morning

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo courtesy of the Garrigues Family Album

faithful

If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
2 Timothy 2:13

Photo by Elizabeth Melton Parsons

Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1
From all of us at About These Things to all of you, our readers and friends: A very happy Thanksgiving Day!

compassion

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
Psalm 103: 13-17

Photo by Marge McCoy

children

“Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.”
Henry Ward Beecher

Photo by Bob McCoy

abba, father

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15
When I was two or three, my father would come home from work at the end of the day and haul me onto his lap and call me his “sweet baby.” On the days when I was less than sweet, when I was downright naughty and knew it, on those days, I would look at him with tear-filled eyes and ask, “Am I still your sweet baby?” And those tear-filled eyes would melt his heart every time, or so he said. I don’t have any recollection of these days, only of my parents telling me the story.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. As an adult, I find myself constantly seeking reassurance from my Heavenly Father. Especially on those days when I know I’ve been less than sweet. In those moments when I am aware that I’ve done wrong, when I’m tempted to think that I’ve somehow lost God’s love, at those times when I know I’ve fallen short, I beg forgiveness, lift my tear-filled eyes, and ask, Father God… Do You still love me?
And then He reminds me that He knew from the day I was born that I would fall short, that I would not measure up. Because no one can. That’s why He sent his precious Son to die as atonement for the sins of the whole world.
I’ve heard it explained that the word Abba can most closely be translated from the Aramaic word “Daddy.” The word Abba signifies the close, intimate relationship of child with father, the childlike trust one puts in their daddy. Oh to walk in the awareness that this is the kind of relationship our Heavenly Father desires to have with His children. Oh, to live every day in light of this truth.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for the privilege of being called your child. I thank You for the gift of Your Son that made it possible. I pray that You will help me to live a life that reflects Your goodness. I pray You will help me to trust in your Abba love. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Devotional by Jean Pike
Photo courtesy of clipartbackgraounds.net

for the beauty

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Refrain
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise

Hymn Lyrics: Folliot Pierpoint
Photo by Marge McCoy

horizon

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ~Terri Guillemets

The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop.They are new every morning Lamentations 3:22, 23

Photo by Bob McCoy

farmer

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
James 5:7

Photo by Elizabeth Pike

greatness

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.”
1 Chronicles 29:11-13

Photo by Marge McCoy