Gratitude: Day 7

Devotion by: Art Evans

1 Chronicles 29:10-20

Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly; David said: ‘Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, for ever and ever. Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.

‘But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this freewill-offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are aliens and transients before you, as were all our ancestors; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you search the heart, and take pleasure in uprightness; in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep for ever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts towards you. Grant to my son Solomon that with single mind he may keep your commandments, your decrees, and your statutes, performing all of them, and that he may build the temple for which I have made provision.’

Then David said to the whole assembly, ‘Bless the Lord your God.’ And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the Lord and the king.

This Biblical verse is known as David’s Prayer and clearly states his desire for his son, Solomon, and all his people to constantly praise God and give thanks for his many blessings. David expresses his thanks by acknowledging that his own kingdom belongs to God. This is often quite different from our own perceptions. Many of us attribute our worldly mental and physical gifts, talents, or strengths to our own hard work or dedication and the power of our intellect and motivation. Of course, upon turning to Christian thought, we are well aware that even who our parents were and how they raised us and who directly helped develop all our positive attributes which shaped our future decisions were also granted by God. Even our physical powers and senses are not of our making. We are nothing without God and we have nothing except what God has granted us. God made and owns all people in this world. In Luke 12:13-21, Jesus makes clear that everything in this life is on loan. And so we come to gratitude or simply put, giving thanks. As Ezra, the author of 1 Chronicles, writes for David, “Now, our God, we give you thanks”. And we must do the same. David’s prayer goes further, while acknowledging his thanks to God, he wants to ask his people to be generous in their praise of God by giving either labor or gifts which will glorify God and not the things of this world. David is so grateful that he can give so much. He had come from humble beginnings. As described above, everything already belongs to God, and we are simply returning it to him. In Deuteronomy 8:18, Moses writes, “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth”. Finally, David is proud of his people who have chosen to give and given willingly.

Each day when I rise, I remember Psalms 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. I give thanks for another day and ask for his mercy for the next. I never take anything for granted. Even a hot shower or automatic garage door opener can elicit a quick glance upward to express awe in the luxury of our existence and to give thanks. And at the end of each physical workout I, expressly give sincere thanks for another day of health. Why do I take my thanksgiving so seriously? Each day I am deluged with reminders of our physical frailties and the economic disparities of our world, and it affects me deeply. I often joke that if I were Bill Gates, I would probably have a small altar in every room of my mansion in order to prostrate myself before God and give thanks for my disproportionate blessings. I doubt if that would be practical; instead, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has an endowment of $34,000,000,000 for worldwide charitable giving.

PRAYER:

We thank you for this day Dear Lord,

It is a day like no other,

It is a new day to glorify you,

It is a new day to reach out to others,

It is a new day to see others as you see them,

It is a new day to love others as you love them,

It is a new day to become new in your love,

In the name of your Son, My Savior, Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Gratitude: Day 6

Devotion by: Abby Corneliussen

Mark 5:17-20

Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

In this verse Jesus tells a man who wants to follow him to go home to his family instead, tell them the story of how he was healed, and express gratitude.

This made me think of a movie I saw once, called “Pay It Forward”. A teacher gives an assignment to his class: “How can you help change the world?” One of the boys in his class came up with the idea of paying good actions forward - instead of back. If everybody expressed their gratitude by going something good for three people when something good was done to them, it would spread quickly, and make the world a better place.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Maxwell family for welcoming me into their lives. And I will pay it forward by one day hosting an exchange student myself, and give another person the same opportunity the Maxwells gave me!

PRAYER: Dear God, I hope that all my friends and family know how lucky they are to have each other. Please help them to express their gratitude by paying it forward. Amen.

Gratitude: Day 5

Devotion by: Tracey Maxwell

Joshua 4:4-7

Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. Joshua said to them, ‘Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, “What do those stones mean to you?” then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial for ever.’

In Joshua Chapter 4, the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan river. God then directed Joshua to build a memorial with 12 stones, one for each of the 12 tribes. In 4:4-7 Joshua instructs the members to do this with stones from the Jordan. According to my Application Study Bible this was to have the members of the tribes focus on God and remember that it was He who was guiding them. We need to remember to take the time to stop when we are on the move in our busy lives and build our own memorials thanking God for leading us each day.

Well, today is my goddaughter Charlotte Carbaugh’s second birthday and the theme I was given for my devotional along with Joshua 4 is that of gratitude. A more perfect theme could not have been given to me as I am so grateful and full of joy that little Charlotte is turning two. Happy and healthy along with her mom, Lauren.

Sometimes I wonder how it is that Lauren and I were raised in the same Catholic Church 5 hours north of Great Falls; both married “Lutheran boys” and both moved to Northern Virginia and attend Christ the King. It wasn’t until two years ago that perhaps we found out the reason. Life has come full circle – Lauren’s dad is my godfather, my mom is Lauren’s godmother and now I am blessed to have Charlotte as my goddaughter. So as Joshua instructed the members of the tribe to do I need to constantly be building my memorial with gratitude. For God has certainly guided our families to this river!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for guiding our daily lives. Thank you for bringing us to the other side of the River. We offer you our gratitude and praise for preparing us. We thank you for health and happiness, joy and Love. Amen.

