Is Thanksgiving Just Another Day?

Is Thanksgiving “just another day” at your house?

If it’s not, it should be.

I know. That sounds backwards. Thanksgiving shouldn’t just be like every other day, you might be thinking. It should be a day of purposeful expressions of gratitude to God for all His blessings to us. Shouldn’t it?

Well, that’s my point. Our prayers should be filled with gratitude on Thanksgiving Day, of course – just like every other day of the year. That is, for God’s people every other day ought to be just like Thanksgiving Day! Do we need a reminder?

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”(1 Thess 5:18, ESV)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”(Phil 4:6, ESV)

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” (Heb 13:15. NKJV)

I don’t know about you, but I need regular (almost daily) reminders that when I open my mouth – God is listening for gratitude, not griping. In fact, growth in the grace of gratitude is one of the clearest evidences that God is changing me to be more like His Son Jesus.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!! And by God’s grace, may your Thanksgiving Day be just like every other day this year – an opportunity to tell God, in the hearing of others, just how thankful you are.

One thing is for sure – I’ll make sure to mention to the Lord just how thankful I am for you. We appreciate your partnership in our ministry!

Changing Seasons

Our hot and unusually wet summer here in southeastern Pennsylvania has produced a different kind of autumn. I assume that the abundance of moisture caused confusion for many of the trees. In normal years, the leaves would all be on the ground by early November. Not so this year! There are still holdouts refusing to turn loose of their host and drift downward to await the winter snows. It’s like they’re stalling, hoping to turn back the calendar.

But, the calendar will advance. The leaves, even the most stubborn holdouts, will fall. Time stands still for none of us. And those falling leaves are a gentle and beautiful reminder of a coming appointment we all must keep.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10, ESV).

This is a sobering thought. But for the apostle Paul, it was also a thought that filled his heart with joyful anticipation. We are going to stand before Jesus! We are going to see His face! And if we are faithful to make choices that please Him, we will hear His words of commendation. “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

This was what motivated Paul to say, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Cor. 5:9). In other words, there were only two days on Paul’s calendar: “today,” and, “that day.”

Every choice we make on this day will influence what words we hear from Jesus on that day. Let’s make it our aim today to “please him” – to keep on becoming God’s kind of husband, God’s kind of wife, God’s kind of parent or grandparent, God’s kind of friend, God’s kind of church member.

Someday, just as sure as those leaves are falling outside my window, we will stand before the Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us. By His grace, let’s give ourselves back to Him today.

One Hundred and One Things

During one of those busy weeks recently, I came across a quotation from Oswald Chambers that jumped off the page and grabbed my attention:

“No matter if there are a hundred and one things that press, resolutely exclude them all and look to Him.”

That really spoke to my heart because in that particular moment, I was looking at the hundred and one things and not doing a very good job looking to the Lord.

Have you noticed that most every day of your life the “hundred and one things” are always there? Anxieties about work . . . family issues . . . money problems . . . concerns about your health . . . the U.S. economy . . . terrorist attacks . . . .  Some days your list may number more than a hundred and one!

Have you also noticed that when you permit yourself to look exclusively at the hundred and one things, the more they seem to “press?” The more you look at them, the heavier they feel. Before long you feel so far under that you have to reach up to touch the floor.

It is in these moments when we feel most pressed, we must get our eyes off the hundred and one things and onto the Lord. But how do you do that? How do you “resolutely exclude” the hundred and one things? Paul has some helpful advice for us here:

“Rejoice in the Lord . . . Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:4, 6-9).

May the Lord help us today to replace our anxious thoughts about the hundred and one things with right thoughts about Him – His power, His mercy, His fatherly care, His faithfulness to keep promises, and most importantly, His coming near to us in the person of His Son. Then we can talk to Him about the hundred and one things – and know that He is already actively at work through our prayers. As you place your hundred and one things on Him, you will sense the “press” being replaced by His power.