We’re thankful for those of you who have faithfully read this devotional. We appreciate all the kind comments, emails, and especially your prayers. We’re going to take a couple of days off to spend with family and friends for thanksgiving.
We wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving!
We’ve been talking this week about being thankful. It’s easy to forget where God has brought us out of, and become complainers. However, if we choose to focus on what God has done in our past, it will help us remain thankful, even if we’re not yet in the place we’d ideally like to be.
And you might be in the midst of a situation you’d rather not be in. Life sometimes hands you things you’d rather not deal with. However, if you’re going to stay thankful, you can’t lose hope that God will turn your situation around.
You’ve got to believe that God will move in your future.
In today’s verse, we see that God did indeed move for the Israelites. He provided food for them from the sky. And God will do the same for you. I mean, you probably won’t get a bunch of manna in your backyard, but God will provide.
He always comes through, it’s just up to you to stay believing, not complain, and know that He will come through in your future!
Have you ever given any thought to how to develop a habit of thankfulness? It’s certainly not easy. More than likely, you don’t have every pair of shoes you want, the car you want, the phone you want, the friends you want, the fame you want, or whatever else you want. Obviously, that list could go on and on.
So how do you practice thankfulness if you’re not feeling thankful?
First of all, learn from the Israelites. They did a really bad job at being thankful. They were professional complainers, so much so that they’d rather go back to being slaves. Isn’t that crazy?
Here’s what it boils down to. When we get into the habit of complaining, we are really choosing to not be thankful for what God has done in our past. We choose to not remember the ways that He’s come through for us, and the miracles He’s already done in our lives.
Also, we are showing that we don’t believe that He will come through for us in the future. Because if we believe He was going to come through for us in the future, we wouldn’t complain.
So what do we do? We have to remind ourselves of God’s goodness, and also build our faith for the future. If we’re convinced that God isn’t done writing our story, then we will have faith that He will continue to move on our behalf. Regardless of whether we see it yet or not.
So today, encourage yourself to practice being thankful. Realize that thankfulness starts when we are thankful for what God did in the past and hopeful for what He will do in the future.
So, be honest with yourself. How much complaining do you do? Do you find yourself daily complaining about the amount of math homework you have, or perhaps how many chores your mom makes you do?
Do you find that it’s pretty easy to find things in your life that are going wrong, and to not choose to be thankful? If you do, you’re not alone. Most of us, if we’re honest, default to complaining instead of thankfulness.
We often complain about each little thing that isn’t going exactly the way we want in life. This is exactly what the children of Israel did in the desert. They complained.
And it can be easy to look at their lives and think, what do they have to complain about? God had just done some miracles in their lives, they were no longer slaves. Why in the world were they complaining?
But the truth is, we do it too. Even in the midst of the miracle God might be working in your life right now, you can probably find something to complain about. Maybe your teacher didn’t treat you right. Perhaps you didn’t get the job you wanted, the list could go on. And instead of remembering the ways God has moved in your life in the past, you get into complaining.
Just like the children of Israel did. Yes, they had seen God move, recently. However, they took their eyes off that, and looked at what they didn’t have right then and began to complain.
Life is never going to be perfect. So the key to being happy is simply to be thankful for how God has moved in your life. And don’t forget to be thankful for how He has brought you through.
What do you do when you have a bad day? Maybe you spend some time praying. Perhaps eating a bucket of ice cream is your go-to thing. I get it, there’s nothing better than junk food when you have a really bad day. Let’s look at what God’s word has to say about what we should do when we have a bad day.
Today’s Bible verse talks about singing and praising the lord with music. There’s something about singing and praising God that helps you get in a better mood. It doesn’t matter if you don’t sing well or can play an instrument. Just ask Alexa to play a worship song, or find some worship on YouTube. You can sing right along with a great worship band.
Worshiping God is one of the best things you can do when you have a bad day. So if you’re having a bad day, choose to sing to God. It will help you begin to enjoy your day and get your focus on God and all He’s done for you.
I remember a time when I was mean to another kid at church. I wanted so badly for others to think I was funny that I didn’t even think about how it was going to make that kid feel. So I played a joke on this kid, and never took into account how badly it would make him feel.
After I made fun of the kid, I got in trouble with a teacher. Once I got caught, I felt really bad. From that time on, I realized how my actions could hurt other people and that I had made a mistake.
In life, we all make mistakes. There’s no way to stop that. We are going to have times when we make poor choices. In the end, however, what really matters is how you respond to your mistakes.
