Thanksgiving!

Give Thanks!

In just a few days we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, as a whole nation.

In 1620, 102 Pilgrims had come to America to build a new world where they would be free to worship God. Soon fifty-six of them died due to starvation, disease and the cold winter. However, they did not give up. In 1621, 46 Pilgrims and 91 Indians met to give thanks to our God for a bountiful harvest and for the preservation of their lives.

I know that every part of history has a parallel story that was not pretty, we can choose to be grateful and celebrate good.

Thanksgiving was a choice for the Pilgrims, and the native Indians who had mercy on them and helped them.

The Pilgrims had every reason to be discouraged, 50% of their church died, 50% of their friends were gone, but they chose to give thanks.

President Lincoln in 1863 during the Civil War declared the 4th Thursday in the month of November, to be Thanksgiving Day, for the whole nation.

Are you seeing the goodness, the kindness of the Lord around you?

Give thanks.

Let’s pray

1 Thanksgiving is an act of worship,

when we thank God for what He has done, we welcome His presence.

Psa 100:1 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

Psa 100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness and delight; Come before His presence with joyful singing.

Psa 100:3 Know and fully recognize with gratitude that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

We are all called to worship God with gratitude in our hearts.

A.W. Tozer wrote:

“We are saved to worship God. All that Christ has done for us in the past and all that He is doing now leads to this one end.”

He is the same God that miraculously parted the red sea so the people of Israel could cross it on dry land, the God who provided Manna for forty years until they cross into Canaan and were able to eat the fruit of the land.

Jos 5:12 And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the Israelites no longer had manna, but they ate some of the produce of the land of Canaan during that year.

The same God that provided the next meal for the hungry crowd listening to Jesus.

Mat 15:29 Jesus went on from there and passed along by [the eastern shore of] the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on the hillside and was sitting there.

Mat 15:30 And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He healed them.

Mat 15:31 So the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised and glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

Mat 15:32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing [left] to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, because they might faint [from exhaustion] on the way [home]."

Mat 15:33 The disciples said to Him, "Where are we to get enough bread in this isolated place to feed so large a crowd?"

Mat 15:34 And Jesus asked them, "How many loaves [of bread] do you have?" They replied, "Seven, and a few small fish."

Mat 15:35 He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground,

Mat 15:36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and when He had given thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the people.

Mat 15:37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they gathered up seven full baskets of the broken pieces that were left over.

Mat 15:38 [Among] those who ate were 4,000 men, not counting women and children.

Mat 15:39 Then Jesus sent the crowds away, got into the boat and went to the district of Magadan.

Big or small miracles, we are called to worship and give thanks, to the one who loves us.

2 We enter His gates with songs of thanksgiving and His courts with praises.

Psa 100:4 Enter His gates with a song of thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, bless and praise His name.

Psa 100:5 For the LORD is good; His mercy and lovingkindness are everlasting, His faithfulness [endures] to all generations.

In the book of revelations, we read about the throne room, a place or a spiritual place where the presence of the Lord dwells.

Rev 4:1 After this I had another vision: A door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice, like a trumpet, that I had heard speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place."

Rev 4:2 Immediately I was under the Spirit's power, and I saw a throne in heaven with One seated on it.

Rev 4:3 The One who was seated on it looked like jasper or sardius, and around the throne there was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.

Rev 4:4 Around the throne there were twenty-four thrones, with twenty-four elders seated on them, clothed in white and with crowns of gold on their heads.

Rev 4:5 Out from the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, while in front of it seven flaming lamps were burning; they were the seven spirits of God.

Our Heavenly Father wants us with him in the throne room, thanksgiving and worship will take us there.

There is always more in our relationship with God, gets deeper as we peruse Him, we will never get bored or experience all the Lord has for us, when we think we got some where, He will show us more.

3 Thanksgiving to God is what empowers worship

Extreme, and extravagant worship pleases God, the woman who anointed Jesus

Joh 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom He had raised from the dead.

Joh 12:2 So they gave a supper for Him there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.

Joh 12:3 Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Joh 12:4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who was going to betray Him, said,

Joh 12:5 "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and [the money] given to the poor?"

Joh 12:6 Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it.

Joh 12:7 So Jesus said, "Let her alone, so that she may keep [the rest of] it for the day of My burial.

Joh 12:8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."

Mat 26:12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.

Mat 26:13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

Jesus did not rebuke her, He encourage her and said that everyone who would hear the gospel would hear about her. God notices our worship our thanksgiving specially when is extravagant.

2Ch 1:6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

2Ch 1:7 On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, "Ask! What shall I give you?"

2Ch 1:8 And Solomon said to God: "You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place.

2Ch 1:9 Now, O LORD God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

2Ch 1:10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?"

2Ch 1:11 Then God said to Solomon: "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king—

2Ch 1:12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like."

After Solomon’s extravagant worship and thanksgiving God came and visited Salomon and gave him wisdom and riches made him a powerful King.

What are you thankful for? Take just a moment and think about what God has done for you this year.

I’m glad to say That I’m very thankful for my family and for my life, by the grace of God all of us who had covid 19 recovered well, I needed a little extra help, but the Lord heard all of your prayers and here I am.

I had surrendered my life to the Lord many times before, but this was the first time, I had time to release everything to the Lord and thank Him for what He had done, it became very real, 40 years ago I almost died when I got caught In the waves, but that was a short prayer, this time I had time to process, so I am very thankful for the experience and the healing of the Lord.

Our Father is always good to us, so give thanks, welcomes His presence, takes us into his throne room, pleases Him.

All this begins when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Joh 3:16