Giving Thanks, Day 9, more of my story

I keep posting these when the days are almost over.  I was planning to say I'm thankful for each day God blesses me with.  Well, when I was looking for a verse with "day" in it, I found Psalm 118.  We are familiar with verse 24, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  Verses 13-14 say, "I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me.  The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."  The two verses before 24 say, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes."  We do have reasons to rejoice and be glad in each day!

This Psalm in my Bible is marked with several highlights, circles, and dates, indicating times I read it and it helped me in whatever circumstances were going on at the time.  One of the early themes God worked with me on, and continues to, is my freedom in Christ. I used to sometimes go through spells where I felt I had not been faithful enough, and God may not want to  hear my prayers.  God did free me from that, and has reduced my tendency to worry about things even if I've prayed about them, and to be too critical of myself and others.  

Psalm 118:5-9 says, "In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free.  The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  The Lord is with me; he is my helper.  I will look in triumph on my enemies.  It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.  It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes."  We don't have the kind of enemies the Israelites had, but I feel evil is what our main enemy is these days.  (Ephesians 6:12)  

During the time I realized God was working with me on freedom, I went with our youth group to a music festival in Wisconsin.  I was blessed to hear several wonderful Christian musicians, including Stephen Curtis Chapman.  He sang "Free", and it felt like he was singing to me.  I also had the opportunity to buy a t-shirt with Galatians 5:1 on it to remind me, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  

So, I am also thankful for the days God gives me, and my freedom in Christ.  I am free from self accusation, from having to obey the law in my own strength.  I am free to worship God and seek him, and he will accept me because of Jesus' taking my punishment on the cross.