Erin:  Hi, this is Erin Michele, and welcome to step to trusting  at steps or trusting. It is my goal to meet you where you are in your faith journey and encourage you to continue to take steps to trusting the Lord more fully. 

[00:00:19] Guys, welcome to our bonus episode. I had so much fun putting together the one for Thanksgiving. I wanted to continue to share that encouragement with you guys.  Already as I’ve been putting these shows together, I’ve been encouraged by the truth of God’s word and encouraged to look deeper into the promises and characteristics of God because of hearing people sharing it with me.

[00:00:43] I want to invite you to participate in this. We have been using the #stepstothankful2020. I encourage you to join us in that.  I would love to hear the verses that you are thankful for and why you’re thankful for them. It’s such an encouragement to me to hear how God’s word is affecting people’s lives.

[00:01:03] We’re going to continue what we started in the last episode, giving thanks for God’s word, the promises and the truth that are contained in it.

[00:01:12] I wanted to start us off with a verse from Psalm 107:1.   It is a call to give thanks to the Lord.

[00:01:21]”Give, thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

[00:01:24] His love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”

[00:01:29] This whole passage, Psalm 107 continues to call us to give thanks. Down in verse eight it says, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

[00:01:49]It continues to repeat over and over to call us to give thanks. I am thankful for this verse because it reminds me to look for the things that God is doing around me.  It reminds me to look at the character of who my God is.  And it reminds me to be thankful.

[00:02:10] Lee Ann: Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all that God has done for us. One verse that stands out to me in times of Thanksgiving is Matthew 7:7. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find knock,and the door will be open to you.”

[00:02:26] I am so thankful that we have a God who hears us, a God who is with us, a God who listens to us and a God who wants to always be there for us.

[00:02:40] Rachael: My name is Rachel Johnson and the Bible first that encourages me is, Matthew six, verses 33 and 34, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. “

[00:03:00] 2020 has definitely been an odd year for everyone.  And during the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I was worrying about  what summer would look like. And then what school would look like in the following fall. And a friend sent this to me and it’s just been a place of comfort for me because I can’t worry about tomorrow. I can’t do anything about tomorrow. So if I try to just do the best that I have today for me and my family and for my boys, then, God will take care of the rest of it .

[00:03:35]Carol: My name is Carol.  I’m  sharing  a verse that, speaks to me in particular, concerning Thanksgiving.

[00:03:45]Listen for the word Thanksgiving. The verse is from Philippians chapter four and it’s verse six.

[00:03:54] “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in all things by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

[00:04:13]I’m very appreciative that we  can  ask God whatever is on our heart to talk with him about which in itself is just so wonderful that God would like us to petition him.  I’m very appreciative that a very anxious mind can receive peace of God in that verse, the word Thanksgiving is very pivotal. When we pray and ask God, if we first acknowledged in gratitude and Thanksgiving everything that he has already  accomplished for us; if we  ask but we ask from a spirit of gratitude, it changes us and it changes us in a good way.

[00:04:56] Annaliza: Hi, my name is Annalisa Smith. I am here to tell you my  favorite scriptures. They’re two that I’m super thankful for as they get me through. Many rough times, having four young children and being home right now, especially during coronavirus. These two pieces of scripture have really come in handy to me.

[00:05:19] The first one is, Isaiah 40:31. “They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on Eagle’s wings; they will run and not grow weary and walk and not grow faint.”

[00:05:33] And the  second one is Matthew 11:28-30. ‘Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me ,for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

[00:05:51] So I’m really thankful for the both of those, because I’m a stay-at-home mom. I do have four young children and there’s just a lot of things going on in our house. A lot of emotions running around and there are times when I need to remain calm. And I’m tired and I need to find the strength from somewhere and it doesn’t always happen by just turning around and counting to 10.

