, in the midst of complaining, I became bitter. I became lazy. I became blind. Why do I say blind? My sister has a lap top where I can edit the DVDs on. Why I never asked her to use it? Because I've used it before but it would build up memory on her laptop and I would become lazy (see I admit my faults), and my sister don't play that. So the services I'd record and save on her lap top wuold become deleted. Can't say I blame her. To be honest I couldn't handle the pressure. I've never been to good with pressure. Especially when it came from people that get on my LAST nerve. Anyway, let me get back on topic. So you don't have the car you want. You don't have the dream car you have, yet you have a car that gets you to where you need to go. You don't have a mansion. You don't have a deluxe department in the sky, yet you have a roof over your head, and a place to sleep in. You're not eating steak and lobster every night, yet you've never gone hungry. I feel we complain so much we not only become blind to the things we don't have, but I'll go as far to say that we become ungrateful. The bible says, in everything give thanks. The song writer put it like this, "Give thanks with a grateful heart/Give thanks to the holy one/Give thanks because of what he has done for us." You don't have what you think you should have, but you are saved. You got God. Stop complaining. There's wealthy people in this world that are heading to hell in a cadilac, and you're heading to heaven in a used punch buggy. A short one this week but I hope you got something out of it. If you like what you read don't be afraid to click that follow button and leave a comment below sharing your thoughts. You don't have to be a member to comment by the way. Thanks for stopping by and... Stay Saved, Daniel Richerson