This sounds like my weight after Thanksgiving ….Except in my case, lose three, gain four. However, I am thankful….for Marsha, my kids and their spouses, my grandson, my health, my life…I could go on, as I am sure you could as well. But fundamentally, I am thankful for Jesus, who gave me forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 Cor 5:17-19
Notice the word “reconciled” is used 4 times. The law of repetition tells us that is an important concept. Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 2:1-10:
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Notice the three key words: Grace, Gift, and Salvation. These life-giving words are not a wage you earned. They are not a loan that you need to pay back. They are a gift given to you freely.
Now that is what I am thankful for every day. You too I hope.
Serving Him with you Until he comes for us. Fred
| 
