What Thanks giving does for me!

1 Corinthians 11:24 NKJV

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1 cor 11:

Psalm 105 NKJV

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord! Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,” When they were few in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, From one kingdom to another people, He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” Moreover He called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. He sent a man before them— Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, He was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him, The ruler of the people let him go free. He made him lord of his house, And ruler of all his possessions, To bind his princes at his pleasure, And teach his elders wisdom. Israel also came into Egypt, And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham. He increased His people greatly, And made them stronger than their enemies. He turned their heart to hate His people, To deal craftily with His servants. He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them, And wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; And they did not rebel against His word. He turned their waters into blood, And killed their fish. Their land abounded with frogs, Even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, And lice in all their territory. He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines also, and their fig trees, And splintered the trees of their territory. He spoke, and locusts came, Young locusts without number, And ate up all the vegetation in their land, And devoured the fruit of their ground. He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, The first of all their strength. He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, For the fear of them had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; It ran in the dry places like a river. For He remembered His holy promise, And Abraham His servant. He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations, That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. Praise the Lord!

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a public holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November[1] in the United States. It originated as a harvest festival. Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, after Congress requested a proclamation by George Washington.[2] It has been celebrated as a federal holiday every year since 1863, when, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.[3][4] Together with Christmas and the New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader fall/winter holiday season in the U.S.

The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621.[5] This feast lasted three days, and—as accounted by attendee Edward Winslow[6]—it was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims.[7] The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings"—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.[8]

I am Thankful for.........

....the taxes I pay

....because it means I’m employed.

....the clothes that fit a little too snug

....because it means I have enough to eat.

....my shadow who watches me work

....because it means I am out in the sunshine.

....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and

....gutters that need fixing

....because it means I have a home.

....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot

....because it means I am capable of walking.

....my huge heating bill

....because it means I am warm.

....all the complaining I hear about our government

....because it means we have freedom of speech.

....the lady behind me in church who sings off key.

....because it means that I can hear.

....the piles of laundry and ironing

....because it means my loved ones are nearby.

....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours

....because it means that I’m alive.

....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day

....because it means I have been productive.

The art of thanksliving. It is gratitude in action.

It is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly.

It is thanking God for your talents and abilities by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common good.

It is thanking God for all that men and women have done for you by doing things for others.

It is thanking God for happiness by striving to make others happy.

It is thanking God for beauty by helping to make the world more beautiful.

It is thanking God for inspiration by trying to be an inspiration to others.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING. Greek words derived from the root eucharist- are used in the NT almost exclusively in the sense of thanksgiving directed to God (in the LXX the verb and substantive do not occur in the Hellenistic sense until the apocryphal writings). The only exceptions are Acts 24:3 and Rom 16:4, although cf. 2 Cor 1:10–11. On Luke 17:16 cf. v 18.

A. Thanksgiving at Meals

It was the custom of the Jews to praise God for each dish (cf. t. Ber. 4:1; b. Ber. 35a). This expressed their sense of dependence on God’s gifts in creation. Festive meals were opened by the master of the house with a grace said over the loaf of bread before it was distributed. The meal ended with a benediction over the cup of wine. Both actions are expressed by the Hebrew berak or the Aramaic berek.

1. The Prayer of Thanksgiving at the Last Supper. This is referred to in the Pauline tradition of the Last Supper (1 Cor 11:24) and in Luke (22:19) by the participle eucharistēsas, whereas in Mark (14:22) and in Matthew (26:26) it is expressed by eulogēsas. Both these verbs are translations of berak/berek, but eulogein seems more appropriate and is already used in LXX for berak. However, it should be noted that Aquila also uses the term eucharistia in the sense of “praise”—always for tôdâ: Pss 25(MT 26):7; 41(MT 42):5; 49(MT 50):14; 68(MT 69):31, etc. In Rom 14:6 and 1 Cor 10:30 eucharistein is used in connection with food (cf. 1 Tim 4:3–4). Thus praise and thanksgiving are inseparable (cf. below). In any case eucharistein used absolutely, without object or subordinate clause, obviously comes from a Semitic background.

The act of praise at the end of the meal is referred to in Mark 14:23 and Matt 26:27 (cf. Luke 22:17) by the participle eucharistēsas. This is a stylistic variant for the act of praise (eulogēsas) mentioned at the beginning of the meal. In Luke 22:20 and 1 Cor 11:25 eucharistein is implied by the word hōsautōs (cf. Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24).

2. Thanksgiving in Jesus’ Miraculous Feedings. It is often supposed that in the narratives of the miraculous feedings the words chosen for the introductory actions of Jesus echo the tradition of the Lord’s Supper. But Mark himself shows in 8:14–21 a paraenetic interest in the feeding stories which does not appear to be oriented toward the Lord’s Supper (cf. also 6:52). Nor in 6:41 does he assimilate the description of the opening actions of Jesus at the meal to the traditions of the Lord’s Supper as it appears in 14:22.

On the other hand, Mark 8:6 shows a striking agreement with Luke 22:19 (cf. also 1 Cor 11:23–24). The inescapable conclusion is that the tradition of the Lord’s Supper utilized by Paul has influenced the pre-Markan tradition of the Feeding of the Four Thousand. Since v 7 interrupts the context, it is possible to reconstruct a pre-Markan version of the story which features only the bread. This would link it with the Lord’s Supper, so making the miraculous feeding an allusion to the community celebration. The Kyrios acts as host to those who are “afar off” (cf. v 3b) and to those who are near (Eph 2:17). The fish were added later and assimilate the story to the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Thus the eucharistic associations of the original story were suppressed in order to emphasize the miracle.

