Andrea O. Freeman

‘I have a thankful heart that You have given me And it can only come from You’ (Petra) Know that the Lord is God. It is He Who made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His field. Go into His gates giving thanks and into His holy place with praise. Give thanks to Him. Honor His name. For the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. And He is faithful to all people and to all their children-to-come. (Psalm 100:3-5 NLT) The definition of thankful : grateful and appreciative, aware and appreciative of a benefit, expressive of gratitude: a thankful smile . Are you thankful? Do you thank God for your blessings every day? More than any other time in my life, this past year I have chosen to daily in my quiet time, in my prayer time, in my moments of overwhelming joy and agonizing despair, I have chosen to thank God for blessing me. No matter what life throws my way, I will not go through the day without thanking God for blessing me. Sometimes in my

Daily I pray it, ask it, wonder in the waiting…God, what is the lesson to be learned? What more do you require of us? How much more will You stretch us, change us, make us into the beings you would have us to be? We are called in our walk with Christ to be His followers, to live wholly devoted and righteous lives that shine for His glory. We have a precious gift we’ve been given, life eternal with Him and because of His choice to sacrifice His Son for our lives, to save us, to forgive us, to show how deep the Father’s love truly is for us. What will we do with what He has given us? How far are we willing to go? I was reminded once again in my devotional this morning, through the life of David, just how far God expects us to go in showing our devotion to Him. We know God recognized him as “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22) and yet we read David’s journey was far from perfect. He took some hits, he made some really screwy decisions and God answered by forgiving him but also r

This morning I got up earlier than I usually do on a Sunday mainly because I knew I had some preparations for lunch today. I love the quiet, the stillness of the early morning before everyone is awake in the house. I was eager to get my cooking done and get to my quiet time. God took me to Hebrews 11 and Psalm 111 thanks to a wonderful daily devotional Bible I have. Hebrews 11 starting in verse 17 is filled with reminders of some very important men and how they chose to trust and obey God and by faith do what God called them to do. God's provision, how amazing, how wonderful! Then in Psalm 111:1-10 I was stopped in my tracks at verse 3. 'Everything He does reveals His glory and majesty.' Everything? Really? I had to stop and ponder this verse, let it roll over and over in my heart and mind. Everything. How can that be? How is this, this we are going through, that? How can this, any of this reveal His glory, His majesty? God has been reminding me this week, just

In these uncertain days, there is no greater hope than what we have in Christ. Our days on this earth are numbered, God knows just how many we each have and so we must make each one count as if it were our last! I was reminded in my devotional today of one particular man’s response to God. His unyielding, unhesitant trust in God to do what was necessary to fulfill His purpose. Abraham was called by God to go to the mountain to make a sacrifice. It turned out when he arrived that the lamb was to be his son, Isaac. The son that was promised to him for so long and that he and Sarah waited for, until in their very old age God provided and Isaac was born! My goodness, can you imagine? I can’t. It was hard enough for me to have a baby at 39, but to have a child at the age of 90 something? Oy! Lord, You clearly have purpose in all You do but this one leaves me baffled. Genesis 22 God tells Abraham what he must to and there is really is no indication of anxiety, hesitation or fear