Worshipful Thanksgiving ~ by Amy Vest

I love Thanksgiving.
I love reflecting on the blessings I've been given.
Most of all, I love worshipping the Giver of the blessings.

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High." (Psalm 92:1)

This is amazing.
While the gifts are good, the point us to the Giver.
While the gifts can make us happy for a little while, the Giver gives us joy forever in Himself.
Gifts cannot truly satisfy, but the Giver satisfies the deepest needs of our hearts for eternity.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)

This, my friend, is the secret to the best Thanksgiving ever - thanks for blessings that turns into worship of the Giver.

Whether you have a cozy time surrounded by people you love, or are facing deep pain, you see that the physical gifts can change, but the Giver is ever yours.

"...be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”' (Hebrews 13:5)

Yes, gifts may come and go, but the Giver - Jesus - is forever ours and forever by our side!

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!" (Psalm 107:1)

This has been so sweet and powerful for me - and I pray it is for you, too.  

The simple act of counting blessings with Jesus can turn into a sweet worship of Him - the Giver.

Let your
thanksgiving for blessings
become gratitude to the Giver
and
turn into worship of the One Whose heart we see in His gifts.

This leads us to a life of worshipful thanksgiving.

So, for example:
1) "I'm thankful to be redeemed."
2) "Thank You, Jesus, for redeeming me from my sins and bringing me into a relationship with You!"
3) "I worship You, Jesus, that You are my loving, gracious Redeemer."

Do you see how beautiful this can be?

He is worthy of all our worship - and oh, in it, He is glorified and our hearts find deep joy!

We have so much to be thankful for in Jesus, friend!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving giving thanks and worshipping the Giver!

Question - We love hearing from you!

What is one aspect of your identity in Christ that means a lot to you? (For example: accepted, loved, etc.)

Please share in the comments section below!

Join us for a Videocast - Your Identity in Christ

Session 4 ~ "Your Identity in Christ" from Loving the Lord Ministries on Vimeo.

You are Forever Loved ~ by Amy Vest

Friend ~ Do you know how much you are forever loved?

Listen to these precious verses:

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:38-39

Friend ~ Do you know how much you are forever loved?

Listen to these precious verses:


"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:38-39
NOTHING can separate you from God's love in Jesus.  Nothing.

As His own, you are loved with the everlasting love of the One Who IS love - God.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."  ~ Jeremiah 31:3"...God is love." ~ 1 John 4:8

God loves you infinitely more in a millisecond than any person could love you in a lifetime.

His love is the love you were created for, the only place you are truly satisfied, and the strength to love in return.  His is the love you seek, the love that fulfills the deepest longings of your heart, and the love that will never ever let you go.  His love is the love that redeems, transforms, sanctifies, and causes us to desire to live for Him with all that we are.  His is the love we need.

"Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." ~ Psalm 90:14

Today may you find deep rest, satisfaction, and joy as you live in the reality that you are loved more than you could dream by Him.

Forever.

And may this result in a response of love to Jesus that spills out in every moment of your life.

"Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you." ~ Psalm 63:3

The Freedom of Neediness of Jesus ~ by Amy Vest

I have some very good news for you - You are needy.  "Is that good news?", you might ask.  Yes, very good news.You see, you and I were created by God as needy human beings.  Every single one of us.

We live in a culture that tells us we should not be needy, or we should pretend we have no needs.

We have a God that tells us we were created as needy humans, dependent on an all-sufficient Savior.  We were created for a relationship with Him that glorifies Him and satisfies us.

This beautiful need is meant to drive us to Jesus.  That is what makes it good news.

Our need + Jesus' sufficiency = all we could ever need.

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4:19)

Oh friend!  I have found such freedom and joy in realizing and embracing my neediness and Jesus' sufficiency.  {Deep breath}  I don't need to try to be something I can never be, or do something I can never do on my own strength.  No.  I can turn to Jesus in my need and find all I need - and all I could ever want!

I love praying, "Jesus, I need You!  I am so needy and You are so sufficient." and experiencing His sufficiency - His fullness to meet my every need - wash over me every time.  This only deepens my love and trust as I taste His goodness.  This is how we were created to live!

First, we must see that we are needy, before we can receive the solution to our need.Pretending we have no need is both prideful and a lie - and it will get us nowhere.  Acknowledging our need and embracing Jesus sufficiency floods us with joy - and through His life in us, the Spirit moves and bears fruit in and through our lives.

What are some of our needs?

We need:
- saving from our sins
- grace
- forgiveness
- love
- guidance
- breath
- hope
- help
- satisfaction
...and so much more!

In our neediness we can look to Jesus, or we can look other places.  Where we look determines what we will receive.  Jesus fulfills us, anything else will leave us needy and empty.  Jesus created the need and He alone can fill it.Jesus is the answer - and is the source of the answer - to our every need.
You see, seeing your need of Jesus is a beautiful thing.  The beautiful thing is, the more we see our need, the more we can turn to Jesus and can welcome His sufficiency in our lives.

Every need that drives you to Jesus is your friend.

First we see our neediness of Jesus at salvation, aware of our desperate neediness of and seeking for His forgiveness and redeeming life.  (See more on this HERE.)  Salvation begins a moment by moment relationship of dependence upon Jesus every day of our lives as He draws us closer, makes us more like Jesus, and enables us to live for Him by His life within us.  

I love how the Lord has given us the earthly evidence of our neediness of Him in our need to eat, drink, rest, etc. every day.  We need Him to provide these things for us - and these things are a picture of our deeper needs of our soul.  Our souls are hungry, thirsty, etc. and Jesus alone can fill these needs.  

This morning I was reading in John where Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (Matthew 6:35) and marveling once again that we can keep coming to Him over and over and He always has full supply - and there is always more of Him to know and be satisfied by.
Let our hearts prayer be, "Jesus, I cannot breathe, or obey You, or make any eternal difference without You.  I need You.  Jesus, You are, and I ask You to be to me the:
 breath in my lungs
salvation to my soul
love in my heart
truth to my mind
guide to my path
...and so much more!"

And when we call, He delights to come, live His life in and through us, and meet these needs.
When we depend on Jesus, His life, power, and Spirit, there is no end to what He can do!  

We as Christians were meant to live lives that are not explainable in human terms - only in terms of Jesus.  The only way this will happen is when we live lives dependant on Jesus.

How can we do this?  I am so glad you asked.

Here are a few ways to start:~ Prayer - When we pray, we acknowledge that God is the One we need and rely upon.  Living in a spirit of prayer each moment is such a sweet evidence of dependence.  "Jesus, I need You, depend on You, look to You for all I need."  "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God... Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16)  And we are always in need, so we can always draw near! 
~ The Bible - Going to God's Word proves we know we don't have answers and we know He does.  Turn to His Word for your answers.  Ask His Holy Spirit to open your eyes to His Truth.
~ Relying on His Spirit and life within us vs. depending on our own strength or instinct.  We can easily tend to try to do things on our own or depend on what we think is best.  When we are looking to and listening for Him, He can guide us in line with His Word.
~ Starting your day - I love talking to Jesus as I wake up and praying something like, "Good morning Jesus, I love You, You are all I need, I want You, Lord.  I surrender myself to You afresh.  Please give me more of You and live Your life in and through me today."

The Christian life is meant to be daily moment by moment dependence on Jesus.  As we live this way, we taste His sufficiency that both satisfies us and spills out in fruit in and through our lives.

This is the life you are created to live.

Embrace your neediness and let it drive you to embrace Jesus, friend.

In the sufficiency of Jesus you will find all that you need.