_Dogs forgive and forget quickly.  Hamish doesn’t hold a record of wrongs against me.  Hamish, in this area, is a daily example of how I should be.

Last time, we looked at the importance of being able to give thanks in all circumstances. Sometimes these hard circumstances will be people hurting you, sinning against you. 
The previous verse, (I Thessalonians 5:15 - Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.) says we haven’t to pay back evil for evil: and elsewhere the bible talks about the importance of forgiving others.

When you read the last entry and this verse do you think, ‘that’s impossible, no one can do that!’  Or life in general, “I’ve tried to be a good person but it’s just too hard.”  You are right!

I’d like to take today and concentrate on ‘everything’, apart from which, nothing I have talked about, makes any sense and is worthless.
The ‘everything,’ is Jesus dying on the cross, His blood being spilled for the forgiveness of sins, for all those who come and believe, trust and put their faith in Him.   

First we have to come to the cross, realise we are ill-deserving sinners, repent and accept the wonderful gift of grace and mercy, and allow Him to be Lord of our lives.  When you put your trust in Jesus first, THEN everything else flows from Him. 
Because I am so grateful and humbled by His love, grace and mercy, I then can forgive others because Christ has first forgiven me.  That is how we as Christians, can forgive.  Why we should forgive. 

It’s important to know that it is only God in us, that we are able to do these things.  We can’t do this in our own strength.   So in answer to those "that's impossible" statements, it's not us, but God working in us.

If a terrible situation has happened and some bitterness or hate has resulted: Forgiving someone, means that you let God have control; letting go of any hate and bitterness in your heart, trusting God that He will deal with them in His way.

If there is puss or debris in a wound, it has to be cleaned out before healing can take place.   It’s very painful at the time but we know that stuff has to come out or infection will set in, eventually spreading.  In the same way, having all that hate and bitterness festering within us is bad for our health!
We can be like a dog, not allowing anyone near (in our case God), not understanding that the wound needs cleaning.  Sometimes ‘biting’ anyone who comes to close to the wound.

It’s painful at the time, giving a situation or someone over to God.  But as soon as it’s done, the healing can take place, and God is the great healer.  It’s because God loves us so much he doesn’t want us to suffer. Not forgiving someone hurts us. 
As ever, it’s for our own good.

Do you need to forgive someone?
Is there any hate or bitterness in your heart, about a situation or towards a person?
Do you need God to heal an area in your life?
Or do you need to come and know God and experience Him first?

_ Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Hamish had his walk on thanksgiving, so he was thankful along with Anthony and I.  Of course it rained.  Hamish, like a lot of dogs doesn’t like the rain.  If it’s pelting down and he needs ‘to go’, I am the one that gets wet taking him outside as he bolts straight back into the house.  But if I play ball or take him for a walk, the two things he loves the most, he doesn’t care about the rain but is just enjoying the activity.  He is still aware of the rain, as he stops and shakes himself every so often but that is not what he is concentrating on.  
What are you concentrating on –
the ‘rain’ in your life or God? 

1 Thessalonians 5:18.  Being thankful in a hard circumstance is one of the hardest things for us as Christians to actually do, not just believe.  It’s easy being thankful for the good times. 

What does the verse mean?  That while we are going through hard times, we can find something to be thankful for: for example, a friend being there for us, or seeing God at work in the situation.
If we can’t see anything to be thankful for, we can thank God that he is working in the background.  Romans 8:28 “ IN all things” – including the bad - “God works for the good of those who love him.”

God helps us by telling us how to have that attitude: “Pray without ceasing”, being continually aware of God’s presence and in constant fellowship with Him.  Or in other words - it's not you it's God working in you.

It does not mean that you have to be thankful FOR the difficult circumstance or:
-That you jump up and down with glee if you have  just been told you have cancer
-That you put on a huge smile and go round telling people you are fine
-That you lie about how you are feeling to yourself, God or others

Why does God want me to be thankful?

Because the right heart attitude and forgiveness is an important part of the Christian walk: I believe part of it is so that we don’t become bitter or full of hate.  We all know someone who just can’t let go of something that hurt them. But who do you think it is hurting the most, causing the most destruction?   The longer we hold onto bitterness and hate, the harder it is to let go of it.  It ends up destroying us: our love, peace, thankfulness, generosity in all aspects to others, and our fellowship with God.

It’s easier in many ways when we stop looking at the circumstance - putting our trust in that - and instead put our trust in God.  One such way is being able to be thankful.  When we are thankful it’s hard to become bitter or full of hate.
So sometimes it’s a challenge but it’s for our own good!

