This is the Daily Article podcast, published by the Denison Forum for Culture-Changing Christians.

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thedailyarticle.com. Now here's today's news, discerned differently.

Americans are expected to spend roughly $87 billion in Black Friday in Cyber Monday this year.

Counter to stereotypes, 88% of men say they plan to shop on those two days versus 85% of women.

Men will also spend more than women on average. One more gender-related fact,

men at 56% are more likely than women at 49% to regret a shopping purchase. And so our culture

shifts its focus from gratitude for what we have to shopping for what we do not have. There's a surprising spiritual

lesson here for us. This Thanksgiving week, we've been discussing the biblical commands to

give thanks in all circumstances, and to always give thanks to God the Father for everything.

We have noted that God calls us to give thanks in and for all that

we experience. The harder our circumstances, the harder such gratitude can be. So we learned on Tuesday

to trust God to redeem all he allows. On Wednesday, we focused on the power of public gratitude in times of hardship.

Yesterday, we learned that when we thank God for his material provisions, we position

ourselves to experience even greater spiritual grace. Each of these days, we focused on gratitude

in the present tense. Let's close our Thanksgiving week by thinking about what we do not

yet have. As we will discover, when we thank God for the future in the present, we experience his

providence in transforming ways. John 6 tells the story of Jesus' feeding of the 5,000.

We are familiar with the boy who had five barley loaves and two fish,

and the fact that Jesus distributed them to those who were seated.

So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

Two elements of this miracle are often overlooked.

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