Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100)

When the Pilgrims had experienced their first successful harvest in the New World, they decided to give thanks for the Lord's provision, even though half of them had died in the year since their arrival. Inviting the neighboring natives to join them, they held a three-day celebration patterned after their knowledge of the Feast of Tabernacles.

It's Your kindness that leads us to repentance O Lord (Romans 2:4)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Here we have God in His most active mode, deliberately weaving every event of our lives together into a tapestry of beneficial effect.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (Hebrews 6:19)

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

If you like, you can think of this as a follow up to our study titled OK, I’m Saved. Now What?  Having shown that once we became a believer all the sins of our life were forgiven at the cross,

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17). Only let us live up to what we have already attained (Phil 3:16).

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

“Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house,

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4