THANKFUL FOR THE “WITHOUTS”

If you’re looking for things to be thankful for (even if you live in a country where Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated this week) try some of these “withouts” the Lord brought to my mind.  I’m sure He will bring even more to yours as you focus on them.

Love Without Limits … “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Forgiveness Without Question … “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Promise Without Equivocation … “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please … what I have said, that will I bring about and what I have planned, that will I do.” (Isaiah 46:10-11)

Blessings Without Number … "You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock… Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." (Deuteronomy 28:3-6)

Mercy Without Measure … “It is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassion fails not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Faithfulness Without Failing … “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands." (Deuteronomy 7:9)

Redemption Without Retraction …  “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

Salvation Without Merit … But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

Grace Without Guilt … Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Hmself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

So in a time when mankind has all but forgotten that the Lord is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Author of all our victories, who arranges every opportunity and fashions every blessing, these “withouts” might serve as good reminders to give thanks where thanks is due.

-- Jack Kelley, adapted from an article on gracethrufaith.com

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