[00:06:15] So actually,  a good friend of mine who had heard  one of my favorite scriptures was Matthew, painted this little rock for me and I carry it around in my purse and in my car. It’s an egg yolk, not the same as yolk. But I hold it and it reminds me sometimes it went, I’m just overwhelmed and  I need  a reminder to seek the Lord. I grab this little stone out of my purse and I look at it and it makes me remember the scriptures of the Lord being there for us and his grace and sharing his strength with us when we need with the most.

[00:06:47] Shelby: My favorite verse, the one that I am using a lot is,  second Timothy 1:7 and it’s “God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind.”

[00:07:01]He has given us power and love and a sound mind and  Oh, that’s amazing. I’m mostly a stay at home momma. And so I need that.  He gives us power. He gives us love. He gives us a sound mind, and I feel like I use that more within my daily life with my kiddos, than anything else.

[00:07:24]Gina: Hi everyone. My name is Gina Westlake. One of my favorite verses in scripture and for which I am most thankful is the beginning part of Revelation 19:11, which reads, “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he who sat on him was called Faithful and True.”

[00:07:48] The words faithful and true are capitalized there because the essence of who Jesus is, is so well described in those two words that they’re actually given to him as names.

[00:08:01]Jesus is fully loyal, fully dependable, fully worthy of all of our trust and our faith. I love that.

[00:08:10] Jesus is everything he says he is. Everything that he has said or will say will come true. Everything about his character, all his promises, his coming to earth as God in the form of man living amongst mankind, teaching his miracles, his death, and his resurrection, all factual.

[00:08:35] This leads me to the second part of why I love this verse which is that it reminds me that Jesus is coming back. He is coming back from heaven. He will be on that white horse and he will conquer all and we will one day spend all of eternity with our wonderful, faithful and true savior. I hope that this verse will encourage and inspire cause you to love our Lord even more as it does for me.

[00:09:02] And I wish you all a most thankful Thanksgiving.

[00:09:07]Erin: Friends. Thank you for listening in. I hope these verses and encouraging words, encourage you to look into God’s word, to see what promises in the Bible we have to be thankful for. And how can we give God thanks and praise because of who he is and what he has done for us. 

[00:09:24]I’m going to close this in prayer.

[00:09:27] Dear God, I thank you so much for the blessings that you give us.  I thank you for your word. I thank you that we can learn about you and your word. I thank you that we can encourage each other with your word. Lord, give us eyes to see the blessings that you have given us.

[00:09:45] Father, I pray that you would be with us on this Thanksgiving week and help us to continue to give. Thanks even though the day of Thanksgiving has passed. Lord God, give us thankful hearts. It’s in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

[00:10:00]I have been encouraged as I have been listening to the truth of God’s word, spoken by these women. I am so encouraged hearing how God is working in the lives of people around us and how God uses his word to grow us, to teach us to rely on him. I pray that it encourages you to.

[00:10:20] I don’t want the fun to stop after this podcast, I would love to continue to hear  the truth of God’s word   why you are thankful for it and how it is affecting you. speaking and sharing the truth of God can have an impact on those around us.

[00:10:38]Normally included in the show notes are journaling questions to help you continue to process this topic. But this time, instead, my question, I’m going to give it to you right here is what verse are you thankful for?

[00:10:53] And why? What are the promises that we have to be thankful for? And God’s word?  What are the characteristics of God that we are learning about? What are the blessings that he has poured out to us in his word? Friends I want to invite you to share your answers to some of these questions with me  by using the  #stepstothankful2020.  

[00:11:20] There are more details on my Facebook and Instagram wall. You can find me at steps to trusting on both of those platforms.

[00:11:30]I can’t wait to hear the encouragement of God’s word that you have to share. And how it is affecting and changing you.

[00:11:40]Friends,  give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, for his promises, for his blessings. “Give, thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever.”  

[00:11:56]As always, I hope you join us back here next timbut until then, I wanted to leave you with this reminder from Ephesians 2:10. “For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God  prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

[00:12:12] Friends. I am praying for you as you keep on stepping.