In this Thanksgiving‑focused devotional, M.t. Clark welcomes listeners with a tranquil photo of Lake Santilla and reflects on the busy travel day before the holiday. He emphasizes that Thanksgiving is fundamentally about gratitude, whether or not one celebrates with family, football, or feasts. Drawing from personal experience of overcoming depression through faith in Jesus, he shares a recovered cold and a renewed commitment to prayer. Clark then presents a 2020 Mindful of Christ article by Lauren Ross Kelly titled “Always Give Thanks,” outlining three domains of gratitude—toward God, toward others, and toward oneself—backed by numerous biblical passages (Eph 5:20; Psalm 106:1; 1 Thess 5:17‑18; 2 Cor 9:14‑15; Psalm 100:4‑5; Hebrews 10:24‑25; Romans 5:15). He encourages practical habits such as writing down three daily thank‑you items and expressing appreciation to people around us. The devotional shifts to a brief exegesis of Ephesians 5:23, discussing the husband’s role as a servant leader mirroring Christ’s headship of the church, and warns against misusing the passage for tyranny. Clark promotes his ministry resources (mt4christ.org, A.W. Pink’s anthology, Celebrate Freedom growth group) and concludes with a heartfelt prayer for listeners, thanking God for daily blessings and asking for guidance to live gratefully.
Chapters
To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the 3,000-acre Lake Santilla, located near Robinsonville, North Carolina, in the beautiful Nantahala National Forest, comes to us from Fred Dimick, who shared this scene on social media back on October 17th. Well, it's Wednesday, and I thought that Fred's photo of Lake Santilla with its green peaks in the background offered enough tranquility and peaks to visually represent our arrival to Thanksgiving hump day and to encourage us all to find some peace on what is one of the busiest travel days of the year. According to the TSA, which is the Transportation Security Administration, the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday following Thanksgiving are the busiest travel days of the the year. So it is my prayer that all my friends who, who take to the roads or to the skies today will arrive safely and remember to reflect on the reason why they are taking trains, planes, and automobiles to get to where they are going today. Thanksgiving isn't just an occasion to have a big meal or to celebrate family— shots fired— or to watch, uh, football games, a dog show, or a festive parade, although admittedly many of those Those things may play a part in what goes on in our plans tomorrow. But the reason for the gathering tomorrow is to give thanks. That's it. And whether or not you believe in God, have a family, enjoy dog shows, football games, parades, or a big feast, you should be able to participate in that. Even the most dysfunctional life has had moments of mercy, grace, love, blessings, and peace that would encourage us to be thankful. As I shared yesterday, we can even be thankful for the bad things that didn't happen to us, or the fact that the bad things that did happen weren't worse than they were. So everybody should rightfully give thanks for something or someone tomorrow. Believe me, I can understand bitterness and depression. I used to live there, but I discovered a way out of the darkness. Faith in Jesus Christ, and a regular practice of prayer and thanksgiving. When you are thankful, truly thankful, the focus shifts from you and your problems to the blessings you receive. In that mindset, there can be hope for more blessings to come. It is hard to be depressed or bitter when we are focusing on the good things we have received or enjoy daily and are looking forward to things that we will be thankful for in the future. I am getting over cold symptoms, and although I am feeling much better this morning and declaring that the healing has come, and I receive it by faith in Jesus' name, amen, and I'm thankful that it will be complete, amen, but I am deciding to get a little help from my friends this morning, uh, with the blog by sharing a message from Mindful of Christ Lauren Ross Kelly, which she originally shared back in 2020 that reminds us to always give thanks. And that's the message we're sharing today from Lauren. Uh, it's entitled Always Give Thanks. And she writes, to have a grateful heart and to give thanks can bring so many benefits, not only to God and others, but to our own mental health as well. But why is this, and how do we do it, especially when life is tough or we don't understand why certain things happen in the world? Always give thanks to God. Being grateful and genuinely giving thanks can take our focus off of the negatives and can help us focus on God and everything he has done in and for the world and for us individually. The Bible continually tells us to give thanks. Ephesians 5:20 says, all— always give thanks to God the Father for everything, and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 106:1 says, "Praise the Lord, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 say, "Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." We are told to give thanks in all circumstances. All circumstances, you may ask? But what about through this pandemic or everything else going on in this world and in our lives? Everything, we are told, all circumstances. So yes, through all of it, we can always find something to be grateful for, whether it's a roof over our heads, food in the cupboards, or just simply the birds in the trees, and most importantly, what Jesus did for each and every one of us on the cross. We can give thanks also for His grace. 2 Corinthians 9:14-15 says, And in their prayers for you, their hearts will go out to you because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. And also for His faithfulness. Psalm 100:4-5 says, Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name, for the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. As you can see, there is already a lot we can give thanks for. Always give thanks to others. Other people deserve our thanks too. If they've done something good for us as individuals or not, there's always something to thank someone for. How does it make you feel when someone thanks you for something, or if someone shows gratitude for or to you? For you or to you? Good, appreciated, loved. It can give us the encouragement to carry on, can't it? Then let's offer this to others too. Look at the people around you—your kids, parents, friends, and neighbors. Think about what you could be grateful to them for. Then tell them. Or when someone does something kind for someone else, tell them. Give them thanks. Show them that they are appreciated. You could make someone's day. You could even impact someone's life. