Friends, today’s devotional gets to look a little bit different. We are still working through the Book of James together but this week I wanted to take a step back from James’ letters and acknowledge the holidays.
I wanted to take a step back to celebrate you and how far Perennial Devotionals has come in such a short period of time.
For this reason, I want to take a second and invite you to go find me on Instagram under the handle @acaylachung. a-c-a-y-l-a-c-h-u-n-g. On my Instagram you will find a giveaway post that is actively running this Thanksgiving week; closing tomorrow (Wednesday, November 25th) at midnight.
I had the great honor and privilege to pair up with some wonderful small business to offer this Thanksgiving giveaway to you!
This giveaway is aimed towards thanking God for the wonderful acts He has carried out in our lives, celebrating YOU and the way God is making beautiful things happen in your life!
I cannot emphasize enough how excited I am to share this giveaway with you and I genuinely hope it will bring a smile to your day.
I chose this holiday season to do a giveaway, in honor of my readers and listeners, because I know that holiday’s are inherently a hard time for people. While most of us grew up hearing stories of holiday cheer, Holiday Depression is incredibly real and prevalent.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner I began to think about the concept of what it means to ‘be thankful’ and I realized something.
How many nights have I spent crying my eyes out because I felt so terribly alone?
How many days had I been struck with fear?
How often was I asked to share one good thing about my day and I genuinely couldn’t find something to share?
I realized that even apart from holidays I have had so many days and nights where the weight of my pain was restricting me from seeing anything beautiful. I lived in a vortex where my vision could only comprehend the bad and hurtful things and the good seemed as though they had vanished.
I had been experiencing these extreme emotions during “standard” or “normal” times of the year. How much more were feelings of loneliness and grief going to be prevalent during a holiday season that put emphasis on the good things in life?
Friends, I share this because as much I wish this was just my problem, I know I am not alone. I know I have not been the only one limping through the darkness wondering where God and goodness is. I know I am not the only one who draws blank while trying to find something in life that isn’t actively causing hurt.
And friends, I know that not being around the friends and family who usually love and support us might make these difficult emotions so much harder this year.
We are such incredibly complex beings and while that is a unique and wonderful gift from God, it can make us feel as though we are isolated and living apart from everyone around us.
“With Thanksgiving We Praise” means that we are choosing to actively remember all the beautiful and wonderful ways God has worked in our lives. It’s choosing to actively trust that even if we can’t see it or feel it right now, God is still doing incredible works through us. It means praising Him for His never ending goodness and mercy that he sheds upon us every second of every day.
This doesn’t mean that we aren’t allowed to feel sad. It doesn’t mean that I want you to hide away those difficult feelings and pretend like your life is something it isn’t. That would be an incredible disservice to you and your God.
What it does mean though is that even though we are walking through pain right now, we are choosing to actively acknowledge and embrace the goodness of our God. We are choosing to accept who God has been since the beginning. We are trusting that the God in our lives today is the same God that invited in us when our hearts weren’t throbbing.
It is with a heart of trust and gentle openness for things greater than this single moment, that I share today’s text with you.
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his,
we are his people,
the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures
forever;
his faithfulness continues through all
generations.
There is a form of reading the Bible called Lectio Divina. Translated this means divine reading. Lectio Divina is a way of reading scripture that allows you to intimately immerse yourself into its message and open your heart to what God’s word has to share.
I learned about using Lectio Divina while reading the gospel while I was in college and instantly fell in love with the gentle and open approach it took to God’s word. When I started reading the text I was drawn to share with you today, I couldn’t help but remember Lectio Divina and I knew it was the perfect way for us to open our hearts and embrace the gospel this week.
It is my great honor to walk you through the steps of Lectio Divina.
If you are listening to the audio version of my devotional, I invite you to just close your eyes and listen to my voice. If you are reading this devotional, I invite you to hop on over to the audio format so you can just listen or, go ahead and make space to read the rest of today’s devotional out loud to yourself.
Mutually, as we continue forward, I invite you to take a moment and eliminate any distractions. Turn your phone onto do not disturb. Go find a quiet room to lay down in. Turn off the music or the TV, take some deep breaths and focus on being present, here, in this moment.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Friend you have come here today, against all the odds, to spend time with your Heavenly Father.
