Phillipians 4:11-13
" . . . for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

I Thessalonians 5:11-24
"Encourage each other, and build each other up . . . live at peace among yourselves . . . always try to do good to each other . . . Always be joyful.  Pray perseveringly.  In everything (all circumstances) be thankful, for this is what God wants for you . . . May the God of shalom make you completely holy - may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. The One calling you is faithful, and He will do it."

The common theme of these two passages are to be thankful in all circumstances. Thanksgiving tends to focus primarily on being thankful for all the things we consider good . . . home, family, health . . . generally for the life of comfort we experience. All the blessings we have received from the Father's good heart is something to be thankful for . . . no doubt about it!

But what about the painful things we have gone through in the last year? What about the painful thing that is upon us right now?

Do we believe that the Father's heart is still good in the hardship, discomfort and pain? Is He really in control of all this? Will we trust Him to bring good out of it all?

How about these things . . .

•Thank you Father for dealing my pride a death blow.
•Thank you Jesus for revealing my weakness, control, anger, selfishness . . .
so that I can see it and bring it to You and be healed.
•Thank you Holy Spirit for convicting my heart of where I have sinned, so that I can confess and make amends.

•Father, thank you for showing me tough love, letting me fail, and not letting me accomplish that 'thing' in my own strength.
•Thank you for thwarting me, rendering me helpless, and yanking me out of complacency.
•Thank you for this mountain in the way, and for how You will teach me to overcome it.

For many, there have been challenges this past year . . . like no other year. Brushes with cancer. Diagnoses of cancer. Lou Gerig's Disease. Financial hits. Car accidents. Relational discord that still is not resolved. Prayers of all sorts that are yet to be answered.

God's Word tells us to keep on encouraging each other . . . and for us to encourage our own hearts. To pray perseveringly. We should plead our case to the LORD . . . and plead the case of our brother and sister who is in the middle of the the struggle. We CAN come to rest and learn to be content in all things. Like a wild stallion that has been lassoed for the first time, so does our inner man buck and jerk and pull against the reigns of the Father. But through His still small voice, He calls us be still and to know that He is God.

He whispers to our soul that we can do all things through His Son, who will strengthen us. And we are reminded that He who is calling us is faithful . . . that the God of shalom will do it. What is it that He will do? He will keep us blameless, make us holy and fill us with peace. He will bring us to rest.

In all this we are encouraged to be filled with joy. And we can be when we know that He will bring us through, bring us to rest, and show us just how good His heart is . . .

It is said that at the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims had dug seven times as many graves, as they had built homes. Yet they celebrated the goodness of God and His provision in all things. So, as you gather for Thanksgiving . . . thank Him for all the blessings He has poured out into your life this past year . . . but also remember . . . as He shapes your life in ALL circumstances . . . give thanks for the trials, challenges and yet to be answered prayers. He is conforming you into the image of His Son. And there is a revelation of His good heart yet to be revealed. If you are struggling with trust right now; hold on, choose - in faith - to thank Him, and allow Him to increase your faith through the current struggle.

King Solomon says that God tears and God mends . . . both things necessary to reveal His glory in us and transform us into the person He created us to be. It can be so very hard to get our hearts to be thankful in the middle of such circumstances, but there is a supernatural and unexplainable release and freedom that comes when do.

Today is the first day of National Preparedness Month.  It's been over a year since we tackled the concept of preparedness at the 2009 summer RENEWAL series.  How are you doing on your preparedness plan?

It's always easy to have an initial knee-jerk reaction to teaching like preparedness.   Often going a bit over-board at the start.  Remember the core message of that teaching . . . 'Live a life-style of preparedness'.

If you have tapped into your reserves and not replaced them over the last year, you might want to begin a list to get those reserve stocks back up.  The economic smoke-and-mirrors of the last two years is beginning to clear. The economy was propped up by racking up huge debt and printing money.  Nothing fundamentally has changed from two years ago when the market dive-bombed.  Except we are now fundamentally worse off than before all the 'solutions' were tried.  Tough times may have been staved off for the short run, but they are still going to catch up to all of us.

Even if you don't agree with me about what is coming, in the way of the economy, there will likely be snowstorms, ice-storms and power outages in the next six months. Get prepared, even if just for those likelihoods.

Please consider taking some time this Labor Day Weekend and take assessment of your plan . . . and how you are doing in implementing it.  I realize that many of us hope for a Feast of Trumpets' catching away, and therefore the plan gets shifted until afterward.  I have my list ready for purchase and implementation right after Trumpets, in case this is not the year of our departure.  Please join me in making a necessary yearly assessment.  You will never be sorry for being prepared, but would sorely regret if you needed to be . . . and weren't.