1 Who Am I?

Thanks.

What a simple, but highly profound word.

What does it mean? It means to express gratitude, to acknowledge, to show appreciation. It can also mean to display or show relief.

We are to give thanks to God. We are to always give overflowing thanks to God (see Colossians 2:6-7). I am to do so.

Thanks to God. What does this mean? How can we show God our thanks? How can we show the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe (see Colossians 1:16-17) our thanks? He is everything said in Isaiah 9:6: The Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father, Wonderful Counselor, and Mighty God. He is always present, all-knowing, all-powerful. How can we, I, show Him thanks? He is perfect and I am meant for death (see Romans 6:23). So, HOW can I show HIM thanks?

Little ol' carnal one me and the Infinite One. I am the lost, wandering, always repeating same old useless patterns, and missing the mark. The thought of my saying thanks to him seems like it would demean Him. Who am I to give the GREAT I AM my thanks? I am nothing. I am so unworthy of Him in every way.

Or, is this true?

Am I nothing and He is everything? Can someone as so small and as insignificant as me, who wanders from Him and His Word, give HIM thanks? (And why would I want to?)

The Bible tells us to give Him thanks.

1 Chronicles 16:34 * Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

His faithful love endures forever.[1]

Oh. Why give thanks to God? The Bible tells me to do so in 1 Chronicles 16:34. That’s why.

The Bible is the Word of God and is Truth. This, I know from the depth of my bones. This, I know because of Exodus 34:6; John 14:6, and John 8:32 (see also Genesis 24:27; 2 Samuel 2:6; 2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 25:10; Psalm 51:6; Psalm 119:151; Psalm 119:160; John 1:14; John 8:45; John 14:16-17;1 Corinthians 13:6; 2 Corinthians 13:8; Colossians 1:3-6). The Bible is where I am to turn at every opportunity because it is the Truth and it is so much more.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 * New American Standard Bible (NASB)

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.[2]

This is how I know I am to thank God. The Bible tells me to do it. The verse of 1 Chronicles 16:34 describes a great deal more, though. Why give God thanks? It’s because He is good (see Matthew 19:17; Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19; Psalm 119:68; Psalm 143:10; Nehemiah 9:20; Acts 10:38; 1 Timothy 4:4-5).

The Bible also tells me He is good and that is why I am to thank Him. But, 1 Chronicles 16:34 tells me I am to thank God because the love of God endures forever and is faithful. This is why I am to thank God. It’s not because of me. It’s because of Him.

Jude 1:24 * New Living Translation (NLT)

24 Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.[3]

God is worthy of all glory and thanking Him brings Him glory. After all, He allowed His Son to be crucified and murdered on the cross so our sins could be forgiven. This has left us with a clean slate. Isn’t this all the more reason to thank Him?

The more I think about how I should thank Him, the more I realize I have a hang-up. I can’t get past of thinking how worthy I am for God to love me and forgive me. I also cannot get past the knowledge of who I am. Who am I and what can I offer God? I am a sinner. The blood of those from the Garden is in my veins. I am lowly. Job 38 comes to my mind and all.

That’s when I realize, once again, how it is not about me at all. It’s about Him.

John 15:5 * Expanded Bible (EXB)

“I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain [abide] in me and I remain[abide] in them, they produce much fruit. But without [apart from] me they can do nothing.[4]

If I realize it is true I cannot do anything without Him, however, when I do remain in Him, wonderful things happen. John 15:5 is proof of this. I will bear a lot of fruit if I abide in the Lord and in His Word. And, this includes offering Him thanks.

---

[1] {HCSB: Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.}

[2] {NASB: Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.}

[3] {NLT: Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.}

[4] {EXB: Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.}

Welcome

This book is a book meant for devotions. It’s a book of my thoughts on thanksgiving and what the Bible has to say about thanksgiving. It’s also about the things I am thankful for and is my list of what I thank God for in my life. It’s my way to count my blessings and look all around for glory sightings.

I hope you read it as a devotion. Read a sentence or two, a page or two, or a chapter,—and think on it all day and night. Pray about what you read or what makes you think. Let it inspire you to offer God thanks for the things in your life.

Read this book slowly. Absorb it. Do not just read through it as fast as you can. Chew on each word. The words I sue are intentional and are meant to get us to think and inspire us to always give overflowing thanks.

There will be an accompanying Bible study and journal in time. However, if you look up each and every verse in your favorite Bible translation (version) and journal about them, then you will get a great deal out of it and it will be a wonderful Bible study. Do it all by yourself, with a friend, or with a group.

