A True Attitude Of Gratitude

A True Attitude Of Gratitude

Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is a American holiday that we celebrate on the forth Thursday of November yearly.

History of Thanksgiving:

The first Thanksgiving in North America is traditionally believed to have been celebrated in 1621. It was a three-day feast shared between the Pilgrims, who had settled in Plymouth (in present-day Massachusetts), and the Wamp-a-no-ag Native Americans. This celebration was held to give thanks for the Pilgrims' successful harvest, which was crucial for their survival.

The Pilgrims and the

Wamp-a-no-ag shared food and fellowship in this gathering, which set the foundation for what would eventually become the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

It wasn't an annual celebration then, but it marked one of the earliest recorded gatherings of this nature in colonial America.

Thanksgiving later became an official national holiday in 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

Thanksgiving in the United States is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year. This was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, officially making the fourth Thursday the annual date.

Before that as we just read, Thanksgiving had been celebrated on the last Thursday of November, a tradition that had been set by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

The change to the fourth Thursday allowed for a more consistent and slightly earlier celebration each year, which also extended the holiday shopping season leading up to Christmas.

But the story of Thanksgiving goes back even further than 1621. Let me read a little history of how it all started.

The heritage of Thanksgiving began in the early 1600s when Puritans and separatist in England faced extreme pressure from the crown to join the official state Church. The persecution forced some believers to flee their country.

Among the first to leave were the pilgrims, those Puritans, who boarded the mayflower. We date the first Thanksgiving to the celebratory feast, they shared with Native Americans in Plymouth, but a remarkable attitude of gratitude characterize them, even during the voyage across the Atlantic, which from all accounts was a miserable experience.

The mayflower was about the length of a tennis court. It had been designed for cargo, not passengers. As a result, all 102+ passengers were crammed into tight spaces. The pilgrims spent most of their time in dark musty quarters. The children could stand up, but everyone else had to crawl on hands and knees. The ship rolled and pitched, and seasickness was rampant. There was little means of sanitation.

When waves crashed into the side of the mayflower, streams cold water gushed into the hole, drenching the pilgrims and turning everything into a sodden mess.

Midway through the voyage on September 22, when the sea was unusually rough, the pilgrims gathered to read they're scriptures for the day. They felt it had been placed in the Bible just for them. It was Psalm 107:23-31

Psalm 107:23–31 (NKJV) 23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters,

24 They see the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep.

25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea.

26 They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble.

27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end.

28 Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses.

29 He calms the storm, So that its waves are still.

30 Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven.

31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Crazy right, But I love this verse from the apostle Paul who went through so much in his life.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Now we know it says in everything not for everything and that is a big difference. I don’t give thanks for the devils works. (steal, kill and destroy)

John 10:10 (NKJV)10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

When we look at the life of Paul we see a man who had set his affections’s on things above. He knew that these attack’s were not from God like so many religion’s teach, but from the adversary, the one who goes around as a roaring lion.

He said it so well in:

1 Corinthians 15:57–58 (NKJV)

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) 14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

Quote: It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)

Quote: Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grows. A proud man is seldom a grateful man; he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887)

As we are about to celebrate this Thanksgiving season, it’s so important to understand this American holiday and why Abraham Lincoln set a day a part each year to give Thanks to God.

But for us Christians, we don’t give God thanks once a year but daily for all of His blessings.

Thanksgiving is defined as the act of giving thanks, a prayer expressing gratitude, or a public acknowledgment of divine goodness. It is frequently associated with praise, joy, gladness, and singing, though it can also be connected with supplication and prayer.

We as Christian’s should have and attitude to thank God throughout the day.

Look at the beginning of psalm 107

Psalm 107:1–2 (NKJV) 1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

Psalm 107:8–9 (NKJV) 8 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

9 For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Psalm 107:19–22 (NKJV) 19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses.

20 He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.

21 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing.

God’s Address

QUOTE: Gods command, to be thankful, is the invitation of a lifetime, the opportunity to draw near to him at any moment of the day.

Do you sometimes long for a greater sense of Gods nearness? The scripture says that God inhabits the praises of his people.

God lives in the place of praise. If we want to be where He is, we need to go to his address. This is a reoccurring theme in the Psalms.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

So much has been given to me, I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied.

Helen Adams Keller (1880–1968)

Psalm 95:2–3 (NKJV) 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.

Our thankful spirits should also be evident to others. It's an opportunity for us to be thankful for our families, friends, church and our lives.

Again look at the heart of Paul in all of his struggles, just in the book of Colossians.

Colossians 1:3–4 (NKJV) 3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;

The best way to show my gratitude to God is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Colossians 1:12–14 (NKJV) 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

13He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

14in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 2:6–7 (NKJV) 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:15–17 (NKJV) 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

17And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 4:2 (NKJV) 2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

Quote: While on a short-term missions trip, Pastor Jack Hinton was leading worship at a leper colony on the island of Tobago. A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around.

“It was the most hideous face I had ever seen,” Hinton said. “The woman’s nose and ears were entirely gone. She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, ‘Can we sing “Count Your Many Blessings”?’ ”

Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service. He was followed by a team member who said, “I guess you’ll never be able to sing that song again.”

“Yes I will,” he replied, “but I’ll never sing it the same way.”

So this Thanksgiving season, let’s make thanksgiving and gratitude to God not. a yearly or even a weekly thing, but a lifestyle and let’s get to God’s address.