Inspired by . . . greater than all the gods

Inspired by . . . giving thanks Inspired by . . . the deer

Inspired by . . . greater than all the gods

Focusing on Thanksgiving as a Lifestyle, not just a holiday.

Many years ago my husband and I owned a small business and had several employees. There were days that were stressful. There were times when my husband made business decisions that I didn’t necessarily agree with. It was hard living out our personal relationship, and our business relationship in front of others.

Because how do you really separate the two? You don’t.

What made it even more difficult, was that I was determined to be a Godly example both as a person, and as a wife. Not that I didn’t fail. I’m certain I did, often. But even in my failures, maybe especially in my failures, I wanted to be a good example of a believer in Christ.

Why?

Because our employees were not Believers . . . they knew we were . . .

. . . and they were watching.

If you profess to be a believer in Christ, I guarantee there are people watching you. {and lest you think you need to be perfect in this, you may want to go back up and read what I said about failures}

Your marriage {if you are married} and your relationship with others is one of the most challenging and fruitful places to exemplify Christ.

The other is in showing our gratitude to God for the things He has done, and is doing in our lives.

“when we respond to our circumstances, particularly the difficult ones,

with gratitude to our Lord, we bear witness to others around us

of His existence and His goodness.”

There are numerous examples of this truth in scripture. One is the response of Moses’ father-in-love, Jethro in Exodus 18:8:11, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.”

When Moses sang his song of gratitude to the Lord in Exodus 15 , Jethro’s eyes were opened to the One True God.

Another example, and one of my favorites, is found in Acts 16. Paul and Silas are beaten and put in jail. Yet, after all this, at midnight they could be heard praying and singing songs to God. Now before we are tempted to do them a disservice by thinking they were only roughed up a bit, the scripture says, “And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.” Paul and Silas had their flesh laid open, and yet they were praising and thanking God for all He had done for them.

Their perspective is a difficult one to achieve. Yet it is one that saves.

Read the result of their gratitude: Acts 16:25-34

The jailer and his entire household were saved!