Psalm 116:17 – I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. (NKJV)

I have a vivid memory of one particular day when I was ministering in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. The doorbell rang, and it was Lottie Jones Florist with a big bouquet from a member of the congregation. As if in answer to my unspoken question "Why… ?", the card read simply, "Just Because." The lady who sent it had no idea that I was going through a very distressing period in my ministry, and that I desperately needed encouragement. I took it as a sign of God's love, that He would motivate her to express her appreciation for my ministry at just the right time. How valuable it is to say, "Thanks!" And when it comes "out of the blue", when it's not expected, it vastly increases in value.

The "Thanksgiving" time of year reminds us to express gratitude to God for all of His good gifts. I'm sure that it's very encouraging to Him when His people actually remember that we deserve nothing from Him, yet His abundant mercies never cease. I pity those members of our society who recognize no God to express appreciation to. How do such people say "thanks" for a beautiful sunset?

What are you thankful for? Now retired, I'm grateful to God that I attend a congregation with wonderful people, warm-hearted, co-operative, generous, with such good morale and harmony. And I'm grateful for a Saviour Who loved me and you so dearly that He would lay down His life for us.

What can we do in return? Recently, I read about a woman who discovered that the man in the car ahead had paid her toll at the booth. He was already gone, so she couldn't pay him back. But she could have paid for the car behind her. God has paid the price for our sin and has been so good to us; we can't pay Him back, but we can do good to someone else. "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord". (Colossians 3:23a NKJV)

Prayer: Thank you, Father, for all Your precious gifts. Give us the opportunity today to pass on Your generosity to someone else. Amen.

Over the last 20 years, PresbyCan has published over 30 devotionals based on the usefulness of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in locating ourselves on a map, or directing us to a destination. Recently, I experienced a different outcome, based on Google's use of GPS to guide me. On one occasion, about a mile before my destination, the app directed me off the freeway and through city streets. On my return, I was immediately directed onto the freeway, but I noticed that in the opposite direction, traffic had come to a standstill. Suddenly, it dawned on me that Google had saved me from being caught in a mile-long traffic jam!

Later, I was driving my grandson to a hockey practice, located in the same building as a large downtown arena. Unbeknownst to us, there was an NHL hockey game scheduled for the same time as the hockey practice. This time, Google directed us off the freeway at an earlier exit than usual. Above the freeway, we could see below us all the traffic ahead, waiting to exit and find parking for the game. We wound our way through the city streets and quickly arrived at the practice venue. On my return trip later, I was immediately directed onto the freeway, and I realized that Google had once again saved me a lot of time stuck in traffic.

I understand that the way the Google smartphone app works is that it sends information to the Google computer, which can calculate how fast all the users are going. It notes the ones that are stopped, and if there are a lot, it directs those approaching the slow or stopped traffic to take a different route, thus saving them a lot of time.

As I contemplated how Google uses the GPS "eye in the sky", it made me think about how much better our all-knowing, all-powerful God is, because He not only sees what is going on now, but He also knows ahead of time what is going to happen in the future. That is why it is essential for us to consult God for direction in making significant decisions. Sometimes, we may feel that God is directing us towards a choice that makes no sense. Sometimes, if we obey His inner urgings, we may never know what harm or injury that we avoided by following His guidance. Other times, looking back, we may actually gain insight, and say to ourselves, "Wow! Look at all this that has happened because I made that unusual decision." That has happened to me on several important occasions, as well as the reverse, when I delayed obeying His voice, and missed a significant event that I have regretted ever since. So, I know that it is essential for us to pay careful attention to God's guidance. It is far better than any GPS!

Prayer: Lord, for us who love You, You have promised to work all things together for our good and Your glory. Help us to remember to trust You for guidance in our daily lives, and enable us to obey You. Amen.

A calendrical savant — or calendar savant — is someone who has the special skill of being able to name the day of the week that any date lands on.

When my son David began driving buses two years ago, one of his regular riders was "Jennifer". When she first met him, she asked when his birthday was. This fall, he hadn't been driving as much because of a teacher-training course that he was taking. However, he decided to take a shift one day just before Christmas. He hadn't seen Jennifer since the summer, but that day, she got on his bus with her social worker. When she was getting off the bus, she said to him, "Can you remind me what your name is?" David told her, and she immediately replied, "Your birthday is today! You are 40 years old today! Happy birthday!" She then broke out into a full chorus of "Happy birthday to you!" David was ecstatic that she had remembered. Five and ten minutes later, departing passengers each wished him, "Happy birthday!" — a gift that kept on giving! At his birthday party that evening, David was excited to tell us the whole story in detail.

What are the chances that such a person would remember such details and then get on one particular bus, out of a hundred that David could have driven, on the exact day when those details were so significant for a milestone birthday? I'd say that the chances are so remote that the simplest explanation is the existence of a loving God with a great sense of humour, Who is just waiting to bless us with random acts of kindness on occasion!

People who are neurodivergent have different strengths and challenges than those whose brains don't have those differences. Such people are often not valued highly. But God is able to use all of us to fulfil His purposes on earth, such as encouraging my son with a minor miracle. Regardless of our skills and abilities, God loves us all equally.

Does the love of God seem real in your life?

1 John 4:9-11 – This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (NIV)

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for showing Your love for us through our Lord Jesus. Help us to experience that love in its fullest measure. Amen.

We were travelling from Kingston to Exeter, Ontario, Canada, on December 24th with our three young children to spend Christmas with my parents.

The weather was beautiful. Suddenly, near Punkydoodles Corners, between New Hamburg and Tavistock, we encountered a terrible snowstorm.

It was so sudden that we thought that a farmer was blowing out his driveway. We finally reached the small town of Tavistock and were informed that we could not continue. All the roads had been closed.

