Tag: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks

OLD TESTAMENT: Daniel 5

Poetry: Psalm 136

NEW TESTAMENT: John 8:48-59

Can I tell you a secret? I *loathe* the nickname “Turkey Day” for Thanksgiving. 

Sure, the big bird is special to the day and to the success of the first colonist. Sure, Ben Franklin thought the bird was “a Bird of Courage.” But there is much more to Thanksgiving than the protein. 

In a world of many gods, like Babylon, feasting and reveling for the glory of a deity was common. Sometimes, in the ancient world, the Kings would claim to be gods, or children of the gods, and would show their superiority over “other” gods and people by belittling the symbols of those gods. Belshazzar, the final king of Babylon, showed his contempt for Almighty God and God’s people by allowing his guests at his drunken feasts to eat and drink out of the Temple treasures that were in Babylon. In Daniel 5:4, we read “They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.” 

However, God does not take kindly when the glory due him is given to another. Therefore, because they are using God’s Temple’s treasures while worshipping other gods, God decides to give Belshazzar and his kingdom and his treasures to others, the Medes and the Persians. Daniel tells Belshazzar, “the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, and sets over it whom he will.” 

Thanksgiving was instituted by George Washington on October 3rd, 1789. Read this declaration to see why he instituted it : “Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being [i.e., Almighty God], who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. 

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.”

President Washington desired for his Nation to thank the true God, not the gods of this world, but the “glorious Being,” the subject of “true religion and virtue”. Thanksgiving was instituted, not just to feel grateful but to give thanks to the only God, the God who is there, the God who is present in the affairs of this world and in the life of this nation and in the prosperity and peace of humankind. Today is and should be a day of feasting and merriment for all our many blessings. In the midst of all the joy of this holiday, be sure to give thanks, sincerely and humbly, to the Almighty, the Most High God. 

Happy *Thanksgiving*!

Growing deeper:

Are you thankful for your blessings? If we aren’t conscious, we could miss them. Today, don’t answer questions but make a list and try to think of every blessing in your life. Number them and see how high you can make your list. Don’t forget the blessings that might be too small to consider (aren’t eyelashes amazing?) and the blessings that might be too big to see (you are able to read this, so you have life, a computer or phone, and access to the internet, plus electricity…). The list grows quickly.

-Jake Ballard

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Still Giving Thanks

Old Testament: Daniel 9,10

Poetry: Psalm 118*

New Testament: Matthew 4

In our homeschool history lessons, my children and I have been learning about much of the world exploration that happened following the Reformation. Prior to this time period, two entire continents – North and South America – were largely unknown to the charted world. When there was religious persecution in England, the Puritans, who believed they should be able to worship God in their own way rather than under the thumb of the Church of England, decided to venture to the New World, where they could be truly free. Explorers had already paved the way for their travels; some colonies survived, but some did not. These Pilgrims were supposed to arrive at an existing Virginian village, but because a fierce storm blew The Mayflower off course, they ended up in Massachusetts instead. Their journey was wrought with difficulties, but they were careful to make note of God’s provision along the way, such as providing a kind Native American named Squanto who knew English (as a result of his own hardship of being sold into slavery in England for a time) and taught them how to grow food and survive the winter. Though half of the Pilgrims died that first year, they joined with their new Native American family after the first fall harvest to give thanks to God for his blessings. 

Psalm 118 begins and ends with praise; what a great reminder of how we should start and finish each day! It continues on to tell of difficulties and challenges, but immediately shares how YHWH God showed up each time, a reminder of His faithfulness and provision. 

Last week, many of us gathered to thank God for our blessings, remember the historical first Thanksgiving, and express gratitude for our religious freedom. Thanksgiving is perhaps my favorite holiday; it’s often a simple gathering with a mighty feast of both food and gratitude. My favorite part of the day is participating in the Cain family prayer song. Before we dig into our meal, thirty or more of us – original Cains, their spouses and families and extended families, and many friends – hold hands and sing “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart” in a variety of harmonies. This sends shivers through my body as it reverberates through the large room that was once a church sanctuary and in which there have been countless prayers offered and innumerable songs sung. I always think of the bookend verses of Psalm 118 (verses 1 and 29, NIV) on Thanksgiving, but it is wise to remember at the beginning and end of every day of the year: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” 

Reflection:

-Commit to memory the first and final verses of Psalm 118. Then practice saying them as you wake up for the day and as you tuck yourself back into bed at night.

-Gratitude is an attitude! How can you cultivate more gratitude? 

Rachel Cain

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Christ Jesus and Thanksgiving

Theme Week – Thanks: 1 Timothy 1

Old Testament: Daniel Introduction found below

Poetry: Psalm 113

Thanksgiving is a cultural institution; something like 85% of Americans typically partake in the holiday, and in 2022 we spent $1.27billion on Turkeys. Just. Turkeys. 

But when we celebrate thanksgiving, that means we give thanks *to someone*. It *might* be possible to just have a thankful attitude generally, but that’s not thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is giving thanks. And when 85% of Americans celebrate and only 81% believe in God, our culture tends to treat thanksgiving as a time to give thanks to our loved ones, or to be thankful generally. 

