Thanks In All Things (Ps 145:10) by Stephen Schmidt

28 Nov Thanks In All Things (Ps 145:10) by Stephen Schmidt

Welcome God now with this LIFE Group Devotion (FB), provided by LIFE Runners (FB).  Leaders.  Guest Authors.
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“Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord.” ~ Ps 145:10 (full readings)
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Stephen’s Reflections:   Thanksgiving is one day set aside each year to give thanks for all the good things that we have received.  Most all of us can easily think of many things for which we are thankful; family, friends, a warm home, plenty of food…life itself.  But it is more difficult to give thanks to God when we are beset with troubles; an illness, loss of a job, loss of a loved one. Yet, even in these difficulties we are called to look behind the appearances of things and look with eyes of faith to see God’s saving action. God wills at all times our sanctification, but sometimes His will for our lives does not correspond to our own will.  We are called to embrace God’s will even in those moments; to embrace what we would shun by its appearance.  To do so is to give thanks always to God.
* Stephen Schmidt is married and has seven children. He is an accountant at Saint Louis University. He is a LIFE Runner and is the co-leader for the Coalition St. Louis chapter.
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Faith Challenge:  Look for God in all things and all occurrences in your life; even in the mundane.
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Counter-Culture News:  LifeSiteNews, LifeNews, American Family, Vatican, Project Rachel.
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Our Prayers:  Pray LIFE Runners Creed to end abortion.  Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, unceasingly. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
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Feast Day:  Saint James of the Marche.
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Faith Quote:  “All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully.  As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God.  But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.” ~ St. Ignatius Loyola
Faith Quote:  “[The soul] must forget about [understanding], and abandon itself into the arms of love, and His Majesty will teach it what to do next; almost its whole work is to realize its unworthiness to receive such great good and to occupy itself in thanksgiving” ~ St. Teresa of Avila
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Through Christ Our Lord,
Stephen