This was early afternoon. We called my parents and told them of our situation. They advised us to stay put because the weather around Exeter was awful. Well, we discovered that there was a hotel in the middle of town. Great! We could get a room there. But we soon found out that this was not possible. All the rooms were booked.

Yes, no room at the inn.

We were told that we could remain in the lounge for as long as necessary. This was great news. But it got better. An older couple in town heard about our situation and offered us lodging. All five of us were wined and dined. We enjoyed a fabulous Christmas dinner which was intended for their kids, who could not get home either. In the morning, we were all served a delicious breakfast.

Yes, there was no room at the inn, but God provided, and He provided in abundance.

Without the generosity and hospitality of someone who offered Mary and Joseph a place to stay so that their Baby, Who was to be born in Bethlehem, could be wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger, the Christmas story as we know it could not have happened.

Luke 2:6-7 – While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (NIV)

Let us be especially vigilant this Christmas season for those whom God may put in our path to whom we may show hospitality.

Hebrews 13:2 – Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (NLT)

Prayer: Lord, You have showered us with love and care, sheltering us all our lives. Show us those to whom we can pass on Your favour. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.

Then, I thought that I might try it myself. So, I instructed Bing in the Edge browser to write a 500-word Christian devotional based on Isaiah 43:19 and specified the version. A few seconds later, out came an uplifting devotional:

Isaiah 43:19 in the New Living Translation says, "For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."

This verse is a promise of hope and restoration for God's people. It is a powerful reminder that God is always at work in our lives, even when we can't see it.

God promises always to be doing something new in our lives. He is constantly working behind the scenes, bringing about new things and making a way where there seems to be no way. When we feel stuck in the wilderness or lost in the desert, God promises to make a pathway for us. He will provide streams of living water to quench our thirst and guide us on our journey.

As we meditate on this verse, let us remember that God is faithful to His promises. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), and He will always make a way for us when there seems to be no way. Let us trust in His goodness and His love for us, knowing that He is always working for our good (Romans 8:28).

Let us pray: Dear God, thank You for Your promise to do something new in our lives. Help us to trust in Your goodness and Your love for us. Guide us on our journey and provide streams of living water to quench our thirst. We know that You are always working behind the scenes, even when we can't see it. Help us to remember that You are faithful to Your promises and that You will always make a way for us when there seems to be no way. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

I hope that you were encouraged by such helpful advice! I was impressed that "it" came up with the Hebrews and Romans verses all on its own and wrote a very good prayer. However, it did not meet our guidelines for writing devotionals: it was missing the personal experience that we like our devotionals to begin with or include. In fact, it is impossible for a computer to have a real-life experience of any kind, certainly not one with its "creator", but especially not the kind of personal relationship with God that is so central to the Christian faith.

This raises an important question for professing believers. Do we have a personal relationship with God, or is what we believe simply based on what we have heard in sermons or Bible studies? Do we know a lot about God, or do we know God personally?

Prayer: Lord, draw us ever closer to Yourself, that we may know You intimately, as we know our closest friend. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Then it strikes me. How similar that is to the feeling that some unchurched people have expressed when they think about coming to God or attending church. They consider that it is important for them to clean up their lives before they present themselves before God.

On the other hand, some church-going people like to think of their lives as clean before God, not realizing how sinful they really are. Because they are fine, upstanding, moral, good-living people, they think that they have very little to confess. I know — I've been there! When we do realize that we have done or thought something wrong, we often try to excuse ourselves or rationalize our mistakes, thinking that it was only a small, insignificant misstep, or that anyone else would have done the same thing under the same circumstances.

However, it turns out that when it comes to removing sin from our lives, none of us can excuse our own sin or clean ourselves up. The essence of coming to Jesus is realizing and admitting that only God can forgive sins. The realization of that fact is called "repentance" — thinking again — taking a 180-degree turn from self to God. How much easier it would be simply to admit our error to God and let Him forgive us, as only God can do.

When Jesus was teaching indoors at Capernaum, the crowd was so dense that four men, who wanted their paralyzed friend to be healed, broke through the roof and lowered their friend down inside the house in front of Jesus.

Luke 5:20-24 – When [Jesus] saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" — He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." (NKJV)

Let's break through the roof of our pride right now, and let ourselves down in front of Jesus, to have Him forgive us and restore us to wholeness before God.

Prayer: Thank You for Your promise that if we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) Amen.

Recently, I came across the story of Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran minister, who came to the German city of Eilenburg in 1637 near the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. Because the city was walled, it became overcrowded with refugees from the armed conflict in the surrounding countryside. The city was conquered by different armies three times, and Rinkart often had to house soldiers in his home.

That same year, a severe plague broke out, killing 8,000 people, including Rinkart's wife, all of the town's other clergymen, and a large number of children. Rinkart had to do the work of three pastors, conducting as many as 50 funerals a day, a total of 4,480. Many refugees were buried in trenches without a service. After the plague, the city was hit by an extreme famine. Through it all, he faithfully cared for the sick and hungry, sharing what little food he had for his own family. Rinkart remained well throughout the plague and subsequent famine.

There is good evidence that he took to heart the apostle Paul's injunction, "Be thankful in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT), for out of this experience, he wrote the hymn, "Nun danket alle Gott", translated by Catherine Winkworth:

Now thank we all our God,
With heart, and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In Whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mother's arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

What can you think of today to be thankful to God for?

Recently, someone told me about taking a "gratitude walk". She takes time out to begin her day by walking and thinking about all the things that she is thankful for. She returns with a happy mind, at peace with the challenges of managing her household. God certainly knows what's best for us when He counselled us to "be thankful in all circumstances"!

Prayer: Lord God, give us grateful hearts! Help us always to have a positive, uplifting, thankful attitude, and to look for the good in everything. Amen.