Breath in.
Breath out.
He sees your heart and He knows how hard you are working.
Breath in.
Breath out.
He knows how you are fighting for a life better than your pain.
Breath in.
Breath out.
He rejoices with you in your wins.
Breath in.
Breath out.
He holds you close and wipes away your tears in your losses.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Friend, you are here today to spend time with your God.
The God who loves you unconditionally.
Breath in.
Breath out.
When you are ready, we will slowly re-read through today’s passage.
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his,
we are his people,
the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures
forever;
his faithfulness continues through all
generations.
As we ponder the words of Psalm 100, let’s turn our hearts towards prayer.
Lord,
Our hearts turn toward you in thanksgiving and in praise. We raise our hands up to you and shout of the wonderful things you have done in our lives. We know that it is good and right for us to share your incredible works and so we rejoice in your name. We, as your people, shout the joys of our lives so that they may point back towards you Lord.
You have made us from the beginning. You carefully molded us together and created good and wonderful plans for our lives. You created us with wonderful intention to work and be disciples. We know that we are yours and in that knowledge we are free to rest in you.
You are a safe pasture for our weary and broken hearts to rest. We trust that you care tenderly for our wounded bodies and provide sustenance so we can continue forward.
You have always been good and wonderful to us Lord. It is in response to your goodness that we are able to open our hearts to you and enter your gates in joy. No pain we could feel on earth comes close to comparing with the vast amounts of joy and peace you have freely given us.
Your love is good and pure Lord. Your love for us is not tied by conditions, but spreads through eternity, embracing us as we embrace you. You have been faithful through generations and you will remain so in the generations to come.
Our lives, our hearts, our faith, hope and joy all lay in your hands Lord. We praise you!
In your glorious name we pray,
Amen.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Resist the urge to rush through this moment and move onto the next part of your day. Allow this to be time you have devoted to yourself so that you may spend time in the presence of your Lord. Allow yourself to be still in this moment as we transition our hearts to meditation.
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his,
we are his people,
the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures
forever;
his faithfulness continues through all
generations.
Allow the presence of the Holy Spirit to dwell in you.
As we meditate on God’s words and remember the wonderful ways He has blessed our lives, I want to read you Psalm 100 from the bottom to the top. While I cannot condone changing the wording of the Gospel and I usually would not dwell into such areas, reading Psalm 100 in reverse order deepened my understanding and I hope it can do the same for you.
His faithfulness continues through all generations for the lord is good and his love endures forever.
Give thanks to him and praise his name. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. It is he who made us, and we are his. Know that the Lord is God.
Come before him with joyful songs. Worship the Lord with gladness. All the earth, shout for joy to the Lord.
Friends. Invite yourself, as I have invited you, to continue resting in God’s presence.
Take these moments and make them sacred in the presence of your Heavenly Father.
Release the tension and pain that has been holding you back and let God in.
When you are ready, slowly come back to the present. Spend time with our “Thoughts for the Week” and be encouraged to continue focusing on the good and wonderful things in your life.
Friends. I love you. I am proud of you. Embrace this moment.
Thoughts for the Week
*
When we are in the depths of our pain, it is so hard to see anything but that heartache.
Think back through your life and acknowledge the times God has carried out incredible works through and in you.
Go ahead.
Use pictures. Use old journals. Use a text or call to friends or family to help you remember.
When you have them, write them down.
Put your list in a high use area. This is your lifeline to remind you that no matter what is happening in life, God is still good. He still cares. He is still by your side.
*
Write a letter to a friend who could use encouragement. Remind them of just who God created them to be and the wonderful things you have witnessed Him doing in their lives. Remind them how much you care for them and how much more their God cares.
*
On Thanksgiving, return to Psalm 100.
I invite you to quite literally SHOUT something incredible God has done in your life this week.
I don’t care how small it is or how insignificant it may seem.
Small wins ARE big wins.
SHOUT IT OUT with all you have and turn that small-big win into PRAISE for your God!
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