In the pre-Markan tradition behind Mark 6:35–44 the fish motif cannot be eliminated (vv 38, 41, 43). The phrases expressing the actions are unlike any known eucharistic tradition. As a result there is no obvious reference to the Lord’s Supper.

In Matt 14:15–21 the fish motif recedes into the background to some extent, but it is not completely eliminated (cf. vv 17 and 19). True, the terminology describing Jesus’ action (note the word klasas, v 19, which deviated from Mark) conforms to some extent to the tradition of the Lord’s Supper. But the forms of the verbs and the references to Jesus’ looking to heaven are also points which differ from the supper tradition. Thus Matthew does not intend to establish any close connection between the Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Lord’s Supper (cf. also 16:5–12). Rather, he was unconsciously influenced by some features of the supper tradition.

In the Feeding of the Four Thousand (Matt 15:36) Matthew follows Mark in his description of the preparatory actions of Jesus (Mark 8:6–7). By including the fish in the opening act of praise (unlike Mark, v 7) Matthew is following his practice, noticeable elsewhere, of shortening Mark’s material. The finite verb elaben (instead of the participle labōn in Mark 8:6b) is determined by the participle at the beginning of v 35 (in v 6a Mark has a finite form of the verb). There are no signs of any influence of the Pauline tradition of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:23–24) on Matthew any more than there is on Mark.

In Luke’s version of the Feeding of the Five Thousand (though cf. Luke 9:13, 16) the fish motif is soft-pedaled. This may be explained by the fact that in 9:12–17 Luke combines Mark 6:35–44 and Mark 8:1–9. The Evangelist made no attempt to conform it to his version of the supper tradition. In particular he has not taken over eucharistēsas in v 16 (cf. Luke 22:19) from Mark 8:6. Luke’s concentration on the bread is not so much the sign of any interest in the community celebration as of his intention to represent the meal, beginning as it does with the breaking of the bread and a special prayer, as generally typical of Jesus (cf. Luke 24:30–31, 35). In any case it is worth noting that only Luke speaks of Jesus’ eucharistein in connection with his final Passover (22:17, 19), whereas for other meals eulogein is used (9:16; 24:30). The difference is intentional. For Luke, eucharistein was obviously a term associated with the Lord’s Supper.

In the Johannine version of the Feeding of the Five Thousand we find in 6:11 agreements with 1 Cor 11:23–24 (cf. also Luke 22:19). The reference to the breaking of the bread is missing; the writer is content with eucharistein. The agreement already noted with the supper tradition in Paul and Luke can be traced back to the Johannine tradition. The Evangelist uses the Feeding of the Five Thousand to introduce the bread discourse, which has obvious links with the Lord’s Supper (cf. esp.6:51–58, but also vv 27, 32–35. This suggests that John himself also understood the feeding narratives in a eucharistic sense, especially if he is responsible for the bread discourse in its present form. The timing in 6:4 (near the time of the Passover) and the mention of Judas in 6:64, 70–71 (cf. 13:2, 21–30 as well as 1 Cor 11:23) are further pointers to the Lord’s Supper (13:1ff.). Finally, in 6:51c John shows affinities to 1 Cor 11:24 and Luke 22:19, which suggests that this version of the supper tradition was known in the Johannine community. Even if John 6:51c–58 is assigned to the post-Johannine redactor, the Feeding of the Five Thousand was in any case understood in a eucharistic sense. Eucharistein (21:13, however, occurs only in the Western texts) had associations with the Lord’s Supper. This may also be suggested by the redactional notice in John 6:23, if textual criticism allows us to take the final genitive absolute as part of the original text.

3. Christian Thanksgiving at Meals. In Rom 14:6 and 1 Cor 10:30 Paul presupposes that grace before meals was said in Christian households. The context of 1 Cor 10:26–30 makes it clear that the Jewish custom of grace before meals was taken over and practiced in a way which everyone could recognize. Rom 14:6 emphasizes the community-building character of the table prayers addressed to the one Creator God. The Christian who eats everything thanks God for the food, while the vegetarian Christian gives thanks likewise for what he or she receives. It is therefore wrong to despise or judge the other person (v 3).

In contrast to the prayers of heretical asceticism, 1 Tim 4:3–5 emphasizes the way in which the saying of grace before meals acknowledges that food is the gift of God’s creation and therefore good. It is thus “consecrated” as though by God’s word of creation.

In Acts 27:35 Luke describes how Paul behaved in a way similar to Jesus at the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:19). The word eucharistein occurs here. The addition of the indirect object tō theō (cf. Luke 17:16; 18:11), as in the phrase “in the presence of them all,” underlines the character of this action as a public confession. Luke is not describing a celebration of the Lord’s Supper, for Paul starts eating alone, without distributing to the others. These, who take their food after him, are mostly non-Christians (vv 36–37). But the explicit use of eucharistic terminology makes Paul’s meal a transparent reminder of the Lord’s Supper. It strengthens the believers in the hour of trial and enables them to confess their faith and to help their fellows.

HE KEY TO HAPPINESS

Gratitude is nothing less than the key to happiness.

For this penetrating insight into gratefulness, I am grateful to Dennis Prager, author of the shrewd and perceptive "Happiness is a Serious Problem."

"There is a 'secret to happiness,'" Prager writes, "and it is gratitude. All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that it is being unhappy that

leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person."

This is a keen observation, and it helps explain why the Judeo-Christian tradition places such emphasis on thanking God. The liturgy is filled with expressions of gratitude. "It is good to give thanks to the Lord," begins the 92nd Psalm.

Why? Because God needs our gratitude? No: because we need it.

Learning to be thankful, whether to God or to other people, is the best vaccination against taking good fortune for granted.

And the less you take for granted, the more pleasure and joy life will bring you.