Jane and I welcome you back to Week Three of  Simple Thanks! Thanksgiving breathes life into our dark, hard places. Thanksgiving also dares us to live fully in the moment. Let the habit of thanksgiving permeate your heart and mind as God continues to shower His grace upon you. Give Him your ashes of bitterness and ingratitude and in return accept one thousand gifts of beauty and grace. Life is a gift–rejoice and give thanks!

Here is our introduction video to Week 3:

Community Call

Here is our Community Call for All Is Grace to listen to AFTER you finish the weekly homework:  All Is Grace

Weekly Homework

Below you will find homework for each level of study. Feel free to change between Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3  as your schedule allows! Remember, there is no pressure to complete every activity. These are just options for your growth. They can be accessed at any time, even after the study ends.

Level 1, Study: Weekly Goals 

• For Week 3, watch  SESSION 3: All is Grace.
• Continue to add to your One Thousand Gifts journal.
• Complete the study guide  and between sessions homework PDFs.
• Feel free to do any of the other activities from Levels 2 and 3 as your time allows.

Level 2, Community: Weekly Goals 

• For Week 3, watch  SESSION 3: All is Grace.
• Continue to add to your One Thousand Gifts journal.
• Complete the study guide  and between sessions homework PDFs.
• Answer the question on the Speak Your Mind comment section at the bottom of this post.
• Join the Community Call, Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. EST on Talk Shoe (Information on TalkShoe is in your weekly email.)
• Listen to the Podcast for information on walking in the grace of God:

 Level 3, Opportunity: Weekly Goals 

• For Week 3, watch  SESSION 3: All is Grace.
• Continue to add to your One Thousand Gifts journal.
• Complete the study guide  and between sessions homework PDFs.
• Answer the question on the Speak Your Mind comment section at the bottom of this post, join the Community Call on Wednesday night on TalkShoe, and listen to the Podcast at the link provided up above.
• Don’t forget to check out our private Facebook page. Leave your comments about this week’s study,post your prayer requests, or share any insights/questions you may have. Only members of our Bible study group will see these posts.
• In the evening, do devotions 11-15 in the One Thousand Gifts Devotional journal.
• Read chapters 6-7 in One Thousand Gifts trade book by Ann Voskamp.
• Take advantage of the Extra Simple resources by clicking on the links below:

Give Thanks

Count Your Blessings

“Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

As we count the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us, please enjoy this beautiful music by Paul Cardall:

Questions of the Week (Please respond in the Speak Your Mind section at the very bottom of this page).

How has God turned the ugly to beautiful in your life?

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15 (NIV)

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV)

Today is the second day of our Holy Week series, and the stanza of the poem that is our focus is the following:

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.

(Click here for the complete poem. Here is the first day of the series on Judging.)

Imagine sitting down on a hot summer day to a bowl full of frosty, juicy, crisp grapes that burst in your mouth with… bitterness. Can you imagine how awful that would taste? Bitterness leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. According to Hebrews 12:15, we are to guard against bitterness because one bitter heart can defile and trouble many people. Bitterness is a sign of unforgiveness. In the original Greek, bitterness means “extreme wickedness, hatred, virulence and harshness.”  And as the Bible verse suggests, if left untended, bitterness will root and grow and produce a harvest of destruction. It’s true in our lives that a bitter root yields a bitter fruit.

The word bitter when traced back  to its origin means “to fasten, to fasten something together, to construct something by fastening it together.” So if we are bitter against a person in a literal sense by withholding forgiveness, we are fastening that person to us and dragging them with us wherever we may go! Do you see now one of the reasons why bitterness is so destructive? We are forever tying ourselves to that very thing we are bitter about, which is preventing us from healing. As Joyce Meyer says, “You may have a reason to be bitter, but by the word of God, you do not have a right.”

What is the antidote then for bitterness? Forgiveness. Forgiveness means to release someone from prison or from bondage. Forgiving someone does not mean that what they did to us is okay; it means we are releasing them from our own vengeance and giving them over to God. Sometimes the one we may be bitter against and need to release from bondage is ourself.  This Easter let us pray and ask God to help make us willing to lay aside our bitterness and trade it in for forgiveness. Let’s set a few captives free. That’s what Easter is all about, isn’t it?

Application: So during this Holy Week, what is it that you need to leave at the feet of the cross? Who or what are you bitter against that you need to let go, that you need to forgive? Let the first captive that’s set free be you.

Prayer: Dear Lord, it can be difficult releasing bitterness. That heavy thing we’re dragging around feels normal after a while. Help us to let go, release, and forgive so that we can experience the joy and lightness of living in forgiveness and freedom. Amen.

Image courtesy of domdeen / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: markuso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“Whatever is on the heart will spill out on the tongue.” I have found this bit of wisdom to be very true! The Bible intructs us to carefully guard what we allow to reside in our hearts because our hearts affect our character and behavior. To do the study You are What You Speak, just click on the link!

Photo by Michelle Meiklejohn Rest Time

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/agree-terms.php

God wants us to be whole and healthy. He has come to heal us from sin and bitterness. If you need healing in your life, please click on the link and do the study “The God Who Heals.”