Set your own pace. Take a year to get all the way through it, as you look at it each and every day and allow it to bring you to the Lord and thank Him for everything in your life and all that is around you. Or, take a month. Just don’t rush through it and make sure to think deeply on these things (see Philippians 4:8 and Psalm 1:2).

Enjoy!

~ Stacy Duplease

Two Different Books

I've decided to write a regular devotional book and a devotional Bible study book for this series and will in time do a prayer journal. Here are the covers:

Welcome

Welcome

This book is a book meant for devotions. It’s a book of my thoughts on thanksgiving and what the Bible has to say about thanksgiving. It’s also about the things I am thankful for and is my list of what I thank God for in my life. It’s my way to count my blessings and look all around for glory sightings.

I hope you read it as a devotion. Read a sentence or two, a page or two, or a chapter,—and think on it all day and night. Pray about what you read or what makes you think. Let it inspire you to offer God thanks for the things in your life.

Read this book slowly. Absorb it. Do not just read through it as fast as you can. Chew on each word. The words I sue are intentional and are meant to get us to think and inspire us to always give overflowing thanks.

There will be an accompanying Bible study and journal in time. However, if you look up each and every verse in your favorite Bible translation (version) and journal about them, then you will get a great deal out of it and it will be a wonderful Bible study. Do it all by yourself, with a friend, or with a group.

Set your own pace. Take a year to get all the way through it, as you look at it each and every day and allow it to bring you to the Lord and thank Him for everything in your life and all that is around you. Or, take a month. Just don’t rush through it and make sure to think deeply on these things (see Philippians 4:8 and Psalm 1:2).

Enjoy!

~ Stacy Duplease

Thanks Thought

Thanks Thought

Thank You, Lord

Thank You, Lord for another day to serve You.

Help me to live for You, not me, today.

Thank you for another opportunity to bring You glory and watch for glory sightings in my life today.

(Photo and Image Credits: Stacy Duplease)

2 Adding to Your Thanksgiving List

2 Adding to Your Thanksgiving List

Take some time, as much as you have. I highly recommend an hour if you've got it. Otherwise, take what time you can.

Writer as many things as you can down on your thanksgiving list as you can. 

Then, do it throughout the day whenever you think of another--or when you are on break. 

It's rather amazing how this happens. But, it does. The more you get on your list, the more you will appreciate your life and everything God has done. Then, you will start to change. You will grow closer to God and deeper in your faith. You won't be able to help yourself. 

Thank You, Lord

Thank You, Lord for...


Write fast and as many as you can in your prayer journal (or thanksgiving journal). Get ready, get set, go!

~ Stacy Duplease

1 Welcome to a Devotional Bible Study: An Introduction

Welcome to a new devotional Bible study called: 

Always Give Overflowing Thanks:

A Devotional Bible Study 

QUESTIONS:

What is thanks exactly? How is it defined? 

What does it mean to give God thanks?

Why should we give God thanks?

How often, or when, should we give God thanks?

How do we give God thanks?

What does the Bible say about thanks?

What does it mean to give an offering or sacrifice of thanksgiving?

When was the last time you offered thanks?

What does thanks mean to you?

Is your life an offering of thanks?

Do you offer thanksgiving to the Lord as an offering or sacrifice?

Do you always give thanks to God?

Do you always give overflowing thanks? (And, what does that mean anyway?)

Do you keep a thanksgiving prayer journal?

Is thanksgiving something that comes easily to you--or is it more challenging?

How mindful do you need to be in order to always give overflowing thanks? 

What is overflowing thanks? 

How can you have overflowing thanks and offer it? 

This devotional Bible study will cover all of those questions and more.

WHAT IS A DEVOTIONAL BIBLE STUDY?

It is a Bible study done in smaller chunks of time, reading, and prayer journaling, but are meant to be done throughout the day and not all in one sitting.That way, you can think about it and let it absorb while you don't rush through the material. It's meant to peculate and simmer. 

Ideally, you would look at this study morning, noon, and night. Therefore, you'll see that this book is set up with lessons in groups of three. 

However, if you do not have the time to read morning, noon, and night, once a day, or reading more, are all just fine. Go at the speed that works for you. And, it's okay to change how many you read and participate in each day. 

Just make sure to do at least one per day. That way, you are constantly offering thanks, and counting your blessings, in your heart and mind. 