Your response to mistakes is important. You can choose to let mistakes stop you, or you can choose to let your mistakes make you better.
Mistakes can be a really good opportunity to learn. So today, determine that you aren’t going to let your mistakes stop you. Rather, choose to learn from your mistakes.
Decide to let your mistakes be teachers. Learn from them and get better!
Have you ever gotten frustrated at people who are doing bad things, but seem to have everything going for them? Has it ever made you question why you’re living for God? It can make you want to give up, let go of what you believe and start doing bad things too.
However, that’s not what today’s Bible verse tells us to do. Instead of just giving up, and questioning why you’re living for God, it tells us to not worry about those people. Don’t waste your time and energy on being frustrated with them. Doing this will wear you out and make you bitter.
The verse goes on to tell us that we also shouldn’t envy those who do wrong. We can see them having fun and doing things that seem so great and begin to envy those people. Being envious of others will never make you happy.
God wants you free to live life to the fullest and enjoy it. He doesn’t want you spending your energy being upset about those doing wrong. Instead, we should be putting our energy into telling others about Jesus and getting to know Him more ourselves. So challenge yourself today to spend less time worrying about what others are doing and more time getting to know Jesus. You’ll find that you have more peace and are much happier!
How would you feel if you played sports but no one kept score? And at the end of the game, you weren’t really sure who the winner was. That would be a pretty strange feeling, thinking maybe you won but not being entirely sure. In sports, we like to keep score and know who won.
However, in relationships keeping score isn’t always a good thing. You might keep track of how many times your friend borrows money and doesn’t pay you back. You might keep track of how many times you go out of your way to help your friend and your friend doesn’t return the favor. Or perhaps, you might keep track of all the times you friend said something unkind to you.
Keeping score in sports has a point, but keeping score in relationships will ruin your relationship. If you’re always recalling when someone did something wrong to you, you’ll never enjoy a relationship. You’ll be going from one relationship to another, always disappointed.
So if you have a habit of nursing wounds and keeping score in relationships you might consider the godly wisdom offered in today’s Bible verse. Choose to not pay attention to the things people have done to you and instead choose to love those around you with God’s love.
If you were honest, would you say you liked the person you are? Or are there some parts about yourself that you’d like to change?
Most of us would say there are things about us that we don’t really like that much. Maybe we compare ourselves to someone who is funnier than we are and feel like there’s something wrong with ourselves.
It’s easy to compare yourself with others and feel like you don’t really measure up.
Today’s challenge is for you to learn to like who you are. A good place to start is by making a list of things you do well. Maybe you’re a good listener or a true friend. Grab a piece of paper or use notes on your phone and start writing out some things that you excel at.
Then take that list and put it somewhere that you will see it. Look at it each day and remind yourself that you have strengths and value. Those strengths might be different than others, but that’s ok. God made you the way you are for the specific call he has on your life.
So today, if you’ve struggled with liking yourself, remind yourself of today’s Bible verse. God loved us before we loved Him. He loved us so much He was willing to risk everything to get to know you. You have value because God loves you. That will never change. So take comfort today knowing that you are loved!
Today’s verse might seem like a weird choice. And yes, on the surface, it is a little strange. But let’s look a little deeper at what it’s saying. Today’s verse talks about something the nation of Israel did every seven years. Instead of planting that year, they didn’t. They rested.
Can you imagine that?
Instead of working hard, doing as much as they could, they rested. So how does this apply to you? Well, do you trust God? Do you trust him with your friendships? Can you trust that He will bring the right person to marry into your life one day? Do you trust Him with your future plans?
Often, it’s easier to trust in ourselves. We think it’s up to us to make it happen. And yes, we shouldn’t be lazy or not study hard in school. But when it comes to something big that God is calling you to, it’s really not all about you. You’re probably not smart enough to do what God has called you to do. You’re probably not fully qualified to do the things He’s put on your heart.
So instead of trying to do everything in your own strength, decide to rest like the nation of Israel. Rest knowing that God has your future covered. You can rest knowing that God is going to bring you the right person to marry. You don’t have to work trying to find the right person to date or force a relationship to work. Instead, you can trust God.
By resting, we say God, I know that you are the one who is going to bring it to pass in my life. I’m not going to be lazy, but I am going to rest. I’m going to do what you say to do. Then I’m leaving everything else to you.
That’s what rest looks like for us. It’s doing what God says and then trusting in Him to bring it to pass in our lives.
So today, challenge yourself to rest. Rest knowing that you serve a good God who is well able to bring what you need into your life.