_ An example of prayer in hard times-

“God you know I am crying over this, and I honestly don’t see what the purpose is, in this. I know you have me in the hollow of your hand even though I feel like I am hanging on by my fingertips.
I know you are the glue that is holding my cracked, fragile shell together just now, while you are working and moulding me a new vessel on the inside. And that you promised me your “peace that passes all understanding” through this, if I trust you. So thank you.”

_ Tomorrow is thanksgiving in the US.  It’s a time for family to gather together and thank God for His many provisions.  I like the tradition of going round the table and each person has to say what they have been most thankful for, in the past year.  It’s a way for us to stop and think about the year: however hard it may have been, we can still be thankful for something.

But the most important thanksgiving we can and should give, is to God for who He is.  When we take the focus of ourselves and put the focus on God then we can really be thankful.   Then it’s easier when we go through trials to not feel overwhelmed, as we then remember who God is.
He is faithful, loving, good, all powerful, omniscient, omnipresent, our saviour, our comforter, our Lord, our righteousness, our healer, our sanctifier, our everlasting God.

It’s also a time to come before Him and just praise and thank Him for all He has and continues to do for us.  And then we realise we get so much joy & blessing from doing this; we should concentrate on pure thanksgiving and praise to God throughout the year.

God thank you..

That Jesus died for my sins and so I am saved from myself

That I have eternal life with you

For the Holy Spirit, the comforter

For being patient with me when I am stubborn

For your unchanging love for me

For your faithfulness to me even when I am unfaithful to you

For caring about me and all my troubles

For wanting the ultimate best for me even when I don’t see it

For your beautiful creation that I can enjoy each day

THANK YOU!


Enjoy the day with your dog.  If you take him a walk, you get a break and you can remember God’s goodness when you look around at God’s creation.  Your dog can help you in your thanksgiving to God!

‘It’s a dog’s life’ - we all have heard of the saying.  It generally means that a dog has no worries that everything is provided.  I was looking at Hamish, thinking this very same unoriginal concept, and I was a bit envious of him.  Then I suddenly had a ‘duh’ moment (I have many of these!)  I already have it!  In fact it is so much better, but I don’t practically realise it sometimes.

If your dog is like Hamish, he will have faith in you, that you will feed and water him.  He doesn’t waste time worrying about when the next meal will come (although he eagerly anticipates it!)  He is contented by being in your presence.  He just wants you beside him.  He rests by your feet for ages. 

What a lovely picture that is for us to grasp hold of.  Knowing we can be at complete ease and contentment in God’s presence. Knowing He will meet all of our needs (not just food, ALL your needs). That God will provide everything.  Not needing to worry about what will happen, not only in the tomorrows of life, but in the next hour. 

“Be still and know I am God."  Psalm 46:10
I know this past weekend I needed to.  In this, we can take our dog’s example.  We need to take time out from the busyness or chaos in life and just ‘be still’: rest, rejuvenate and be reassured in God.    

Make sure you take time out today, to be still and rest in God. Matthew 11: 28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

When Hamish is out with me, and decides to chase after every jogger, bicycle, or just be naughty, it reflects badly on me.  It doesn’t reflect too badly on him, as people rightly assume that I should be able to control Him.  Stop things before they happen.  He is a witness to how I am as a dog owner.  Looking at him will tell someone a lot about me.  He can be a good or bad witness.

Now being a Christian is different, as when we sin, it’s not God’s fault! But people still look at us and make judgments about God, in part because of our witness.
‘He says he is a Christian, if that’s what a Christian is, I don’t want to be one.’   Do you realise you could be a stumbling block to someone coming to know Christ, by your attitude, what you say, what you do?

It’s not just sharing the gospel with people, which makes you a good witness but how you are doing it.  I think we all have come across people that seem angry, or appear to have no love or grace sharing the gospel.  The bible says that is like a clanging cymbal. Maybe that is where the phrase ‘bible thumper/basher’ comes from?  As sometimes I feel I am going to be assaulted!

“…always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
1 Peter 3:15

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it!  I’ve heard people saying all the right things (and even wishing I could phrase it like that) but they don’t come across as having any love or concern for the people they are sharing it with!

There is a pendulum it seems about the viewpoint on witnessing.  Some are basically ashamed of God at work, with friends (Mark 8:28 – Then God will be ashamed of you) or they never say anything, believing that by living a ‘good life’ on its own is enough. 
Then the pendulum swings the other way,  ‘the every time you see someone, knowing they are going to preach at you.’

