The Good And The Bad Of Thanksgiving

Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:19-20

Just a little over seventeen years ago, I received a phone call letting me know that I would be offered a job to work at my current employer.  As I looked back, I remembered my excitement getting the job offer.  Thoughts about the jobs I had before never quite being happy in any of them swirled in my head.  Each one of them prepared me in their own way for that moment.  Even the ones that I did not enjoy had a level of relevancy because they would become reminders of just how good I would now have it.  Thus I was thankful for all that had happened prior to that day.

When looking back at our journey of faith, we are to be thankful for all that happened to bring us closer to God today.  We are thankful of the blessings He has given us like our jobs and homes.  We are to be thankful for the people He brought into our lives to influence and be influenced by us.  We are thankful for the many victories He has given us in His name.  And yet, we are to be thankful for the many trials and losses we have had.  They have tested our faith and taught us lessons that would be useful for future success.  We are also to be thankful for the failures that we had for they proved our imperfections and reminded us how we are not God despite our knowing who He is.  They awakened the Holy Spirit within us saying something is not right.  They became the inspiration for us to do better, and once learned, became testimonies to those who once believed they could never make it.  You see?  Once we become a child of God, we are no longer bound by sin.  However like all children, we must grow and build a better relationship with God from it.  That is something we can be eternally thankful for.

God is good whether we are or are not.  When things are good, it is very easy to love God.  However our love is never fully appreciated when it is easy.  It is when the most trying of circumstances challenge our love is tested.  In spite of our greatest sins, God loved on us showing His mercy and grace.  For that most of all, we should be infinitely thankful.  What problem in your life can you give thanks to God for?  How can you show an attitude of gratitude for God in all circumstances?  My prayer is that we simply show thanks to God for everything; both good and bad.  Amen, and I pray for you and your family a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Gratitude, Part 3

1 John 4:18-19 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.” (NASB)

Sometimes gratitude is the most important, when things are the simplest. When things get complex we find it easy to be grateful – we realize that things are beyond our reach or skill. But the simple – those things are harder to remember to be grateful for, but perhaps more important to be thankful for. It helps us not take things for granted, and it helps remind us that we are not here doing things alone and by ourselves.

So, in the vein of things that are simple – today I wanted to challenge all of us to have gratitude for God taking the initiative. It was Him loving us first. We forget that part….we just go to the mutual first, or mention His love – but it is vital that it was started by Him.

Take some time and just reflect on the impact, thanking God for taking the initiative.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

I thank the Lord for you!

Colossians 1:3-6


We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.



Many people I know have been participating in 30 days of Thanksgiving where they post each day during November what they are thankful for. While with this week being Thanksgiving, I want to share that I am thankful for each and every single one of you. I may not know each of you personally however as this scripture talks about, we thank God when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. Each of you has had the courage to join our devotion group, a group that it can be seen that you are a part of. You are a witness to others by being a part of this group. By doing so, hopefully you are planting seeds and bearing fruit to those around you.



May your Thanksgiving be blessed this week.