SELF-PACED STUDY OR IN A GROUP INSTRUCTIONS:

I don't know about you, but there are times I find one sentence so profound, I could read it, think on it, and prayer journal about it for an entire day, week, month, and even year. Therefore, use this book as a self-paced study, unless of course, you are doing this in a Bible study group. Then, if you are in a group, vote on how many lessons people would like to read each day. 

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS STUDY:

1 Read through all of the material. Prayer journal about the material as you go.

2 Then, go in-depth and read it a second time through. Take your time with the material and prayer journal (what is mentioned in the next section) and ponder it fully and all night and day long.  

3 Do this in a group. 

GET A THANKSGIVING PRAYER JOURNAL: A REQUIRED TOOL

What do you need for this Bible study? Do you want one or two journals? That is the question. And, it's time to decide and purchase them if necessary.

This devotional Bible study requires prayer journaling. The only questions is, do you want one journal or two? After all, I recommend answering every question asked in this study, if you want to get as much out of this as possible. I also recommend journaling anything god says to you, or you say to God, as you go through the study. Journal about what jumps out at you, questions you have, problems you're having, prayer requests, praises, etc. You will need a journal for all of this--and I recommend doing it in a prayer journaling format where you journal as a prayer to God. So, that might be one journal.

You might want to keep your Thanksgiving List (or Always Give Overflowing Thanks List) in another journal.

Or, you can keep both in one. 

It's up to you. 

Now, it's also up to you to decide, as well, whether this will be a paper or a digital journal. If you go with the paper version, I HIGHLY recommend you to type it up[ and save it on a computer and over the internet/cloud so that you can save it permanently. Paper journals can be lost, stolen, damaged, and the ink can fade--whether it's handwritten or printed out from a printer. The only permanent journal is saved to the cloud where it can be accesses from any computer at any time in any place. 

So, go ahead and figure out what you want to do. 

If you need help with digital journaling, check out this link. It should help: 

http://storykeeper2121.blogspot.com/2013/01/journaling-101.html

Figure this out and then proceed.

AN EXAMPLE OF HOW I PRAYER JOURNAL

I figured I would give you an example of what I do as far as prayer journaling, so you can have an idea as to how you could. 

I do digital prayer journaling and I do a combination of journaling. Here is what I do: 

1 I use http://penzu.com/r/34f16257, which is Penzu.com, an online journal. 

2 I use my cell phone.

3 I use my Amazon Kindle Fire 8.9-inch HD 4G.

4 I cut and paste #1-3 into a document on my computer. I put my thanks list and my devotional Bible study journaling all in one file. 

5 Then I save the document on my computer. Then, I email it to myself. Then, I save it on the cloud (like Box, Google Drive, Carbonite.com, etc.).

6 Then, I cut and paste from the document and put my list into its on separate document. 

7 Then I save the document on my computer. Then, I email it to myself. Then, I save it on the cloud (like Box, Google Drive, Carbonite.com, etc.).

WHY PRAYER JOURNAL AT ALL?

Can you tell me three things God did in your life on the 10th of last month?

Can you tell me four things God did in your life on 04 April 2012? If it's your birthday or something else that you can remember off the top of your head, pick another date around that time. 

Can you tell me what happened on 17 August 2001?

Have I made point #1 yet as to why we should prayer journal? 

As to the second point, so Nehemiah 9:16-17 cannot be said about us. 

Nehemiah 9:16-17 * Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

16 But our ancestors acted arrogantly;
they became stiff-necked and did not listen to Your commands.
17 They refused to listen
and did not remember Your wonders
You performed among them.
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love,
and You did not abandon them.

{HCSB: Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.}

I want to remember the wonders God has done in my life, don't you? This is the second reason why we should prayer journal.

Another reason why we should prayer journal is because it forces us to slow down and deal with the text. We cannot rush through it. 

Another reason to prayer journal is the more you prayer journal, the more God will speak to You and the more you will listen to Him. 

And, finally, so we can review later and analyze what we learned well, and still apply to our lives, or learn what we need to work on in our lives. 

So, let's prayer journal. 

PRAYER JOURNALING LESSON:

Go back to the beginning of this chapter and prayer journal your answers to each of the questions listed.  

  

HOW ARE YOU WITH OFFERING THANKS? IS IT EASY OR HARD?

Is giving thanks something that comes easily to you?

If it is, thank God. 

Thanksgiving is not something that comes easily to me. However, that's because I think that's because I didn't fully understand what it is (and still don't in many ways, but I am growing in it) and why we should give Him thanks. 

