November Gratitude Stone 20 Trials
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds … It would be easy for the early church to write off James as a whack job for such a comment. But Peter, Paul and others tell us similar things and offer joy as the way to live…
November Gratitude Stone 19 Fellowship/Community
(1 Cor. 13:1-3) Nothing is worth doing without love. (Phil 1:3) I thank my God every time I remember you. (Eph. 1:16) I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Paul was a very grateful man; that is clear as you read his letters. He is also thankful for people,…
November Gratitude Stone 18 God Loves Me
Zeph 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. The word picture of this reminds me of Jim with Emily when she was born. He was…
November Gratitude Stone 17 Forgiveness
Romans 5:6-11You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died…
November Gratitude Stone 16 Yielded Hearts
Rom 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Ingratitude is a pretty big deal if it is listed as a sin! 2 Tim says that in the last days people will be ungrateful. There…
November Gratitude Stone 15 Fulfilled Plans
Ps 20:4 May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. There are studies that have shown that people with a thankful heart are more successful and achieve their goals more often. This is probably because they have a better attitude and are more confident which leads to higher productivity.…
Life as Thank You 49
Dear Debbie and Steve, I am taking this opportunity to let you know how grateful I am that you are in my life. When we first started attending EvFree I had a really hard time connecting in the service and was really homesick for Christ Church in Illinois. Then we found the Encounter service and…
November Gratitude Stone 14 Habitually
Ps 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. They say it takes 21 days to make a habit and then 6 weeks to make it stick. While I have found that to be usually true, I really think it takes a commitment to a routine…
November Gratitude Stone 13 Jesus
2 Cor. 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! Christ himself, the only begotten Son of God, the fulfillment of the covenant, the head of the church, the Savior, the sacrificial lamb. There is no greater gift; in fact no one can tell how great this gift is, which is so large and…
November Gratitude Stone 12 Leap for Joy
Ps 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. One stone of gratitude for me lies in the choice and the opportunity I have every day to choose to be joyful. Bad things…