“We bring the sacrifice of praise
Unto the house of the Lord.
We bring the sacrifice of praise
Unto the house of the Lord.
And we offer up to You
The sacrifices of thanksgiving;
And we offer up to You
The sacrifices of joy.” ♪ ♫ ♪
Sacrifice has been the key word in my life lately. God has been speaking about it over and over.. I found this definition:
“the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.”
The purposes and plans of God are higher and have a more pressing claim on our lives than our own comfort or own agenda. God is unfolding a more perfect way. It requires sacrifice because we do not think His thoughts or understand His ways. As we say yes to Him and surrender our own good ideas and our own solutions to life’s problems, He reveals the path that we are to take.. the sacrifices that we are to make.
The wonder of all this is that once we take the narrow way, we begin to sing praises to our GREAT GOD. We are filled to overflowing with thankfulness for all that He is doing and all that we have been given. It is life with God.. abundant life..life that we cannot get any other way.
Lord, as we approach this Thanksgiving Day, let us lift our hands in praise to you, Our Creator who has given us every good thing. Without you we would not exist and without you are existence is meaningless. Fill us to overflowing with praises this day and every day!
Alicia's Roses 
Thanks for sharing, and God bless you. I did a Thanksgiving acrostic that you might like.
Thanks Scott.. i did look at the acrostic..great idea. I also noticed that you are a seminary grad..so am I. God bless you this Thanksgiving!
I’ve struggled with so many things for much of my adult life… and I find myself somehow on the scrapheap. And, yet, God has plans for me that I don’t have for myself.
You wrote: ‘The purposes and plans of God are higher and have a more pressing claim on our lives than our own comfort or own agenda.’ Yes, perfect statement Alicia. In the midst of everything is God and we always need to tune out of our own plans and problems sometimes, and just let God be God.
Tim.. you are not on the scrapheap..even though you feel like it at times.. I know that feeling. He does have plans that are yet to unfold..you are of great worth and value to Him. Keep trusting in His goodness and believing that your story is unfolding.
Blessings,
Alicia
So glad I found your blog. As someone else mentioned there is a peace about it. When reading the line “The wonder of all this is that once we take the narrow way, we begin to sing praises to our GREAT GOD.” I pictured someone in darkness placing their foot upon the narrow way and straight away notes of praise (literal little black notes) were above their head. Could almost hear them whistling. Your writing and photos are lovely.
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment. It is always encouraging when something I write is meaningful to another person. I love the picture you shared in the comment.. yes I can see the little black notes myself.
Blessings,
Alicia