Thanksgiving is not just a holiday.

It is a way of life.

As we study the scriptures with Scott Pauley today,

we pray that God will help us learn how to develop grateful hearts and hopes.

What is your greatest blessing? Top of the list, what would you say is the greatest blessing

in your life? One year for Thanksgiving with our children,

we created a little Thanksgiving list. We posted it in our kitchen. And every day, for several

days, we all had to write something on the list. When it was done, it was beautiful just to sit down

and go back through it and see what each

of the children had thought of and the things that had come to our hearts. And it was quite a list,

not exhaustive. It's never exhaustive. But one of the things that I noticed is that repeatedly,

the thing that seemed to top the list was the fact that we have been born again, that we have

eternal life through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

You know, the truth of the matter is, God has provided so many good things for us, but the

greatest provision we have is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, there really are three parts

to your life. The Apostle Paul alluded to this in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5, interestingly enough,

just after writing and everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

concerning you in verse 18.

He says in verse 23, and the very God of peace sanctify you holy,

and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We serve a triune God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Man has a triune

nature. The Bible says that we are a spirit. That's where God dwells. That's the deepest part of you.

...