It’s that time again. Making our list and telling everyone all of the things in our lives, we are thankful for. What a great exercise in gratitude and appreciation. Last year my kids and I made a turkey out of a shoe box. Through a hole in the top, we deposited tiny notes of things we were thankful for throughout the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.
With Thanksgiving getting busy, we did not get our fat little turkey opened up so we put it up to open this year. I am excited to look through it. I am excited to see how we have changed. I am excited to see how God has blessed our family throughout this past year.
I love the reminder from James 1:17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
We were freely given these good and perfect gifts. They are unearned and undeserved.
Often times we go down our list: We are thankful for our family, our kids, our spouses, our health, our jobs, our homes. Sometimes we become like someone at the Grammies receiving an award. I want to Thank God for my mom and dad and first-grade teacher and … we rattle off our list… and most of all I am thankful for God.
Do not get me wrong, I am sure that you are very sincere and grateful for your list.
Today, however, I want you to pause for a minute because sometimes by Friday morning we are already complaining about the clerk at the checkout line.
So pause… and… breathe. Close your eyes if you have to. This is not a race to the finish.
Keep breathing. Sit in the stillness of God. This too is a gift and we forget to take the time to just be still.
We rush through this season and forget to breathe.
Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Genesis 2:7
The breath that is slowly going in and out of your lungs is a gift.
When God reached down from Heaven, scooped up the dirt to form man, He breathed into him the very first gift of breath and he became a living creature.
I always imagine this scene with God’s magnificent and mighty hands slowly scooping up just the right dirt and thoughtfully crafting and carving the first man. Gently pushing the hair out of his eyes.
After He had created Him, taking a deep breath and gently breathing life into this new being. Then looking at him lovingly, as a new father looks at his first-born child, boldly and proudly proclaiming this is very good.
If you go back and recount the creation story from Genesis every day God was creating something new, He was looking at His creation and saying that it was good. Look around today at God’s creation, He Himself has declared it good and it is His gift to you.
Remember James 1:17. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father.
This story would not be complete without the gift of salvation. The gift of God’s grace.
Leaving His heavenly home. Coming to this lowly place and giving His life. Remember the word for gift means given freely. An unearned, undeserved gift. That is what Christ gave us on the cross.
He chose through His grace and mercy to love us… a gift
He chooses to give us life… a gift
He chose to send His one and only Son… a gift
He chose to die so we might live… a gift
Now this is where we respond. We can take this gift or leave it. We can choose to accept it or not. We can go toward Christ in our life or walk away.
If you already have Christ in your life, He offered this gift to you. Although we may be quick to think we chose this gift, remember God offered the perfect gift of the cross to you.
God tells His people in Isaiah 43:4, “Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.”
Other people were given in your place. Other people were given in exchange for you.
You have the gift of salvation because He chose you because He loves you and you are precious to Him.
What a gift! Now that is a reason to have a thankful heart.
We should not miss a single day forgetting and being thankful to our God because He chose us.
Thank you Heavenly Father for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to praise you and show our gratitude for all the good and perfect gifts that only come from you. Thank you for choosing us to be your people. Thank you for everything including the breath of life that you continue to give us. I do not want to miss a day remembering all that I have and am because of who you are. In Jesus precious name, Amen.
Previous Posts you may enjoy:
Grace and Mercy 
Come As You Are 
You Are Uniquely You 
Amen!
I am grateful for God's gift..Thanks for the important reminder to keep breathing through out the season rather than rushing through it.
Followed you from "tell me a true story link up".
Thanks for sharing and God Bless
Thank you Ifeoma for stopping by. I hope that you have a great holiday weekend.
I don't have time to make a turkey, but the thankful scriptures are a great idea. Thank you for sharing with us here at Tell me a Story.
Hazel,
So good to see you again.
Blessings,
Janis
Thanks for stopping by Hazel and hosting at Tell Me a Story. Have a great Thanksgiving Week.
thanks….not many bother with that word anymore…but a small word with a grand meaning….
Always great thoughts, friend. Thanks for sharing.
Jaime,
I loved 'every good and perfect gift' – first learned it in song. Father of Lights. Thanks for linking to Word of God Speak. I have trouble reading your blog post because the share buttons are along the side and block me from seeing your words.
Blessings,
Janis
Thank you Janis, I adjusted the width. I hope it helps. Maybe zooming out on your screen may help. Not really sure. Thanks for letting me know. Thanks for stopping by and hosting Word of God Speak.
Jamie, this was a beautiful reminder to breathe. As the season gets busy, I needed this! Thank you for linking up with us at Mommy Moments Monday on http://www.micahmaddox.com/mommy-moments-link-up-10/
Thank you Micah for stopping by. I hope that you have a relaxed and great holiday season.
Very uplifting and a wonderful reminder why we are here. Thank you for sharing this lovely post. Blessings!
Thank you Janice for your kind words. I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Beautiful.
The words of Isaiah 43 are always an encouragement to me because they demonstrate how great our God is, and yet how much He wants us to be part of His plan.
Thanks for your words today!
I agree. I love this verse. It makes me feel How much God loves us and what lengths He would go to get us. How awesome.
We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Our grown children told stories on themselves when they were children. We rejoiced in God too. Thank you for sharing with us here at Tell me a Story.
That is so funny, my sister and I were doing the same thing. Such a fun weekend. I am glad that your family had a great time.
Great post encouraging us to remember what the most important thing to be thankful for: Jesus. Bless you.
Jesus. Sometimes there is nothing more that needs said.
Thank you for the sweet reminders to be thankful. What a fun idea with the turkey project!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Thank you Lori. The part that I loved about the turkey project was that the feathers were the kids hands from last year. We will have to see how much they grew.
Such a beautiful post. I think sometimes as humans we focus on only the big things when we are telling what we are thankful for, but we need to remember the little things are just as if not more important. Like the fact that we opened our eyes to see another morning, or the fact that we were able to step out of bed and walk on two feet. These are such blessings from God. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you Cara for stopping by and for you encouragement. Love to see new faces in comments. Such good thoughts you gave us today.
Wonderful post, Jaime! Your words are such a blessing, beautiful friend! James 1:17 is one of my favorite verses. Such a sweet reminder of THE LORD'S love for us. Thanks so much for sharing, Love! GOD bless you! 🙂
Thank you Tai. Love it when our favorite verse appears on any given day. I was doing this project today with our bible study group and two of the verses I got to write were two of my favorites.What a blessing we get at those times.
Beautiful reminder, Jaime! I love the idea of the turkey out of shoebox and reflecting how things have changed. Glad you stopped to share with #SocialButterflySunday! Hope you will link up again this week 🙂