Thankful for More than One Kind of Blessing

In this Thanksgiving UPGRADE, I want to remind my readers that even while we might express gratitude for many blessings on Thanksgiving Day, we may forget others that are out of this world!I want to acknowledge that my thoughts today are not entirely original, but rather, triggered by a gifted writer, Rebecca Barlow Jordan. In her book, Day-votions® with Your Faithful Father*, she wrote in a prayer from the reader to God:

"Along with the tangible gifts of home, friends, family—and so much more—You have redeemed me, restored me, and forgiven me completely. You have blessed me with inexpressible joy, a deep settled peace, a sense of belonging, a purpose for living, and eternal security found only in You through Christ."

When I read those words, I sighed a deep, grateful "Amen!"

Just thinking about all the kinds of blessings I've received—especially this past year—makes me laugh with joy!

I am thankful for all the "people blessings" and tangible and intangible blessings God has provided for me through the years—simply because He loves me; but I'm also grateful in a fresh way this year for the spiritual blessings.

Let me share some with you.

1. 'People Blessings'

My faithful God has blessed me with a wonderful and patient husband to shepherd our home, precious children and grandchildren, loving extended family, unforgettable friends, kind employers, godly pastors, motivating ministry and church leaders, skilled doctors and nurses, and so many others who are part of the tapestry of my life.

Who are YOUR "people blessings"?

2. Tangible blessings

God has also blessed me with a warm and cozy home, plentiful food, a running car, a lovely back yard, a sweet furboy, my Bible and a library of Christian books . . . I could go on and on.

What tangible blessings can YOU list today?

3. Intangible blessings

This is more difficult to define. Intangible things do not have a physical presence—they can't be touched or grasped. But they are real, nonetheless.

God has given me joy in the midst of trials, peace that the world can't understand, encouragement on so many levels, opportunities to pursue my passion for writing, etc.

What intangible blessings add meaning and value to YOUR life?

4. Spiritual blessings

These are the blessings many Christians tend to forget as they gather around their Thanksgiving tables. I say they are blessings that are "out of this world" because some blessings prepare us for heaven, and we receive others when we arrive there!

Rebecca's devotional piece reminded me that this is not my home, and my life is about more than this short existence on earth. I am created for God's glory—and to serve Him and tell others about Him.

God, in love, has chosen to bless me with spiritual blessings now and in heaven because I am hidden in Christ. The truth is, our Father is more than ready to give wonderful spiritual gifts to us, if we would just ask. (So often we are only interested in asking for tangible things.)

What spiritual blessings would you list that YOU have "in Christ"?

Here are just a few of my spiritual blessings.

• My Father has given me a future inheritance, set aside for me in heaven.
• I have relationships with Father God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit that continue to grow as I spend time learning about them.
• I have eternal security because I have placed my faith in Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross.
• I have the fruit of the Holy Spirit developing now in my life as God purposes to make me more like His Son and as the Spirit teaches and guides me.
• And I'll have future blessings—more than I can even imagine—once I arrive at the home that Jesus is building for us.

My FAVORITE spiritual blessing is the Holy Spirit nudging me to fill my mind with thoughts about God, and to think BIG thoughts about Him. (I don't think I would do that without the Holy Spirit's nudging. Would anyone?) I'm grateful that thinking big thoughts about God is an adventure that will never end.

It's a wonderful thing to have God fill all our thoughts, even for a moment!

One of the ways we think big thoughts is to express gratitude for God's countless gifts.

So I'm taking time this Thanksgiving to count all my KINDS of blessings—to be grateful for all I have and will have—because each blessing is a precious, undeserved gift from God. I hope that you will do the same.

At the beginning of her devotional, Rebecca shared a scripture from a version of the Bible that I do not typically use; but—while I love my ESV and Amplified Bibles—these words from The Passion Translation (TPT) reached in and grabbed my heart:

"Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts!" (Ephesians 1:3)

It's not just our blessings we should celebrate; it's God Himself.

As you list your "people blessings" and tangible and intangible blessings this year, spend some extra time considering the spiritual blessings God gives to each of His children in Christ—and celebrate Him!

