Cross Bearer Women's Ministry - Thanksgiving Devotion

Cross Bearer Women's Ministry

~Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.~

This blog will be the new home for my devotions that I have written for the Women's Ministry (The Cross Bearers) and Youth Group at my church. I know most of us homeschool Moms are Christians and we often serve in the Women's and/or Children's Ministries in our church. You will find devotions , ideas and printables for both here. I will also link to pages from my Cross Bearers website. I hope you find something useful and uplifting here. You have permission to make as many copies as you need for your church/home just please leave all copyrights on the pages. God Bless! ~ Nikki (Lisa)

Recent Writings

Places to Go:

Places To Go

Here are some neat Women's Ministry Websites and Blogs.

Titus 2 Forum

Walking In The Word

• Simcox Homeschool (Our homeschool blog)
• Click Here To Link To Cross Bearer's Blog

People To See:

Welcome to the Cross Bearer Blog. This is a place for you to find free printables and ideas to use at church or at home. Please be advised that I am not a professional writer so there is bound to be some grammatical and spelling errors. When I write I tend to get excited and just type away at what the Lord has given to me. I don't always use spell check and grammer check. Sorry :) So if you don't mind these little things then go ahead and check out these links. Feel free to leave a comment if these have been a help to you. Please remember though that I absolutely refuse to argue points of doctrine. If you do not agree with something you see here in print then close the browser.Arguing does not glorify the Lord.As my good friend Shirley and I have found, it is easy to be friends with someone you don't always agree with doctrinally. As long as we all agree that Jesus is who He says He is and He did all He said He did and that He is the ONLY Way, Truth and THE LIFE, then we can get along as Christians and uplift and glorify Him together.I will make a new post whenever I add another Devotion or printable. I will also post about neat places I find that may be a help to you.~ Blessings! ~ ~ Nikki~ Click here to get the linking code for this blog.

Nov. 25, 2008

Thanksgiving Devotion

This devotion is also available in PDF download on the right side bar.Blesings! ~ Nikki

Thanksgiving Devotion

As I wait for Thanksgiving Day to arrive I find myself thinking about one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, Psalm 100. We are admonished in this Psalm of praise to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, serve Him with gladness and come before His presence with singing, for we are His People and the Sheep of His pasture. I find myself a lot of times coming before God whining instead of singing. My joyful noise has become a song of defeat and sorrow and gladness is far from me. It’s easy to lose focus with the burdens of this world on our shoulders. Too many times I find my feet on my path and not His. I try to fix things on my own instead of letting God fight for me. I don't like feeling helpless and weak. My instinct is to do all I can to fight and prove myself strong. Then God reminds me, sometimes gently and sometimes not so gently, that Satan is an enemy I can't defeat on my own. Only when I get myself out of the way and "become weak" can God come in and win the battle. Oh how clear our Lord's Word is on that, 2Corinthians 12:9 and he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Satan likes it when we are sad and feeling defeated. He finds it easy to whisper his taunts and ideas in our ears when we feel unhappy. He finds that to be the best time to plant seeds of unrest. Aren't these some of the times when our service to the Lord feels like a burden instead of a blessing?

So how then with the Enemy raging against us, can we come unto the Lord joyful, happy and singing? Take to heart these verses, Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Psalm 143:8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. When we remember to trust and depend on the Lord we are then able to push aside our will and focus on His. Then we are able to sing with a joyful noise before Him and serve Him with a glad heart. Of course then we are able to fulfill the rest of Psalm 100, Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Turmoil may be all around us. Our life may seem like it is in shambles but when we go to God and begin to thank Him for our blessings (thanking Him for what we do have instead of whining for what we don't) and we begin to bless His name, then what joy feels our hearts. Peace flows over our soul and we find ourselves renewed and strengthened. Psalm 29:11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace. And let us not forget that even though we may stumble, whine and be slow in praising the Lord this last part of Psalm 100 will forever ring true. Psalm 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.