thoughts | walking in gratitude

|  The verse above is I Thessalonians 5:18  |

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! Of course I love Thanksgiving for the great food and family time, but the days leading up to it are my favorite because they remind me to focus on giving thanks everyday, in all things! I love being reminded of the Lord's constant goodness, no matter what other things are consuming my mind... That always brings gratitude and joy!!

I am currently trying to catch-up on the She Reads Truth plan, "In Everything Give Thanks"...
I am a few days late getting into it, but better late than never.

From Day One... I loved this quote, "His will is not as much a path as it is a way of walking." 

It's a beautiful quote and it goes great with the theme of giving thanks in all things, because it is about being thankful along the journey. By choosing to walk in gratitude daily, we find joy! If we walk in His ways daily, we will constantly find things to be thankful for in all of life's circumstances. And  even on the worst days we can know that He is still on our side, fighting for us. That is the one thing that we can ALWAYS count on and be thankful for. He is good, in everything, all the time. I always want to walk though life being thankful and giving Him the glory in all things.

Read the day one devotion...

verse four: be still

This is my 4th memory verse of 2013.

In my Bible study yesterday, I read the "Crossing of the Red Sea" in Exodus 13:17- 14:31.

^14:10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 

¹¹ They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 

¹³ Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

The Isrealites fear almost kept them from the freedom that God had planned for them.

The Isrealites had no faith. But Moses lead them with great faith.

 And because of that faith, God delivered them from the Egyptians, in a miraculous way!

Moses' advice to the Isrealites was to "be still"... 

And that is advice that we all need to remember more often.

I started thinking more about what it really means to be still...

Sure, it's about approaching God with a quite spirit, in order to truly listen to Him.

But it's also about having faith in Him & giving Him complete control over your life.

Often, when fearful things happen, we turn to God, but we still hold on to the worry.

The fact is, we can't have faith & worry at the same time. 

We have to boldly trust that God is fighting for us.

That God is in control of our lives & that He knows what is best for us.

We have to have faith that His plan is what will happen in our lives.

Fear & worry are not a part of that equation.

That is what the words "be still" mean to me right now. 

And that's why I choose to focus on that verse for the next couple of weeks.

I hope you all have a happy weekend! 

february verse + a free printable

Well, today is February 1st...Which, for me, means it's time to choose a new memory verse! 

One of my goals this year is to memorize Scripture. And this year, I am joining Beth Moore's Scripture Memory Team.

With this plan, we choose two Bible verses to memorize each month, on 1st & 15th.

I love that it gives me more time to meditate on each verse & to apply it to my life.

With this plan, I feel like I will do better than I did with last year's Scripture memory! So, I am excited!

(Click the link above to read more about it & to join in, if you would like!)

So, by the end of the year I will (hopefully) have 24 Bible verses memorized. 

I have already memorized two verses for January... My first verse is here. My second is here.

And I thought I would share my third verse today...

I choose this verse because I thought a love-themed verse would be good for this month.

This verse has always been a favorite of mine & I think it is a really important one to memorize.

We could all use a daily reminder to show love to others!! 

And just the thought that love could replace the sin in our lives is so full of hope!

And that is something we all need!! 

For fun, I thought I would make this verse into a FREE printable for you to download!

Click on the image & it will take you to a larger version for you to save to your computer & print for yourself!

(Please Note: This print is for Personal Use ONLY!)

I hope you all enjoy the printable & Happy February!!

week forty memory verse...

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one || thirty-two || thirty-three || thirty-four || thirty-five || thirty-six || thirty-seven

thirty-eight || thirty-nine

week thirty-nine memory verse

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one || thirty-two || thirty-three || thirty-four || thirty-five || thirty-six || thirty-seven

thirty-eight

week thirty-eight memory verse

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one || thirty-two || thirty-three || thirty-four || thirty-five || thirty-six || thirty-seven

week thirty-seven memory verse

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one || thirty-two || thirty-three || thirty-four || thirty-five || thirty-six

week thirty-six memory verse

So, I am still trying to memorize The Beatitudes... And this Sunday, at church, our Sunday School lesson was all about this section of scripture! It was so great to study this deeper & understand it even more, especially since I am trying to memorize these verses right now. It seems crazy, but so many times, right when I need something God just reveals it to me. Studying this encouraged me, because honestly I have been struggling to memorize & mediate on my verses lately... I guess God was trying to tell me to keep focused on what His Word really says & just to keep at it!

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one || thirty-two || thirty-three || thirty-four || thirty-five

week thirty-five memory verse

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one || thirty-two || thirty-three || thirty-four

oh, happy day

"Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, 

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."

{ Psalm 90:14 }

I hope you are having a HAPPY DAY!!

:)

week thirty-four memory verse

...continuing on with the beatitudes this week!

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one || thirty-two || thirty-three

week thirty-three memory verse

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one || thirty-two

week thirty-two memory verse

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty || thirty-one

week thirty-one memory verse

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine  

thirty

week thirty memory verse

see my verses from weeks...

one & two  ||  three  ||  four  || five  || six || seven  ||  eight  || nine || ten  || eleven || twelve || thirteen 

fourteen || fifteen || sixteen || seventeen || eighteen || nineteen || twenty || twenty-one || twenty-two  

twenty-three || twenty-four || twenty-five || twenty-six || twenty-seven || twenty-eight || twenty-nine