Which blessings mean the most to you this Thanksgiving? How can you make time to celebrate God?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator the blog, Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for women's teacher and revivalist, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth at Revive Our Hearts, and is a regular columnist at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in sunny Southern California, and Dawn has traveled with Him in Pacesetter Global Outreach. They have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of Ben White at Unsplash.

* Rebecca Barlow Jordan, Day-votions® with Your Faithful Father: 90 Days with the One Who Wants to Meet All Your Needs (Self-published, January 26, 2022). Referenced Day 38, pp. 132-134. Contact: www.day-votions.com.

Count on God and Count Your Blessings

Sharon Paavola is one of those trophies of God's grace; I've seen the Lord work powerfully in her life and in the lives of those she loves. In this special Thanksgiving UPGRACE—which is also a spiritual UPLIFT—she encourages us to be joyful on "two counts."

"My husband accepted Christ later in life," Sharon says.

I (Dawn) think it's always special when people receive the Lord, but there can be challenges when that choice comes later rather than sooner. But Sharon experienced an unexpected blessing in a lesson from the Lord after her husband came to Christ.

Sharon continues . . .

My husband accepted Christ later in life seven years after we married. 

He had not grown up in a Christian home and attended church seldom as a child. His first prayers were precious and at mealtimes he thanked God for simple things like our home, our dogs and for always having abundant food to eat.

Most of his prayers ended and still do with thankfulness for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins and the gift of eternal life. 

I grew up in a pastor’s home where mealtime thanks could become routine, but not rote.

Eric’s petitions were fresh. They were not tainted by years of hearing the same words.

I realized I had accepted a pattern of praying.

Listening to Eric brought me up short. I realized how rarely before eating I truly thanked God with my heart. 

Now our pre-meal petitions contain random praise for all kinds of daily mercy and blessings. As a result of this practice, I have incorporated thankfulness into my communication to God in new ways. Throughout my day, I find small and large situations and events to be grateful to God. 

I have also learned that:

• Thanking Him before He has answered my prayers for how He will work brings hope and expectation, releasing the worry or anxiousness of the need.
• Praising Him for glorifying His name leads to more faith. What joy comes then when He does answer even if it is not what I had anticipated. 

During the years I taught a Bible Study at my church, I told my leaders when a "mountain" came against us, "God knew this was going to happen. He is not surprised. He has already gone ahead of us to work out the details, smooth the path, and solve this situation. We only need to thank Him.”

I saw their shoulders drop and heard big sighs.

God remains faithful! We can count on him as Psalm 40:5 says:

“O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.”

I have often sung the hymn, "Count Your Blessings" at Thanksgiving time. It is quite appropriate in our spiritual lives daily and at mealtimes to count our blessings.

Thank the Lord even for the heartaches, the losses and the unexpected—anticipating how He will work.

We can thank God for many ways He has blessed us.

In my life today:

• I thank God for my contacts and my glasses that allow me to see as well as I do. I started wearing glasses for nearsightedness at age ten. Now I am considered legally blind and have glaucoma and cataracts. I also need glasses for reading. I want God to know how grateful I feel to see as well as I do. I sometimes whine about my eyesight, but as I put my contacts away at bedtime, I realize what an amazing invention they are for me and am grateful again.
• I thank Him for a comfortable bed to sleep in every night, for a mind that thinks as well as it does, and for the gift of my sweet puppy dogs.
• I thank the Lord for my darling 10-month-old grandson. He is a miracle! Years of tears went before him, and through in vitro fertilization he was born to my daughter and her husband. That is a big thank you!
• We thank God every night at dinner for our salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

In summary:

1. Thank God for all things—and always for His salvation plan.
2. Daily run a constant praise to Him for what He has done throughout those twenty-four hours.
3. Give Him gratefulness for how He will answer our prayers, no matter how difficult or impossible.
4. Appreciate the unexpected and how God paves the way before we even knew it would happen.

Are you joyful on two counts? Are you counting on God today? How will you count your blessings? (Can you name them one by one?)

