In Everything Give Thanks

Over the past month I have been trying to get myself back into daily devotions, and though I may not have gotten to the daily part yet, I have managed to have quiet times a bit more often. Recently I have been using the website SheReadsTruth for my outlines and I have been greatly enjoying them. With all that's going on in my life at the moment I was really glad to find a study called "In Everything, Give Thanks."  

Here's a little of what I gleaned this from this mornings study, and hopefully there will be more to come. 

DAY 1:

 Psalm 105:1, 12-15 (The Message)

Hallelujah! Thank God! Pray to him by name! Tell everyone you meet what he has done! Sing him songs, belt out hymns, translate his wonders into music! Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs, you who seek God. Live a happy life! Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works; be alert for signs of his presence. Remember the world of wonders he has made, his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered— O seed of Abraham, his servant, O child of Jacob, his chosen.

"When they didn’t count for much,

a mere handful, and strangers at that,

Wandering from country to country,

drifting from pillar to post,

He permitted no one to abuse them.

He told kings to keep their hands off:

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my anointed,

don’t hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets.”

The second chunk of those verses particularly hit me this morning. I read them and felt a small connection with the wandering people. For the next four to twenty years of my life I will be wandering from "country to country" as we travel and hang our hats wherever the USCG tells us. The "Tribe of Logan", if you will, consisting of all of two people right now will pick up our lives every four years just as we have finally settled, made connections, and felt at home, and drift from our pillar to the next post. But it brings me peace to know that through all that change, we have a constant. We have our Pillar leading us and watching over our travels and transitions. He has good plans for us. 

• "God's word tells me that his faithfulness does not depend on my wisdom."

Lamentations 3:22-24

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

23they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in him.”

• "God's word tells me HIs grace does not depend on my performance."

Ephesians 2:8-10

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"as we learn to trust the bigness of our God and the sureness of his sovereignty, we find His will is not as much a path as it is a way of walking..."

It's comforting to me that as we learn to trust God and grow in our sureness of Him, walking with him and in his ways becomes a way of life, and not just something we're aiming for. I know it's not immediate, but getting to know someone on such a deep level never is.