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good works." good deeds. Romans 5:15 says, May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. Always give thanks for ourselves. By thanking and encouraging others, it can build people up and spur them on, and by doing this, it can encourage and uplift yourself. Think of it as a change of In mindset, focusing on the good in God and other people and giving thanks can take our mind and focus off the things we don't have or are wrong in our lives and, and the world. Therefore, always giving thanks can improve our own selves and our own mental health too. Perhaps think of, write down, and thank God and others for 3 different things every day. Why not start now? That's all from Lauren Ross-Killey of Mindful of Christ. Uh, why not start today? Thank you, Lauren. I love Lauren's suggestion to think of 3 things to be thankful for each day and to write them down. This spiritual practice of giving thanks is a game changer. Always giving thanks is an instruction to the church in the Bible because God knows this. God loves us and wants us to experience the benefits of living in a mindset of gratitude. As Lauren pointed out, we have 3 things to be thankful for: for God, for others, and for ourselves. God has blessed all of us with our individual lives, the lives of others, and his presence, which can be found when we seek him. So keep walking and talking with God, and give thanks tomorrow now and always. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on the church, or communion of the saints. And today's verse is Ephesians 5:23 from the NIV. The word of God says, for the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Today's verse is the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the seventh point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the church, or communion of the saints. That seventh point is: Christ is the head of the church, his body. Today's verse establishes the authority of the husband as a spiritual leader in marriage and declares that Christ is the head of the church. As much as I could go on— go off on the desperate need that exists for the men in the body of Christ to be servant leaders to their wives and families and not use verses like this as justification to be a tyrannical jerk, lording their authority over their spouses and children to do their will on earth. The emphasis from our resource guide is not on us, it's on Jesus. The point, um, trying to be made is that Christ is the head of the church, his body. By utilizing this passage in scripture to make it We can see that although we serve the kingdom of God, our relationship to God is a love relationship. Christ is the loving husband to his bride, the church, and his love for his bride is so strong that he was willing to die to save us. That's love. That's leadership. To have a heart of service and affection for the church to the point that he would give up his very life shows us how Jesus wants us to love one another. Sacrificially and beneficially, to the death and into eternal life. We are to lead in love. So thank you, Jesus. As always, we encourage— well, we invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Arthur Pink's Anthology. As we conclude sharing, uh, that on the message called Christian Fools, uh, with part 8 of 8 today. Um, and, um, and so yeah, if you'd like to read the conclusion of Arthur Pink's tract called Christian Fools, you can find that at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a lifestyle of Christian discipleship, one of the practices of which is giving thanks So, you should do that every day, and especially on Thanksgiving. And we give thanks to you for listening and reading the blog and watching our stuff on YouTube. We appreciate that there's someone out there looking for hope, looking for encouragement. And we're more than thank— we're thankful for you. Because it encourages us, you know, the fact that you're there, that there's, there's something, something out there, someone out there clicking on the blog and going to the YouTube videos and listening to the, the podcast. We really appreciate it. So we want to thank you for listening or watching this message. I told you I was getting over cold symptoms, but we are mostly healed, and we're going to receive the rest of our healing today, I'm sure. So we'll be completely ready to give thanks for God's goodness and glory tomorrow. Um, today is Wednesday. I do not have to travel. Um, from all reports, there's snow on the ground outside, even though I've not looked. Um, nearby people have shared photos of snow, so I can only assume there is snow on the ground. So I will have to take the dog for a walk in the snow soon. Other than that, I really don't have any plans. I'm not sure what I'll do. I spent the whole day yesterday sleeping. It was a good day. I feel well rested and mostly well, and I'm not sure what I'll do, but I'll be here with my wife and looking forward to Thanksgiving. She's gonna be making pumpkin rolls and who knows what else today. So I'll try to stay out of her way and help her where I can. And maybe, I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I'll do some work on the ministry materials that I have to have ready for Celebrate Freedom for the rest of the month and for December. You know, because I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to serve the body of Christ in the Celebrate Freedom growth group. I want to make sure I, uh, meet my responsibility there and, you know, craft the message that'll encourage people, you know, and their hurts, habits, and hang-ups that they can overcome if they lean on the Lord. So, and that's what this ministry is all about. We encourage people. Um, it's not very complicated because we— by doing so, it encourages us. And so if no one benefits from it, I benefit from it. Um, but hopefully, hopefully some of you benefit from what we try to do here as well. Let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all you do in our lives. We thank you for the people you put in our lives that encourage us, and, um, thank you for, for everything. The air we breathe, the life we live, and, uh, your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, we just pray for our friends, uh, that are listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests, and that you bless them, uh, help them to be thankful and loving, um, and to point people to Jesus Christ this holiday. Tomorrow is a day we can give thanks, and honestly, all the thanks should end at your at your table, Lord, as you provide us with everything. So when we give thanks, ultimately we need to thank you. And Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and guide our paths in the things you would have us do. Help us to represent you and to give thanks to you always. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