As Christians, however, we give thanks to someone. Or someones?

During this week, most of our focus and attention was given to giving thanks to God. 

Giving thanks because it is our duty to the God who gives us all things. 

Giving thanks because it allows our eyes to be open and our minds to be holy toward God.

Giving thanks for our generous blessings during our every time of prayer and to give thanks in every circumstance. 

But when we give thanks, there are times that our thanks should spill out to God’s Son as well. 

In 1 Timothy, Paul says, “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord.” (1:12) When we look to Jesus, he sends the Spirit in Acts, he provides wisdom to his people, he provides the Revelation to John. Our Lord Jesus Christ is STILL the empowering, teaching, revealing King of God’s Kingdom. Christ appointed Paul to service (1:12). It is the grace of Jesus, our Lord, that overflowed onto Paul. (1:14) The one who looked upon those who were crucifying him and said “Father, forgive them” is the one who looks upon us, the blasphemer, the persecutors, the insolent opponents to his grace, and still forgives, still gives grace so that faith and love overflow. 

Today give thanks to God, of course. But think about the mercy, grace, love, forgiveness and sacrifice of Jesus, and thank him for his grace. His intercession on your behalf in heaven will be honored when we recognize what he has done for us. 

-Jake Ballard

Reflection and Application

  1. Accurate Thanksgiving : When you give thanks to God and Jesus, it is helpful to distinguish the way they bless you individually. While Jesus empowers Paul and calls him to service, he ends this section in 1 Timothy with “to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” That is CLEARLY not speaking about Christ, but about his Father, God. Today, for what can you thank God? (Maybe, creation) For what can you thank Jesus? (Maybe, his sacrifice.)
  2. Giving thanks for forgiveness : Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. My friends, we should all say this in unison with Paul. We should see our sin as the most grievous, as the worst. We should consider ourselves as the chief of sinners. Even then, God is saving you through Jesus. Take the time to consider that salvation and give God and his Son thanks today. 

Daniel Introduction

The book of Daniel was written by the prophet Daniel (whose name means “God is my judge”) while in exile in Babylon from 605 BC until 536 BC.  Daniel was among the group of “Israelites from the royal family and the nobility – young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace”.

The Book of Daniel is a fascinating and exciting mix of history (chapters 1-6) and prophecy (chapters 7-12).  Chapter 1 starts by giving Daniel’s example of how to live a Godly life while surrounded by evil influences.  Chapter 3 is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s example of Godliness despite persecution.  

Daniel contains some well known stories, including:

Chapter 3 – the fiery furnace

Chapter 5 – the writing on the wall

Chapter 6 – Daniel in the lion’s den

Daniel chapters 7-12 are prophetic, prophesying about the rise of world powers after Babylon, including: Medo Persia, Greece, …, and eventually prophesying about the Great Tribulation, and ultimately the resurrection of the dead and the Kingdom of God. 

The book of Daniel highlights the fact that God is in charge.  2:21 says, “He [God] changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.”  4:34-35 says, “…His [God’s] dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.  All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.  He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.  No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’“

It’s important to remember that in the end, God wins.  This will be particularly important as persecution arises, as we see in 11:33-35, “Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered.  When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them.  Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.”

-Steve Mattison

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Thank You, LORD!

Psalm 134-135

“Your name, O Lord, endures forever,

    your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.

For the Lord will vindicate his people,

    and have compassion on his servants.” -Psalm 135:13-14

Who better to be thankful for than God? 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Ah yes, the day where Americans all over come together, filled with gratitude as they gather with their families. It helps that amazing food is normally involved…

I hope you are enjoying your thanksgiving morning and that your hearts are full of gladness. There is SO much to be thankful for this year, good health, family, job security, new friendships, the list is endless. 

My encouragement to you today is to not forget to be grateful for the one who brought you all of those blessings and more today. God is worthy of our praise! He deserves it! 

The Psalmist for Psalm 134-135 does an incredible job expressing his love and spirit of thanks for the LORD. 

“Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,

    who stand by night in the house of the Lord!

Lift up your hands to the holy place,

    and bless the Lord.

May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth,

    bless you from Zion.” Psalm 134 

Wow, what an exhorter this author is. I wish I could have been there to raise my hands with him when he first proclaimed those words. 

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;

    sing to his name, for he is gracious.

For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

    Israel as his own possession.   Psalm 135: 3-4 

God is gracious. He freed the Isrealites. He raised his Son from the Dead. He knows you by name! And he has a spot for you at his table to come and dine with him.

So, today, as you likely gather around a table with a feast of your own, praise the LORD and thank Him for the table he has for you in the Kingdom of God. And get excited for how rich it will be. 

Today’s song is a classic. “Thank You, Lord” by Don Moen. It’s a perfect morning energizer.

With a grateful heart, with a song of praise, with an outstretched arm, I will bless your name… Thank you, Lord! 

-Leslie Jones

Today’s Bible reading plan passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway.com here – Psalm 134-135 and Ezekiel 45-46

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Hungry!