Sharon Paavola writes a blog on book reviews and her thoughts for assisting women to find peace and healing from depression, pain and loss. She loves being a new grandmother, has been married for twenty-three years, and has three grown children. When not reading books, she sews, walks, and gardens. She helps lead a post abortion recovery Bible Study and assists at her Precepts study at her church. Learn more about Sharon on her blog.

Share the Harvest

Dawn Wilson says, "Whether it's sharing a Thanksgiving care basket or a large sack of groceries, one of my favorite things to do at Thanksgiving is to Share the Harvest."

Our traditions of sharing the harvest in America go back to the days of the Pilgrims.

But sharing goes back much further than that. 

In Acts 2:46, we see the early disciples meeting together to break bread in their homes and eat together with glad, generous hearts. They were sharing the bread of harvest as a sign of their love and commitment to each other and the Lord.

And it goes back further than that.

After the exiles returned to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 7:1-5a), when Nehemiah was the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe, Ezra read the Book of the Law of Moses from morning until midday (Nehemiah 8:1-8); and the people understood the law and wept. But the priests told the people, "Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:9-11).

That day was recognized as a special holy day for God's people and they worshiped and celebrated in booths—temporary shelters—at The Feast of Booths (Nehemiah 8:13-19). The Levites had already encouraged God's people to eat and celebrate and "send portions" of food to those who did not have food as part of their own celebration! (Nehemiah 8:12) They were to share their harvest!

And it perhaps goes back further than that.

Many people believe the Puritans' celebration of the harvest springs from the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), as taught in Leviticus 23. "For the ancient children of Israel, thanksgiving was a time of feasting and fasting, of praising God, of singing songs," one pastor writes. "It was a rich celebration...."

Perhaps their feasting might be considered sharing the harvest too.

Today, we have many opportunities to share the "harvest" in our pantries and refrigerators. 

1. We might share with and serve at a local soup kitchen;

2. Or take food to our church food pantry to help locals in need;

3. Or take a care package to a friend or neighbor;

4. Or invite a friend or family member—or a stranger-now-friend—to dinner in our home.

5. And if we don't want to share actual food, we can share cash or a check so a college student, young single mom, or needy family can enjoy buying their own special dinner.

At one time, I didn't even think about sharing my food. It wasn't that I was being selfish; I just assumed  everybody I knew had what I had in my kitchen pantry.

I didn't realize how privileged and blessed I am.

There is always someone with something more ... but far too often, there are MANY with far less.

It's not only a matter of good stewardship, but of Christ-like love. Thanksgiving leads to Thanks-living.

As we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we must see the needs around us, and if we have the means to help, it's our responsibility, joy and blessing to share.

So how will you share the harvest—YOUR harvest—this Thanksgiving?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is the Director of the San Diego chapter of Network of Evangelical Women in MInistry (NEWIM San Diego). Dawn is the co-author of LOL with God and contributed "The Blessing Basket" in It's a God Thing. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Just a Little Bit More

In this affluent society, we're always trying to add just a little bit more to our lives. More wealth. More stuff. More prestige. In this Thanksgiving Upgrade, Dawn Wilson encourages us to add a bit more gratitude.

Last summer, Sharon Jaynes wrote about I Thessalonians 5:18: Give thanks in all circumstances. "We read that verse and think it rather nice," Sharon wrote, "So we slap a sloppy coat of thanksgiving on life and go about our day. In reality, most of us are thankful for very little."

Instead of expressing gratitude, we complain. A lot.

I focused on not complaining this summer for one whole week. I didn't think I was a natural complainer. I've since discovered everyone is. It's that nasty sin nature rearing it's head.

That's why Paul instructs, "Do all things without murmurings (complaining) and disputings" (Philippians 2:14). Complaining devastated the the Israelites (Exodus 16:8; Numbers 11:1-4; Psalm 106:25; 1 Corinthians 10:10).

Complaining has many negative consequences. It messes up our relationships and conversations. It focuses on the negative, sees the worst, darkens our spirit and zaps our energy. Complaining increases stress; we just can't seem to "release" our grumbling. Even when we complain just to ourselves, we are essentially making excuses for our lack of gratitude.