I believe we need to first have and show Christ’s love in our speech, attitude, actions – in everything. 

We need to be in constant prayer, asking God to give us an opportunity to speak to our neighbour or work colleague.  Having the attitude of ‘God hasn’t told me yet to do it’ is wrong, if you haven’t specifically prayed about it! 
If you don’t pray about it and ask God to give you an opportunity, then don’t be surprised when there isn’t one! 

“always being prepared” Are we prepared?

As well as the right motives – love and prayer, have you memorised any bible verses that show people the gospel? 
Have you tried to put into words your testimony, how God has specifically worked in your life/situation?
That’s the most powerful witness there is – your story of how God has worked, changed you.

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.“  Colossians 4:6

Have we taken the time to know where someone is in life?  Are they hurting, do they have a need?  Each person will respond to a different approach, how you will phrase it.  We still have to do it in love and graciousness.  Sometimes a more gentle approach is required others a more no nonsense way is needed

Do we even have a desire to witness?

"You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.”
“And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him?”
Pray that an opportunity will open up and that we will be ready for it.

God loves dogs!  It’s not just you that thinks your dog is cute.  It’s not just you that takes pleasure in your dogs cute antics.  That weird animal in the aquarium that makes you smile, God took pleasure in creating it. 
God also cares about animals - “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26
God says the birds are valuable. God loves animals, He feeds them!  As much as God loves animals, God loves you so much more.  He cares about you so much more.  God cares about, where in life you are right now. 
Do you think it’s just your dog that loves you in life? Are you feeling lonely apart from your dog?  God is glad they give you company. 
But are you missing out on the fact that God loves you so very much?
It’s not a theoretical concept.  God made it tangible.  Jesus came and died on the cross for our sins, in our place – instead of us.  If we come to Him and accept His gift, you will experience God’s love.  It’s always there, but you may not have experienced it, in a tangible, real, personal way.

You can then experience the whole love of God.

 The ‘wraps you from head to toe’ warmest duvet on the coldest day, but so much more kind of love. 
The knowing whatever I am going through, God has me in His hollow of His hand, nobody can pluck me from, kind of love (John 10:28). 
The “I love you so much, I want you to reach your full potential in Me” kind of love. 
The “I love you so much, I know “this” is hurting you, even if you don’t, so stop doing it!” kind of love.  The “I love you and am patient with you, even though at the moment you are behaving like a two year with a tantrum” kind of love.

However much you may burst with love for your dog or your children. It is like a grain of sand in all the Universe compared to God’s love for you.  He has already shown you His love – Jesus dying for your sins.  Have you experienced God’s love yet, by accepting Him as your saviour and Lord?

Do you ever feel that way? Are you upset with God?

Have you never come to know God personally, because you just can’t get past something?

God knows what you are feeling, so you might as well come to Him and be honest about it! I don’t know why we don’t sometimes. There have been times in my life, I just didn’t speak to God for days. It was so stupid, as God knew what my thoughts were but I just didn’t speak directly to Him.

Do you know you can be honest with God in your prayers? Really! Whatever you are feeling, you can talk to God.
Look at Job, he didn’t know what was going on. Look at what he felt in the passage, and yet he still came and talked to God about it! Sometimes we keep it to ourselves, try and work it out, thinking we will come back and talk to God later, once we have sorted it out in our own mind.

 If we aren’t talking to God, it’s only hurting us.
‘But Judith you don’t know what I am going through, I’m upset with God.’  Do you not think he already knows that?
I love Job and some of the Psalmists as they are brutally honest in their feelings with God.  Those bible verses remind me that however I feel at the time, I should talk to God.

I believe when we are honest with God about our feelings on a situation. In my experience, God can do a few things when answering us -

- If it's sin, He can rebuke us quickly.  We realise our attitude stinks, we repent of it and anything else revealed to us, and God restores our relationship.

- God slowly shows us what we were thinking was wrong and why it was.  Maybe showing us the situation from a different point of view.

- He comforts us, giving us His promise and strength that He will be with us through the situation.

- Or God resolves it. 

When you look at those verses the one thing to note is that they eventually ended up thanking or praising God.  They worked out/through things with God.  They didn’t try and figure it out on their own.

We often don't have the whole picture in a situation, only God does.

And Job ended up getting blessed much more than before.

  If you don’t know God at all and are angry or upset at Him or anybody else, talk to God about it.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Anthony will tell you, that after we come back from being out, and he lets Hamish out of his pen, Hamish will ignore him, bolt straight past him and wait at the back door for me to come in from the garage.    If Anthony has taken him out for a walk, afterwards he will run around the house until he finds me. 
Hamish has utter faith that I will be there and he will find me.  When he does find me, I shower him with love.

Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Do you have that utter faith in God, even when He seems quiet in your situation?

 Do you know what verse I love, especially in times of doubt?   "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
(Mark 9:24)  Oh what a wonderful passage!  

Are you struggling with faith? 
 I love the assurance that even if you feel you have such a small amount of faith,  if it’s the size of a mustard seed, God can use us. (Matthew 17:20).
 And like that seed, faith does grow:  If you water it with prayer, nourish it with God’s word and let the Holy Spirit encourage it.   That’s how much God loves us and is rooting for us to grow in Him!

Do you earnestly seek God or give up when He isn’t answering quickly enough?

 If everything was given to us on a silver platter - even in how we want our prayers answered, we wouldn’t need faith.  We wouldn’t earnestly be seeking God in every situation.  We would become complacent. (Hebrews 6:12)

 God does reveal Himself to us but He wants us to seek Him first, asking “what is YOUR will in this situation?”
He wants our faith to be stretched.   Why? 

“for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:3 

It’s because as always,  God wants something even better for us!

Hamish must have liked my blog yesterday. Today he was trying to be so helpful by bringing inside loads of leaves and leaving them on the carpet, to help me remember who God is.  What other reason could he have had? mmmm....

Psalm 89:2, 8 (read the whole psalm about God's faithfulness)
"I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself...
O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you."

Like most dogs Hamish is faithful.  As one dictionary put faithfulness - Hamish is “steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant” companion, although he is no ‘greyfriars bobby’!
(I like to believe in the original story)

 I think God created that attribute in dogs so we would always be reminded of God’s faithfulness.  Not that we should need dogs to show us that, but more that we need it to be reinforced in our daily thinking.

Deuteronomy 32:4
"He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he."

God is faithful, steadfast and trustworthy.   Our dogs will let us down, our spouse, our friends, family but there is one who will never let you down – God.

Sometimes in our interpretation of our circumstance we feel God has.  But He hasn’t.  He may not always answer prayers in the way we think He should and we may not know why (Isaiah 55:9).   But because we know He is the definition of goodness and love, we can be assured that He has something more perfect and right for us in the end. 

God never changes; He is as faithful today as He was when He kept his promise and gave Abraham and Sarah a child, or delivering the Israelites from Egypt. 

God is faithful in my salvation, in His love, in His promises.  What area in our life do we need reminding that God is faithful?

Is it when we are tempted (“And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear,”) assurance of salvation or something else?  Or do you need to come to Him, and know and experience God and His faithfulness for the first time?

"Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!" Psalm 100:1

When you saw the leaves in my garden what did you first think?  That’s a lot of raking up, or that looks beautiful and fun?  I love Autumn,  it’s my favourite time of year and I think the most beautiful with those different colours in the trees.

 I’ll share with you a secret, recently when I read “The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!" Isaiah 55:12 I smiled when I imagined the trees so full of joy, at how beautiful God had made them.  That they couldn’t contain all the excitement, so all their leaves fell off with all the clapping of their hands! (winking smilie insert!)

(# see end) Even looking at verses in a light hearted, humorous but still respectful way I think is good, as it helps me to remember verses and think more about them.

 I think we should take more examples from dogs, learning to enjoy the simple things in that small moment in time.  Not worrying about bills to be paid, or stuff to do but take time out and marvel at God’s creation.  Life can be hard and everything can seem overwhelming at times.  If we remember that God created complex humans, the mountains and the trees -  we then realise if He made all creation then he can deal with ALL of our problems – that small, large, impossible, annoying, nagging problem.

Hamish loves playing, he has to jump in every puddle. He has taught me to enjoy ‘in the moment’ things.  If I see a pile of leaves on a walk, I just love kicking them, playing in them, even picking up a lovely shade of red leaf (my favourite).

There are always things in life that comes along, that are hard or difficult. That’s why it’s even more important to look for,  and take pleasure in the everyday moments.  I say look for, as sometimes we just see the negative in things – leaves that need raked up.  God created those autumn colours for you, he picked those shades of red and gold.

You tell your children ‘great job with painting that picture’.  When was the last time you thanked God for his stunning, beautiful handiwork?  Just praising Him, without a laundry list of prayer requests?

Take a moment out and go kick some leaves, put your ‘wellies’ on and jump in a puddle or find a beautiful leaf.

"But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, 'The Lord is great!'"
Psalm 40:16