As homeschooling families and as Christians, we have much to be thankful for. We have the privilege to teach our children in conversations throughout the entire day. We can focus on teaching and modeling for our children a personal relationship with God and explore His world as we help shape our children's worldview.
Each of our homeschooling journeys is a gift from God. In thinking of His many blessings, we can quickly fill up a page about all the many good things we have to be grateful for, and indeed, we are very blessed and should be thankful for those good gifts. But today, I'd like to focus specifically on the object of our thanks- the One Who has made all things thankworthy.
1 Thess. 5:18 tells us that we are to be thankful in every circumstance. That includes the events of 2020, the difficult homeschooling days, the days we struggle with our children or spouse, the day's finances are tight, and the days when someone is ill. These are not the situations we think of when someone asks us what we are thankful for. But God is sovereign and good. If you have trusted Him with your soul, you can trust him with your day-to-day disappointments. And even in those, He helps us to give thanks.
We pray that reading through this list of Who God is and Who He is to YOU will cause much more rejoicing than the usual checklist: "I am thankful for my family, my health, my home, etc."
These are truly good and generous gifts, but when we look at the eternal and holy God, we can't but humbly bow and say…
"Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!" Psalm 150
He is faithful. He promises never to leave us or forsake us. In fact, He promises to strengthen us!
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Is. 41:10
On your worst days and your best days, he walks beside you, ready to love, forgive, and uphold you. Sometimes, also, He admonishes us, teaches us a difficult lesson, or chooses to glorify Himself through our situations.
"For the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father, the son in whom he delights." Pr. 3:12
"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Cor. 12:9
God is love, and we can know real love because of His love for us.
"So, we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." 1 John 4:16 He is holy.
"Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." Rev. 15:4
His faithful- he never wavers. "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations." Deuteronomy 7:9
He gives us courage and strength.
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
He is righteous. Because of His righteousness, we are able to perform righteous deeds on His behalf.
"For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face." Psalm 11:7
He is our Everlasting Creator.
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength." Isaiah 40:28-29
He became sin for us so that we can stand justified and have an eternal walk and home with Him.
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
"So, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:16-18
He cares for and about you.
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time, he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7
"You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?" Ps. 56:8
He is our Rock. " For Who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock except our God?" Psalm 18:31
God provided His only Son to die for us and to mediate for us. " For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 2:5 "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." Gal. 4:4-7
He has given us His Word so we can learn of Him and Live for Him. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
He perfects us and gives us all the grace we need. "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
Nothing is beyond his sovereignty, authority, or will. "But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’" Matthew 19:26
He has given us the Holy Spirit to comfort, conflict, and guide us. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14
He has shown us how to deal with our sin and to live a fruitful life.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Galatians 5:22 -24
From our HomeWorks family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving and Praise the Lord!
