Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow

November 23, 2021November 17, 2021 / Gail Johnson / 6 Comments

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD (Psalm 150).

Praise God, from whom all blessing flow; praise Him all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heav'nly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Thomas Ken 1637-1711, Public Domain

Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends! May His love, joy, and peace fill your hearts as you offer praise to Him. ❤

Still Thankful

November 7, 2017November 3, 2017 / Gail Johnson / 11 Comments

This month’s theme is giving thanks. I know, there’s nothing original about that subject when thinking of this month. But November’s colors and cooler weather makes my heart swell even more with gratitude.

Another reason I’m thankful is I have my firstborn with me this week. My family is together. This mama is over the moon.

I’m also thankful for family and friends. Friends like you who have encouraged me along my journey. I’m grateful for the days when you’ve written or commented precisely what I needed to hear. You are priceless, dearest friend.

So thankful.

Looking back over this year brings joy and sorrow. I acquired several broken bones, dealt with a hurricane, (I refuse to mention her name, but still grateful the damage was minimal) wrote a book, and thought to publish that book. As of now, it’s with the template designers. I’m concerned about a particular problem, and they are graciously working with me to fix it.

Disappointing? Yes and no. It’s frustrating when I think of my timeline. Not so much when I remember God has His own timetable. Delays, Disappointments, Detours

Still thankful.

Through it all, I’m thankful for a loving Abba, a precious Savior, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Without them, I would be lost.

Forever thankful.

May your week be filled with joyful blessings!

Digging Past Our Situations

November 1, 2016 / Gail Johnson / 6 Comments

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 2 Timothy 1:3

Someone is Praying

When writing to Timothy, Paul said, “I have remembrance of thee.” The word remembrance means to remind, bring to, call to, and put in. In the Greek, remember has the same root word as the word tomb or sepulcher. The idea is before we can pray we must dig past the current circumstances.

For example, when overwhelmed we find it hard to think of anything but the present situation. Such was Timothy’s case. But Paul said, “I put you in remembrance” commanding Timothy to dig, get past, removing all that stood in his way.

Likewise, there are times we must dig past the mental anguish, the physical pain, and the spiritual battle to remember where God has brought us from and what He is doing at present. It is one of the hardest things to do when facing trials.

I have several friends and family who are facing stressful situations at this time. I wanted to remind everyone that God hasn’t forsaken us and to share a couple of my favorite verses.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43:2

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. Jeremiah 30:17

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, Luke 4:18

In the coming weeks, as you press through this season, I pray you will find comfort in God’s Word and remember people are praying for you.

I would love to hear from you. When going through difficult times, what scripture comes to your mind?