Gratitude: Day 4

Devotion by: Walt Rossbach

1 Chronicles 28:2-7

Then King David rose to his feet and said: ‘Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had planned to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God; and I made preparations for building. But God said to me, “You shall not build a house for my name, for you are a warrior and have shed blood.” Yet the Lord God of Israel chose me from all my ancestral house to be king over Israel for ever; for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father’s house, and among my father’s sons he took delight in making me king over all Israel. And of all my sons, for the Lord has given me many, he has chosen my son Solomon to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. He said to me, “It is your son Solomon who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father to him. I will establish his kingdom for ever if he continues resolute in keeping my commandments and my ordinances, as he is today.”

David first expresses his understandable disappointment at not being chosen by God to build the Temple to house the ark of the covenant because “he, David, has shed blood” (what does that say to us today?) and was therefore bypassed for Judah to be appointed the leader in his place. However, he is still grateful that his own son, Solomon, is to be tasked with this most highly desired job within the community. Too often we don’t show much gratitude for being given important jobs and assignments both in the secular world and within the fellowship of God we call our church -- certainly not as much as we should, tending to look often at tasks as toilsome laborious assignments and not opportunities to show our love in action. Also, our gratitude should extend to the roles played by others around us, including our families, extended families and friends. All should be a source of our pride and and we should support their involvement in both the community at large and within the organized church, just as David supports his son Solomon’s assignment to build the temple and continue to follow God’s commands and laws. Be quick to be grateful and slow to be disappointed.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I am most grateful for the wonderful life I’ve been given and the opportunities that continue to come my way to bear witness to your loving presence through music, a universal language of love that for some wonderful reason, everyone can relate to. Please guide us into happily accepting assignments and tasks for which we should be most grateful. Amen.

Gratitude: Day 3

Devotion by: Dave Whelan

Psalm 107:1-9

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;
hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress;
he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
For he satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills with good things.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

This is the first verse in Psalm 107 and we here at Christ the King certainly can attest to this statement, at least for the past 25 years. God’s love, guidance, and sometimes patience, have directed our congregation to the heights that we have reached today. The charter members of our congregation trusted the Lord and began a tiny little mission church in a farmer’s grange not far from where we worship today. Over the years, many members have made a significant sacrifice, both financial and through ministry leadership. It would be so easy to step back, take a deep breath, and say “Wow, look at what we have accomplished”, and leave it at that. But really, our mission of connecting the World with God’s Grace has just begun. It is now time for each one of us, whether we are charter members or temporarily transplanted into the community, to carry out God’s plan through Christ the King. God is in the midst of our congregation, just as he was years ago, saying “Trust in me.” What better way to show our thanks, and to begin a spiritual journey, than to help Christ the King turn Silver into Gold!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, as we begin a new day, we know that you are with each of us and are preparing us for a faith adventure, the likes of which we have never been on before. We are thankful for what you have given us over the past 25 years, and appreciate the opportunity you are giving us to share our love and gratitude with others throughout our community and around the world. We truly hope to connect the world with your grace. Amen.

Gratitude: Day 2

Devotion by: Greta Rymal

1 Timothy 1:12-14

I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength…”(v. 12). How many times I have said similar words to God! I’ve thanked Him for the strength to persevere when times seem tough, to say “yes” when given the choice to do the right thing, or to say “no” when a temptation arises. And yet I know my life has been pretty cushy compared with the strength He must also give to a child growing up in poverty, a soldier or civilian worker facing daily danger, a parent raising a disabled child, a person facing a severe illness.

In this passage Paul goes on to say that he didn’t deserve this mercy, based on his violent and unbelieving past. “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly”. What a blessing for that grace to still be pouring out on you and me, not because we deserve it either, but because it comes “along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (v. 14).

PRAYER: Christ, today I am especially thankful for your church: for those who serve You as pastors, teachers, musicians, and for all those who faithfully worship and present you with their offerings of time and riches. I gain strength from their presence as we share “the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” Amen.

Gratitude: Day 1

Devotion by: Lynne Roots

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Are you familiar with the expression, K.I.S.S.? (Keep It Simple, Stupid…well, the “stupid” part is a bit offensive but the message is not.) We tend to overwork everything. We create complications where there are none. We think in terms of problems rather than challenges. We look for hidden meanings. We mess with the messages the Bible sends.

Paul’s message in I Thessalonians is so clear: how to live in order to please God. Always be joyful; pray without ceasing and give thanks in everything. Very clear. Very simple. “But I have such a busy life full of complications and problems!” Don’t we all? The complications and problems are not the issue here but how we deal with them. Have you ever sat down and made a written list of what you have, how you live, your blessings? It’s a wonderful exercise. If you are willing to look outside yourself, you will see that your “problems” pale in comparison to others. Do you or a loved one have cancer? Does a loved one have Alzheimer’s? Are you employed? Do you have a roof over your head? Enough to eat? Do you live in a country racked by war? Let’s get real here and think about what you do have, where and how you live and how you are blessed, then re-read the words of Paul. Very clear. Very simple.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Give me the courage to look outside myself to see that I am truly blessed and that those blessings are of your making. I thank you each day for those blessings. Amen.