Take a moment today to acknowledge and be grateful for the little things — the small gestures of kindness and favor that God has expressed though familiar and even unknown people who’ve touched your life. It’s amazing how meaningful and rich life becomes when we practice an attitude of gratitude for every good gift God has given. Happy Thanksgiving!
I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.
(Eph. 1:15)
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Take a moment today to acknowledge and be grateful for the little things — the small gestures of kindness and favor that God has expressed though familiar and even unknown people who’ve touched your life. It’s amazing how meaningful and rich life becomes when we practice an attitude of gratitude for every good gift God has given. Happy Thanksgiving!
I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.
(Eph. 1:15)
When is the last time you gave thanks from your heart for the loved ones God has placed in your life? The phrase “give thanks” in Ephesians 1:15 comes from the Greek word eucharisteo, a compound of the words eu and charis. The word eu means good or well. It denotes a general good disposition or an overwhelmingly good feeling about something. The word charisteo is from charis, which is the Greek word for grace or freely granted favor.
When these two words are compounded into one, they form the word eucharisteo. This compound word describes an outpouring of grace and of wonderful feelings that freely flow from the heart in response to someone or something. This is the word Paul used when he “gave thanks” for the Ephesian church. In fact, in nearly all his epistles, Paul used eucharisteo when he “gave thanks” for people he loved.
For instance, Paul used this word in Ephesians 1:15 when he said, “I cease not to give thanks for you….” This means that when Paul thought of the Ephesian church, wonderful feelings of thankfulness would well up in his heart for them.
The Greek carries this idea in Ephesians 1:15:
Thanking God for you is so easy— it just flows out of my heart every time I think of you. In fact, I never take a break from letting God know how I feel about you.
In Colossians 1:3, Paul uses the same Greek word when he says, “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” In First Thessalonians 1:2, he again uses the same Greek word when he prays similarly for the Thessalonian believers: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.” In Second Thessalonians 1:3, he uses this word again when he writes, “We are bound to thank God always for you….”
The fact that Paul used the word eucharistia when he prayed for his dearest friends reminds us that we must be thankful for the relationships God has put in our lives. Whenever we think of our closest circle of friends, a deep sense of gratefulness, thankfulness, and appreciation should well up within us!
So when you’re praying for others, I encourage you to stop for a moment and reflect on all God has done in your life through those who are closest to you. When you realize how valuable those relationships have been to you, you’ll be able to freely, joyfully, and unreservedly thank God for such precious friends!
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Rick and Denise met while they were each on an individual quest to wholeheartedly follow God's plan for their lives. Rick was a college student, growing in his teaching ministry. Denise was a talented vocalist. She chose not to pursue a course that held the prospect of performing with the Metropolitan Opera so that she could instead pursue a relationship with Rick and fulfill her heart's desire to enter full-time ministry.
Rick and Denise's friendship has led to lifelong love and a powerful partnership in building the Kingdom of God. After a decade of ministry, first as pastor and then as itinerant ministers, Rick and Denise Renner embarked on an adventure of a lifetime. In January 1991, the Renners and their sons Paul, Philip, and Joel left behind all they knew to relocate their family to serve the region that only weeks earlier had become the former Soviet Union.
Rick and Denise remember kneeling together as a family and kissing the ground when they arrived at the airport in Latvia on that cold January day. At that moment, they all committed their lives to the will of God and to the people of their new homeland. The following year, Rick moved forward to launch and establish the first of its kind, and eventually the largest, a Christian television network in that region of the world.
Over the years, Rick and Denise pioneered three churches, a Bible school, and a ministerial association that serves thousands of Russian-speaking pastors throughout the former USSR as well as parts of the Middle East. As Rick began training and mentoring leaders in the early days, Denise also developed a women's ministry that is actively involved in changing the lives of women and their families today. Specifically, they minister to the needs of orphans, women prisoners, the homeless, and drug-and-alcohol addicts.
Rick, Denise, and their children began as a small circle of five, willing to go beyond their comfort zone to reach the uttermost parts of the world. Today that circle includes their sons' wives, six grandchildren, and a large ministry staff that helps the Renners extend their reach as they exalt Jesus Christ as the Hope of all nations.