Free Theme – Beatitudes – Matthew 5:6

Matthew 5 6

As I sit here in a coffee shop the day before Thanksgiving I am currently starving. I made an apple pie this morning and this may be the reason the normal ‘breakfast, no lunch, straight into dinner’ game plan has not satisfied my hunger. This is very fitting for our beatitude of the day and tomorrow being Thanksgiving day. So here it is Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are the those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.” Ok, so a moment of honesty, I love this one too. But let’s be real the beatitudes are like bacon and how can you not love bacon.  

I don’t know about you but Thanksgiving at my house has two hunger conditions. I’m either starving or completely stuffed from all the food that I just ate. I have a small family. Thanksgiving dinner is normally an ordeal to put together and I generally end up in the kitchen for a good part of the day. It’s actually pretty amazing how a person can be around so much food all day in the kitchen and still be starving. I feel like Thanksgiving is one of the few days where people actually look forward to the dinner they are preparing and try to make sure they are really hunger for it. The normal routine of eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner even if we aren’t quite hungry doesn’t apply on thanksgiving. One thing that I can say after all that cooking and putting together a good meal, I am normally pretty satisfied. I am happy with the job that I did cooking and I‘m also happy because I had my fill of good food.

I think that the satisfaction that is promised in this beatitude is deeper than our after Thanksgiving dinner satisfaction. First, we should look at what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I want to challenge the way you view righteousness. I don’t believe that righteousness is abstaining from the things that we need to abstain from and do the things we are supposed to be doing. Jesus wasn’t giving a checklist in the beatitudes but he was giving us attitudes and a way of life that we should adopt.

Jesus had a lot of confrontations with the Pharisees and in Matthew 23 he addresses the righteousness of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were righteous in that they checked the boxes but they lacked the true elements of righteousness like mercy, grace, godliness and love. When I view doing what is right I see it as loving people and God with discernment. The rules that God gives us are obviously important but the attitudes of our hearts he wants us to adopt are just as important  to righteousness. I think that we practice righteousness when we try to live by God’s rules and laws and practice mercy, grace and love.

I said earlier that the satisfaction promised here is deeper than our Thanksgiving dinner satisfaction. I think Isaiah 55.1-3 shows this. Here God is saying come, eat and be full. He is offering food and water to those who don’t have money. In verse 2 he is saying we labor for things that don’t satisfy like being ungodly or looking for fulfillment in things other than him. He then tells us to listen to him and delight in the rich food that he has given us. Verse 3 says “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” Verse 3 shows us that when we come to God, listen to him and obey his commandments that our souls will live. Besides serving God my goal in life is that my soul would live.

Godliness and living a Christ like life where not only am I sinless but I have adopted God’s heart for him and others is what I think this beatitude is saying we should be hungering and thirsting for. The result of this though is that we would be truly satisfied and have souls that truly live. So as we think about the physical hunger we have to consider what we should really be hungering for and when you are satisfied after that Thanksgiving meal think about the satisfaction that God has promised us when we live righteously.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Daniel Wall

Ask What I Shall Give You

The Second Book of Chronicles Chapters 1-4

Book of 2 Chronicles

Thursday, November 23

The life of King David comes to an end and ushers in the life and times of

King Solomon. II Chronicles opens with “Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.”  This verse would be a great way to end the story of his life, but these are the early years when he was still seeking after God.

Solomon decided since his kingdom was in order he was going to reward himself and prepare a feast for his friends and family and fans to attend. He also offered great sacrifices to God. It was a partay magnificent~ He was consumed with doing everything right and pleasing God, but his spirituality was more of a surface variety and didn’t hold up to future challenges.

After the great amount of feasting and great amount of offerings, God came to Solomon in a dream that night and tells him to “ask what I shall give you.” I had never noticed this before. I had always assumed that God told him to ask for whatever he wanted. God was ready to tell Solomon something important and instead Solomon reminds God how he had shown grace to David and explains to God how he needs wisdom and knowledge to be a leader and judge Gods people.

God gives Solomon what he asked for and then tells him that all he achieves will be additional gifts from God. His riches, wealth, honor unlike any before him or after him will be from the hand of God. Solomon goes on to do marvelous deeds. He builds the temple and his own personal home (Palace) and hanging gardens that were the envy of the world. Leaders came from far away, just as God promised to bow down and offer gifts. He is a man on the rise. Only he isn’t the messiah, and he is also ready for a fall.

David had prayed that Solomon would be the Messiah and at times Solomon seems to believe he was. David prayed specific prayers over Solomon (Psalms 72) and he seems to try and live up to his father’s desires, but he falls short. Solomon, for all his wisdom and attempts at trying to be the messiah fails and shows us once again the need for a true savior.

I think we all need to look at v.7 again and put our name in place of Solomon.  “In that night (after feasting and worshiping God and giving gifts to God for all his blessings) God appeared to _______ and said, Ask what I shall give you.

“Ask what I shall give you!”…. He is our reason for all our Thanksgiving. Find a way today to bridge a gap or help heal a hurt or simply remind someone how much God has given and stands ready to give.

Glennis Walters