So I'll admit it. I struggled with that week of "not complaining." I was surprised how many complaints entered my mind in such a short period.

I found it extremely difficult to stop complaining. Until I started thanking.

Thanksgiving made the difference. I was allowing God to transform my thinking (Romans 12:2).

Gratitude is a choice, and it can root out an ungrateful, murmuring, complaining spirit. We're not commanded in scripture to feel more grateful, but we are instructed to be thankful.

"Gratitude changes the lens through which we see circumstances in our little slice of time," Sharon said. "Thanksgiving changes our perspective despite broken dreams, broken relationships, tumultuous circumstances and unfulfilled longings."

Repeatedly in the Psalms, we observe David move from a place of depression or sharing his complaints with God to a better place. His perspective seems to change as he praises God or expresses gratitude:  

In Psalm 57, David complains that his soul "is in the midst of lions" (v. 4). His enemies are trying to destroy him. He's in pretty bad shape, emotionally.

Yet in verses 9-11, what a turnaround!

"I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!"

We see this same turnaround in Psalm 42:10-11 and Psalm 62:3-7. David consistently moved from grumbling and all sorts of negative emotions to praise and gratitude.  

He chose a different perspective and got a different result. And in that change of attitude, God was honored and glorified.

Another thing I discovered in my week of no complaining. Even a little bit of gratitude makes a difference.

Like a stream of light through an opening door, gratitude diffuses the darkness of our grumbling.

It's not slapping on "a sloppy coat of thanksgiving." It's getting honest with God about our needs, and then stopping to recognize God in the midst of our circumstances. To praise Him. To thank Him.

Think about the complaints you've made even this week. Can you add a bit more gratitude? Will you choose to thank God in your situation, even if you don't feel thankful?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Ministries, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is the President of the San Diego chapter of Network of Evangelical Women in MInistry (NEWIM San Diego). Dawn is the co-author of LOL with God and contributed "The Blessing Basket" in It's a God Thing. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

UPGRADE Your Celebrations!

To celebrate is to observe a day or event with ceremonies of respect, festivity or rejoicing. It's a time to extol or praise, to display or make known.

Everyone likes to celebrate, whether it's a birthday, graduation, promotion or holiday.

And I believe there are at least four ways to UPGRADE Your Celebrations:

Upgrade Mentally - If it's a holiday, look up the meaning of the event [see note about disputed celebrations: Romans 14:5-6]. Prepare some facts to share with others, to help them understand the point of the event. If it's a birthday or graduation or some other achievement, give it some thought. Study some "history" to add meaning - perhaps something about the person's character that got him or her to this point. Who is the person really, behind the scenes. Think! 

Upgrade Emotionally/Socially - Give yourself permission to celebrate! Celebrations are not occasions for sourpusses. Smile. Laugh. Connect. Get involved with people and celebrate together. Be friendly and make a new friend. Let love spill over into joy. Let your inner child remember the joys of youth ... let loose a little. Rejoice! (Proverbs 17:22a; Philemon 1:7)

Upgrade Physically - Do something fun. Think and get creative with food, decorations and gifts. Make a cake, cookies or a special healthy dish. Go to an organized celebration. Wave a flag. Hug!(Especially, hug a veteran on Memorial Day!) Give a thoughtful gift. Go to a parade, or make a mini-parade with your friends. Don't just sit around and watch others celebrate. Get involved in a community of people who understand how important it is to celebrate. Act! (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17)

Upgrade Spiritually - Thank God for the reason for the celebration. Read and share scriptures that refer to some aspect of the celebration. Make spiritual applications when possible. Pray together. Sing a hymn or praise song that "works" with the occasion. Point people to the Source of true joy - acknowledge God (James 1:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The key to celebrations? Go all out. Be all there!

I hope all your celebrations are happy and blessed. Remember - Think. Rejoice. Act. Acknowledge God.

What do you do to UPGRADE Your Celebrations?

Dawn Wilson is the founder of Heart Choices Ministries and creator of UpgradeWithDawn.com. Dawn's ministry encourages, edifies and energizes women with the truth of scripture so they can better enjoy life, bless others and honor God.