Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!...Revisited from 11/17/2012

Note: This post was originally written five years ago (11/17/2012), so my "tongue" is well-healed today...and I praise God that His mercy and love and strength continues to endure forever. I just wanted to share a few pre-Thanksgiving thoughts today!  Have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving week!! 

The Secret Garden 11-18-2017

Original Post written 11/17/2012 and all pictures are from today 11/18/2017:

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! 

For His mercy endures forever."  

Psalm 136:1  

If you read this particular Psalm, you will see that it repeats the second part of this verse, "For His mercy endures forever", after each and every verse, all 26 of them, in fact!...I think the Psalmist is trying to make a point...read it through and see what you think!  If you don't learn any other thing from this Psalm, you will definitely learn that the mercy of the Lord endures forever!  And that is a good thing to know when you are going through deep water, difficult times, health issues, financial crisis, loss of loved one or impending loss of a loved one, governmental concerns, etc., etc., etc., no matter WHAT you are going through, it is good to know and believe and experience the fact that the mercy of the Lord endures forever, and for THAT, we should always "give thanks".

 11/18/2017: This male cardinal was quietly resting and safely hidden in the bushes outside my kitchen window.

I give thanks for his beauty and for the reminder that we are safely hidden in Christ from the onslaughts of the enemy of our soul...

Now on to the rest of the message for today...I would like to give thanks today for several things.  This being Thanksgiving week here in America, many of us are counting our blessings and expressing our thanks for all of the marvelous ways God has cared for and blessed us with His abundance and mercy.

This past week (2012) I have been a little quieter than usual.  Maybe you hadn't even noticed...but it's true.  A week ago I had some dental work done, and in the process my tongue was injured.  Not seriously, but enough to make it extremely sore and painful, whenever I eat and even when I talk too much. (Which for me, is always).  I never realized how much I took my tongue for granted until it became so difficult to do the normal things I enjoy doing...like eating and talking.  With the big Thanksgiving Dinner coming up in the very near future, I am anxious for my tongue to be healed.  I've thought about how awful it would be to never have a normal tongue...not only would it be extremely difficult for me to eat like a normal person, but I also would not be able to communicate in a way that others would understand or appreciate. Not that others always enjoy my communication that much, but what if I could never talk normally again...or sing praises to the Lord with my heart AND voice? I know that I would be very sad.  Perhaps some others who know me and love me might be a bit saddened by that as well.

So today I am taking this opportunity to thank the Lord for my tongue. I thank Him for the many ways He has used my tongue to sing praises to Him throughout my lifetime, and to share His love and words with many.  I know that I have not always used my tongue for these holy and beautiful purposes. There have been many words that I wish I had never spoken, and things that I have said that have brought pain to others. I have been known to speak without thinking many times, and then living to regret my foolishness.  I am truly sorry for those words spoken in haste or in anger or in denial of my own guilt.  Thankfully, the mercy of the Lord endures forever, and He has already forgiven and forgotten these broken promises and regrettable lapses of good judgment, and His mercy has already covered all my sin and folly.

During this week of remembrance of God's mercy and blessings, I list my tongue at the top of the list. This is only the beginning.  There is much more to follow.  But for today, this will do.

Thank you, Lord, for my tongue, my voice, my ability to communicate.  May my words only bring hope and encouragement and comfort to others within my sphere of influence, and may You, Oh Lord, be glorified in all I say or do.

To quote one of my old favorite hymns: ("Take My Life, and Let It Be", by Frances R. Havergal) verse 3:

"Take my voice, and let me sing

Always, only for my King,

Take my lips, and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee,

Filled with messages from Thee."

and then from another "Oh, for a Thousand Tongues" by Charles Wesley, :

"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer's praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,

Assist me to proclaim,

To spread through all the earth abroad,

The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the Name that charms our fears,

That bids our sorrows cease:

'Tis music in the sinner's ears,

'Tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the power of cancelled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood availed for me.

Glory to God, and praise, and love

Be ever, ever given

By saints below and saints above,

The Church in earth and heaven."
Amen.

A few fall pictures from our "neck of the woods" today 11/18/2017:

Picture from the shelves in our foyer
11/18/2017


Two roses blooming in the midst of the decaying leaves..."Beauty for Ashes" perhaps?
New Life springing out of the old?
Praise God for His gift of new life!!

Yes, the autumn leaves are falling, even here in sunny Florida,
where it was 47 degrees this morning!

Have a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving!