Quote from Forum Archives on November 20, 2000, 9:46 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I have two messages for you today, so this posting is a bit
lengthy; the first is a story passed on to Larry Davies from a
friend. It is a touching story about a deep heart attitude of
Thanksgiving, but not in the usual way. It is about being
thankful for the trials and difficulties we face, as well as the
happy times of success and blessing. I can identify deeply with
it, for I have had my share of trials, errors, and anguish over
the things I have done, and the things that have been done to
me. Because of a change in my heart, I have a different
perspective about these things, a lasting healing. I hope you
enjoy the story.

The second message is a devotional message from "Quiet Time",
"Walk Through the Bible". I have enjoyed many of their recent
messages, personally, and I would like to share today's message
again with you.

I pray that each one of you would enjoy this season and find many
reasons to be thankful, even for thorns that have entered into
your life. May the blessings of God, even through thorns, be
evident, and His mark of love heal every hurt and replace it with
an everlasting love.

Brother Brian

From: "Sowing Seeds Ministry" <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
Subject: Have a wonderful Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving present to you. I did not write it but I sure do
like it. I hope you do too and I pray that you have a very
special Thanksgiving holiday.

God's blessings.
Larry

Thanksgiving and Thorns

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed
against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had
been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her
second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease.

During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son.
She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her
husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose
holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come.
What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her
grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to
empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm
feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder.

Thanksgiving? Thankful for what? She wondered. For a careless
driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her?
For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child?

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" The shop clerk's approach
startled her.

"I... I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.

"For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would
you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the
Thanksgiving "Special?" asked the shop clerk. "I'm convinced
that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for
something that conveys `gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months,
everything that could go wrong has gone wrong." Sandra regretted
her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have
the perfect arrangement for you."

Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi,
Barbara ...let me get your order." She politely excused herself
and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared,
carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed
thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly
snipped: there were no flowers.

"Want this in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the
customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems
with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman
laughed.

"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile.
"You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't
be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here,
all over again." She said as she gently tapped her chest.

"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh... she just
left with no flowers!"

"Right, said the clerk, "I cut off the flowers. That's the
Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for
that!" exclaimed Sandra.

"Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling much like you
feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very
little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer,
the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she
was facing major surgery."

"That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk, "and
for the first time in my life, had just spent the holidays alone.
I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a
debt to allow any travel."

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.

"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk
quietly. "I've always thanked God for good things in life and
never to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when
bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that
dark times are important. I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of
life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort.
You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're
afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing
her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't
want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."

Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" shouted
the clerk to the balding, rotund man.

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving
arrangement... twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil
as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the
refrigerator.

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you
mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?"

"No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife
and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real
mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through
problem after problem.

He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept
a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from
"thorny" times, and that was good enough for me. I took home
some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for
a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught
us."

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend
the Special!"

"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life."
Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too...fresh."

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me
that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's
providential care more during trouble than at any other time.
Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might
know His love. Don't resent the thorns."

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the
accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take those
twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.

"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready
in a minute."

"Thank you. What do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart.
The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled
and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your
arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."

It read: My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have
thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my
thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the
value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You
along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the
colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."

Praise Him for your roses; thank him for your thorns.

God comforts us in our trials so that we can comfort others in
their trials with the same comfort that we received from God (2
Corinthians 1:4).

Subject: Quiet Walk for Monday, November 20, 2000
From: Crosswalk.com <newsletters@crosswalk.com>

Q U I E T W A L K D E V O T I O N A L
by Walk Thru the Bible

BIBLE READING
2 Corinthians 5:17-21

OVERVIEW

We are to represent God in all we do.

INSIGHT

In addition to the worker being a steward of God's possessions,
he is also an ambassador of God's agenda. An ambassador does
not have a personal agenda in life; his job is to represent the
interests of his employer. Many times throughout life, our
personal interests and God's agenda are the same. God often
gives us the desire to do what He calls us to do.

However, being a faithful ambassador means that whenever
your personal agenda and God's agenda differ, God's
agenda always wins out.

PRAYER

* The Lord invests our lives with meaning and eternal purpose,
for which we glorify Him and praise His holy name:

Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly
established, It shall not be moved. Let the heavens
rejoice, and let the earth be glad; And let them say among
the nations, "The Lord reigns." ... Oh, give thanks to the
Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures
forever... Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From
everlasting to everlasting! (1 Chronicles 16:30-31,34,36).

* Pause for praise and thanks. Now pray this confession to the
Lord to keep your life free from sin and in fellowship with
Him:

You "have blotted out, like a thick cloud, my
transgressions, And like a cloud, my sins. I return to You,
for You have redeemed me" (Based on Isaiah 44:22).

* Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. As
you agree with God's will, voice your affirmation of His
Word:

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed
us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
(Colossians 1:13-14).

* As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:

* spiritual victory over temptation,

* opportunities to serve the Lord,

* the work of missionaries in Eastern Europe.

* Now offer this closing prayer to the Lord:

Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You ministers of His,
who do His pleasure. Bless the Lord, all His works, ...
Bless the Lord, O my soul! (Psalm 103:21-22).

-----------
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< shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/bible_nkj >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< devotionals.crosswalk.com >
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