HOLY SPIRIT BLESS US
November 24, 2002
Our Great Thanksgiving
PSALM 95: 1-3a “ Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God.”
This coming Thursday is a paid holiday. This is good news to people who will benefit from it. But, really this is good news to all people who are residing in this nation. This day is an opportunity of everybody to pause for a while and give time to family reunions and get together to enjoy a sumptuous dinner with turkey on the table, a mashed potato, corn caserole, bread once again pause for a while and have sumptuous dinner as a gesture of Thanksgiving to the blessings of God in this great nation.
We are the living witnesses for the abundance of God in this blessed land.
More so, your forefathers knew exactly the value of recognizing God in the midst of other people and be thankful for what He has done and for what he will still be doing.
In 1789, George Washington made this public proclamation:
"By the President of the United States of America. A proclamation: Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, & humbly to implore His protection & favor, - and
"Whereas, Both Houses of Congress" have by their joint committee requested me `to recommend to the people of the United States a day of Public Thanksgiving & Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God. . .’
"Now, Therefore I do recommend & assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great & glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. . ." So read the very first Thanksgiving Proclamation.
And also the following proclamation was made by Governor Bradford in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth;
To all ye Pilgrims,
Inasmuch as the great father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the raids of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.
This nation is unique compare to others because she has a thankful spirit.
Which for us Christians is very vital in our testimony to the greatness and goodness of God.
“There are 138 passages of Scripture that deal with the subject of thanksgiving.” Larry Poland
Obviously, our life must be supported by a thankful heart because we believe that whatever we have is a gift and grace from God.
Why, thank you Lord Jesus? Because this nation and its existence is under the power of God.
President Washington said, “Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits…”
The foundation of your strength rests on what your forefathers beliefs about God. We could not deny the fact that without God and our Lord Jesus Christ we can’t do anything.
We need to comply and consult Him in every details of our life. This nation reaches the peak of success because of her conviction to the power of God.
But, I was wondering if this nation could still boast to other nations that they are the same people who prioritize Jesus Christ in every areas of their life.
Could it be appropriate to say that oh yes, were still the same and could shout to the whole wide world that Americans “In God we Trust.”
If we think so, let’s start in our backyard and in the family circle that we need to give time to the Lord our God and His name is Jesus Christ!
America is the land of opportunity, we cannot find country else where people from all walks of life are welcome. The immigration policy really serves as an avenue why people from around the globe can come and if possible live here without any problems from threat and the like.
You can live here with liberty. The people can do whatever they want and they are protected by the constitution. But the problem is some people abuse their liberty and they go to the other side of the coin. Instead of preserving the legacy of faith and dedication to God and country others tried to destroy it and introduce destruction among the peoples lives.
You know the story about the removal of prayers in school, the 10 commandments not only in the school but also to the federal offices and buildings. You cannot spank kids although their behaviors are not in accordance with what is right.
And the worse thing was you couldn’t just use the word Jesus Christ to other people because you don’t want them to be offended.
There is a building proposal to build a Chapel in one of a seminary. The plans are well taken except one thing. The Chapel has not altar and cross.
The reason why the school admin does not want to offend non-Christian students.
Well people are so open and very accommodating to the extent of compromising the real message of Christianity.
(ill) West Point’s “Harder Right”
The ff quotation is from the “Cadet Prayer.” It is repeated every Sunday in chapel services at West Point:
“Make us choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be contented with half truth when whole truth can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice & injustice and knows no fear when right and truth are in jeopardy.”
I believe not only West Pointer who will stand for the truth but all the Christians who believe that the “truth shall make us free.”
Kind David said, “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God.”
Christians should always offer their highest praise and thanksgiving to God, because He is the Rock of our salvation and the Lord is the great God.
His greatness is visible and true in this nation but people must realize the reality of His presence. Is God and His Son Jesus Christ is the main and central focus of our life?
Thanksgiving is not just a yearly celebration with turkey in our dinner but it’s a part of our daily attitudes towards life.
Apostle Paul was right when he said, “in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1Thessalonians 5: 18
An old hymn goes like this, “Count your blessings and name them one by one.” And we may discover that there are plenty of reasons to be thankful for…to our God Almighty.
Amen.
