Come in, dear friend, and welcome to The Hollyhock Cottage.
Thanksgiving Day will be upon us soon. I hope your preparations are going well, no matter how small or large will be your celebration. A sweet friend gave me a Thanksgiving mug a couple of years ago, and I love it, for it says, “There is always something to be thankful for.” Because that is true throughout the year, I use the mug in all seasons. In His Word, YHWH adjures us to be a thankful people, not given to grumbling over our shoulda-coulda-wouldas. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice”! Doesn’t even that imply thankfulness?
When I think about Thanksgiving, my thoughts take wing and soar to the other side of the planet, where my younger daughter and her family live and minister. I miss them always and most especially at the holydays of Thanksgiving, CHRISTmas, and Resurrection Sunday, so, of course, they have been on my heart and in my prayers day and night.
Isn’t it interesting that one can read the Bible ever so many times and continue to learn new truths each time? We understand that’s part of the Holy Spirit’s office—to give us counsel. As I read Colossians 1 in my Amplified Bible this morning, one section leapt from the page. It touched me at a deep level because it is a prayer of blessing. I am marking that section, and I will keep it handy to pray over my beloved treasures—my children and grandchildren. The amplified translation reveals the full meaning of the words of the text. I’m sharing it with you, dear friend, just in case you have some treasured kith and kin who could use such a wonderful blessing.
Adapted from Colossians 1:9-14
(Amplified Translation)
9Since the day I first heard
about your coming birth, I have not stopped praying for you, asking
specifically that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all
spiritual wisdom [with insight into His purposes], and in understanding [of
spiritual things], 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of
the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal
integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good
work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer
insight and fervent love for His precepts]; 11 [I pray that you may
be] strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious
might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy; 12
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance
of the saints (God’s people) in the Light.