In fact, giving thanks, as I ought to give Him thanks, is a new concept for me. I've tried in the past to do so on a daily basis, and even kept a gratitude journal, but the concept has never fully grabbed me, nor have I understood it better than I do today (and will tomorrow). 

I've learned that thanksgiving takes a great deal of constant, purposeful mindfulness in order for me to offer Gog thanks all the time. It's not something I can stop focusing on. It does not come naturally to me. Therefore, I want to immerse myself in thanksgiving. I think it will help me to be more mindful.

So, how about you? Where are you with thanksgiving?

CONTACT ME: LET'S FORM A COMMUNITY

I would love for you to contact me and tell me if you are taking this adventure with me. So, how can you reach me?

Email me at: agodlyvision@gmail.com

Get on my blog at: http://col267.blogspot.com/ and add a comment at the end of any blog post. 

Connect with me on my Google+ Community at: 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/117051598962837472541?cfem=1

Let's form a community and encourage one another, ask questions, share experiences, and share the thanksgiving we have in and for our lives. Let's share glory sightings!

I bet a community of people offering thanksgiving 24/7 will be a place we can go to and get inspired and offer thanks. The communities can be formed via my blog or the Google+ community. 

PRAYER JOURNALING

Add to your thanksgiving list five things you thank God for today. 

~ Stacy Duplease 

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Are you a pumpkin lover?

Have you ever tried pumpkin soup?

I must admit, when I first heard of it, I thought it sounded gross. But, oh no. That is not the case at all.

If you love pumpkin, give this a try.

This is one of those recipes you can cook as this recipe details--or you can adjust to your tastes and liking. It's so easy.

RECIPE:
* This makes enough for 4 smaller bowls or 3 bigger bowls (or you can be greedy like me and have it in 2 batches).
* 1 can of pumpkin. Add it to a small sauce pan.
* Add 3/4 of a can of chicken broth. Stir. Cook on medium to just a little lower as you add the spices--and make sure to stir from time to time:
* Some people add onion. I've added chopped onion (about 1/4 cup), I've also added 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder). It's up to you. Do you want it zangy and like soup or like pumpkin pie? I prefer the pumpkin pie taste, so I usually forego the onion of any kind.
* 1 t of cinnamon powder (or more)
* 1/2 t of allspice powder
* 1/2 t of ginger powder
* 1/4 t of nutmeg
* Sugar to taste, if you want. Or, I use sugar substitute (2-3 packets).
* Bring it to bubbling and stir.
* Add 1/2 a pumpkin can of milk or cream
* Bring it to bubbling and stir.
* Put a lid on it and turn it down to low once you see some bubbles again. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes (depends on how impatient you are)
* Serve.

That's it. Too easy and awfully quick.
Yum!
Enjoy.

Always Give Thanks List

Ann Voskamp in her book, ONE THOUSAND GIFTS: A DARE TO LIVE FULLY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE" talks about keeping an ongoing list of everything you are thankful for in your life.I think it's time to start keeping this list. How about you?

Count your blessings. 

Ask God to open your eyes to see His glory sightings of how He is working in you, around you, and through you. Keep your eyes open and look for glory sightings throughout your day every day. 

And make sure to include in your list what God is doing in your life today, what He did yesterday, and what He will do in your life in the future. 

Let's make it our goal each day to write as many things as we can each and every day for the rest of our lives everything we are thankful for and everything just mentioned here. 

Keep a special journal for your glory sightings, blessings, and everything and everyone you thank God for in your life.

Let's start today--and let's start counting.

~ Stacy Duplease

(Photo Credit: Stacy Duplease Nov. 2013, taken along the Colonial Parkway in Virginia.) 

A Thanksgiving 2013 Countdown

A Thanksgiving 2013 Countdown

Thanksgiving is one week from today. So, it's just around the corner. 

I wanted to stop and take some time over the next week for us to start to learn how to always give overflowing thanks and give Him our thanks offerings or thanks sacrifice.

Would you like to join me? Stay tuned to this blog each day and there will be a great deal of information, thoughts, devotionals, Bible studies, and links on thanksgiving. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Photo Credit: Stacy Duplease Nov. 2013, along the Colonial Parkway in Virginia)

How Great Thou Art

How Great Thou Art.

Glory!

Our Creator God shows His splendor and glory.

Always give overflowing thanks.

Thank You, Lord, for the Fall colors.

(Photo Credit Nov. 2103 Stacy Duplease * Virginia * Colonial Parkway)