Today is Thanksgiving day. A day off work. (for most of us) Whatever you call it, whether you eat Turkey or not, it is a day of Thanksgiving.
Over the years the meaning of Thanksgiving has fallen by the wayside, I believe. Go back to the very first Thanksgiving and what it meant to those people. Why was this specific day picked out of the year to "celebrate" ? Back in the day.... a phrase we have heard often.... back in the day, people honored and worshipped God. They believed in God and WHO He is. Not was, because He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.
They believed in God who loved and cared for them. Over the years rebellion has set in. My generation still went to church every week. In fact, my generation was at church every time the doors were opened - because that is what our parents made us do. It was what their parents made them do.
But then my generation began to rebel. As my generation came of age and moved out, they determined they weren't going to make their children go to church like they were. They themselves began to skip church on occasion. Their children didn't go to church as they grew up and left home because they weren't 'made' to go to church.... and because they didn't go, they don't know about Jesus. They don't know how much He loves them and cares for them, and longs for them to walk with Him. Pastors became just men with the title and did not preach the Word of God in its entirety, but preached only what would go with the culture they lived in. We now have lost generations of people who have never stepped inside of a church, or if they have, still have no idea who Jesus is because He has not been taught to them of His mercy and grace, and of His love for them. They do not know that Jesus is waiting for them to ask Him to help them in their time of need. They don't know to ask.
Unfortunately, I have failed myself as a parent. I took my children to church. But I did not always model Jesus to them. They saw the world, and not Jesus. That is my blame. When they left home, they chose the world, although they all accepted Jesus as a youth and wanted to follow Him. Now the world has captured them and won't let them go. But, this mother prevails and gives them to God daily. Some day my prayers will be answered and they will turn to Jesus again. And they will teach their children and grandchildren of the great love He has for all of us. And maybe the world will change.
We can't preach about injustice and what the Bible says about it - because people would become offended and they would stop coming to church. We can't speak about what God says about things because people would rise up against the church and try to shut it down. We can't tell the truth about what God says, because people rebel against hearing it. They don't want to change their lives. They don't want to do unto others as they would want them to do unto them. People don't want to give up all they have.....to follow Jesus.
We've allowed the world to remove who God is and whom He is to us. It was so easy. We didn't want the church, or our parents, to tell us what to do. We were 18 and we were going to make our own decisions on church. And we did.
Our world is now a mess and very few people truly believe in Jesus, or God, or the Holy Spirit. But each one is REAL. More real than you and I are. More real than this world that we live in.
Thanksgiving... the very word implies to be thankful. Some people would just laugh and say 'I'm thankful for the day off work" or "I'm thankful I have a job" or I'm thankful I can sleep in today" or any other 'thing'.
But the first Thanksgiving was more than that. It was thankfulness to Almighty God. It was honoring Him who was, who is, and who is to come. We've lost that moment in time. When was the last time you told God 'thank you' for anything?
Did He not provide you a job? Did He not heal that sickness? Did He not provide food for your table? Did He not watch over your children when they were away from you? Did He not keep you in the palm of His hand in your most difficult times?
Did you thank Him for doing any of that? What if God HADN'T provided for you, taken care of you and your family, healed you, restored your finances...and more? What if?
As I sit here and type all this, I reflect into my own life. With COVID church has basically stopped for many of us except for online. Are you even catching any of the many messages that have been put online? (Jentezen Franklin is on at 7AM and 9AM AZ time...just an FYI..... and he does some preaching of the Bible!) Can you give God 30-60 minutes one day a week?
Today I choose to thank God for His faithfulness to me. He hasn't answered all my prayers, but there are many that He has answered. My God is a God of Mercy, of Grace, of Truth, of Forgiveness. I know His forgiveness well. I covet His forgiveness every day. Not that I sin every day, but in case I have and don't know it (yes, that is possible).
Psalm 51 is a good place to start, to figure out where you are in life. What is your relationship with God Almighty? Take some time, grab your Bible, and slowly read through Psalm 51. It could change your life.
Psalm 51:7-13- Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me - now let me rejoice. Don't keep looking at my sins, remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. (NLT)
But I have jumped ahead.... start with Psalm 51:1.... Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love.
Do you remember how much God loves you? How much do you love your children? That's how much God loves you..... and more. So much more He gave up His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for you. Would you give up a child to save the world?
Thanksgiving day. Today. What are you thankful for? Take some time right now and think about the things you have, things you may take for granted. Just tell God 'Thank you'. He knows your heart. He knows you better than you know yourself. And you are still in the palm of His hand.
Thank you, Father.
I am thankful for so much... God has been so very good to me. In spite of my complaining and whining (of which I should NOT do) God is GOOD. All the time God is Good.
I'm also thankful that this morning I get to meet up with my daughter and grandson for our 8th annual Turkey Trot. Since we will be having dinner versus lunch, we don't have to start out at 6AM (thank goodness! It's cold out!) but will be meeting up about 8:30AM. I enjoy the walk and although many won't be joining us this year, I'm walking. Refreshes the mind, helps the body.
Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you.
Blessings!
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