Category: Trust
Saturday Song – I Know
But you hear me when I speak
You don’t keep my heart from breakin’
But when it does, you weep with me
You’re so close that I can feel you
When I’ve lost the words to pray
And though my eyes have never seen you
I’ve seen enough to say
I know that you are kind
I know that you are so much more
Than what I leave behind
I know that I am loved
I know that I am safe
Cause even in the fire to live is Christ, to die is gain
I know that you are good
But you’re calm within the storm
Sometimes this weight is overwhelming
But I don’t carry it alone
You’re still close when I can’t feel you
I don’t have to be afraid
And though my eyes have never seen you
I’ve seen enough to say
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
The Spirit of Thanksgiving Past, Present, and Future
If H.G. Wells had been able to build a time machine, I wonder how many people would jump in the morning after Halloween, push the lever forward a couple of months and stop on December 25. Eh, maybe the 24th. Jump from party to party, candy to presents, and skip Thanksgiving altogether.
I’ve never quite understood why some people seem content to forgo Thanksgiving. Maybe because it’s not a commercial holiday it’s not as popular.
Maybe giving thanks doesn’t come as easy to us as getting gifts. Maybe people don’t understand how vital it is to our spiritual, mental, emotional, and even physical health to have a thankful heart. Maybe people don’t think they have much to be thankful for. And maybe that answers a lot of questions about the state of our States.
Let’s jump in H.G. Wells’ time machine, pull the lever, and travel back to October, 1863, when Thanksgiving became a national holiday.
***
We’re in the middle of the Civil War.
It might seem a peculiar time to think about declaring a national holiday of giving thanks, but maybe it was the best time. A God-appointed time.
When we’re facing trials and hardships and pain and suffering is when we most need to stop… and remember all we have to be thankful for, and most importantly, Who we have to be thankful for.
So on October 3, 1863, roughly six months after he signed a Proclamation of a Day of Fasting, and a year and a half before the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed his Proclamation of Thanksgiving.
Of course, that’s only the beginning of Thanksgiving as our national holiday, but not the beginning of giving thanks. Other historical moments might also seem to have peculiar timing.
Let’s travel back a bit further…
***
After seeking the Lord and fasting, King Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, appointed men to sing these words to the Lord as they went into battle against their enemies:
“give thanks to the LORD,
for His love endures forever.”
2 Chronicles 20:21b
“As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” (2 Chronicles 20:22)
***
While fleeing from his enemies, David gives thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness. (Psalm 7:17)
***
In the darkened night as He faced being arrested, tortured, and handed over to be crucified, Jesus gives thanks.
***
And while in the chains of a dark prison, Paul exhorts all of us to “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philip 4:6-7)
***
If praising God and giving thanks had the effect it did in the lives of all these who saw the Lord triumph in impossible situations, what could a heart of thanksgiving to the Lord do in our own lives?
While most of us aren’t facing a war, or prison, or death, we may be facing other, more personal trials. Could giving thanks not keep our eyes focused on our Father of the heavenly lights, from whom every good and perfect gift flows? And could giving thanks not be a gateway that would open our hearts to God’s joy and love and triumph in impossible situations?
I think so.
Another bit of peculiar timing I love is that Thanksgiving is just weeks before Christmas. Observing a time of giving thanks to God for all we’ve been blessed with might just keep us from allowing greed and materialism and self-importance to swallow up a pure and grateful heart as we (and our children) head into Christmastime, or any time.
Now, let’s time travel into the future just a bit…
***
We’re in heaven, living a life more full of love and joy than we ever could have imagined. God has wiped every tear from our eyes, and there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain.
We’ve received the eternal inheritance we’d been promised could “never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” (1 Peter 1:4-6)
Truly, we have more to be thankful for, more treasures in this life and in heaven – more than we can see with our eyes, and infinitely more than could ever be contained in this life – than we have time to voice them.
Go ahead, I dare you to try…
Heavenly Father, we are filled with thanksgiving for all you’ve blessed us with, and all the blessings you have yet to show us. Thank you for your immeasurably gracious love, for our salvation from certain death, for your continual presence, your faithfulness, and for our eternal home in heaven with You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Saturday Song – Holy Water
I was driving down the road minding my own business when a song I’d never heard before came on the radio. It grabbed my soul by the shoulders, shook it and said “get your eyes off the world, off yourself, and back onto the gracious, refreshing, life-giving, life-renewing Living Water of Jesus Christ.” Maybe it’ll do the same for you. God bless you today and always.
Holy Water
by We The Kingdom
God, I’m on my knees again
God, I’m beginning please again
I need you
Oh, I need you
Walking down these desert roads
Water for my thirsty soul
I need you
Oh, I need you
Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey
On my lips
Like the sound of a symphony
To my ears
Like Holy water on my skin
Dead man walking, slave to sin
I wanna know being born again
I need you
Oh, God, I need you
So, take me to the riverside
Take me under, baptize
I need you
Oh, God I need you
Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey
On my lips
Like the sound of a symphony
To my ears
Like holy water on my skin
(On my skin, on my…)
I don’t wanna abuse your grace
God, I need it every day
It’s the only thing that ever really
Makes me wanna change
I don’t wanna abuse your grace
God, I need it every day
It’s the only thing that ever really
Makes me wanna change
I don’t wanna abuse your grace
God, I need it every day
It’s the only thing that ever really
Makes me wanna change
I don’t wanna abuse your grace
God, I need it every day
It’s the only thing that ever really
Makes me wanna change
Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey
On my lips (Yes, it is)
Like the sound of a symphony
To my ears
It’s like holy water…
Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey
On my lips
Like the sound of a symphony
To my ears
It’s like holy water on my skin
It’s like holy water on my skin
It’s like holy water.
Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Miracles
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. We praise you for your immeasurable love and grace and mercy, and for your joy that surpasses all understanding. Thank you for the joy of our salvation that resides deep in our souls and remains no matter what’s happening at the surface of our lives.
Father, we come to you and petition for those who have been affected by storms and hurricanes. For those who have lost loved ones we pray that you would comfort them in a way that only you can. We pray you would provide for them in miraculous ways. We pray you would provide food and medicine and clothing and shelter.
We pray for restoration and salvation. We pray for wisdom and hope and healing to hearts and to the land. We pray for those first responders and those who are there in your Son’s name to bring provisions and to wrap their arms around them in love.
Father, the devastation seems overwhelming, but we are asking you, the One who is omnipotent – all powerful, and omniscient – all knowing, the One who is El Shaddai – The All Sufficient God, to do miracle after miracle in the wake of these storms.
May your powerful name be called upon over and over, and may you hear and answer those calls over and above anything we could ever ask or think. May your holy name be glorified, Lord Jesus. We trust you and we thank you in advance for all you’re going to do. In Jesus’ Holy and Precious Name, the Name above all names, amen.