I’m Thankful For…

Those three words seem to make an appearance for the month of November, and then seems to disappear from conversation just as quickly as it enters. I want to challenge everyone to begin being thankful on a daily basis.  It is a shame that we sometimes need a special day or month to remind us of the need to be thankful.

Thanksgiving is not a Christian Holiday, but I feel that it is a central theme of the Bible and can be applied to our lives in many different ways.  Let’s take a look at a number of scriptures to remind us to be thankful during this holiday season:

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.”—Psalm   100:4-5

” Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.” – Psalm 118:1

“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,” – 1 Timothy 2:1

“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” – Philippians 4:6

Being thankful in all circumstances we face can truly bless those around us, because they will begin to see God’s spirit at work in us, but also, it will bless us. If we focus on the good things that God is doing and determine that no matter what we are facing to be thankful in the things that we have and in the things that we don’t have.  Determining to be content and thankful in all circumstances will not only bless those around us, but will also bless us.

Today, be thankful! Tomorrow, be thankful! Be thankful more than just one day or 30 days a year…give thanks daily in all things!

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

“Come, ye thankful people, come, Raise the song of harvest home! All is safely gathered in, Ere the winter storms begin; God, our Maker, doth provide For our wants to be supplied; Come to God’s own temple, come; Raise the song of harvest home!

“We ourselves are God’s own field, Fruit unto his praise to yield; Wheat and tares together sown Unto joy or sorrow grown; First the blade and then the ear, Then the full corn shall appear; Grant, O harvest Lord, that we Wholesome grain and pure may be.

“For the Lord our God shall come, And shall take the harvest home; From His field shall in that day All offenses purge away, Giving angels charge at last In the fire the tares to cast; But the fruitful ears to store In the garner evermore.

“Then, thou Church triumphant come, Raise the song of harvest home! All be safely gathered in, Free from sorrow, free from sin, There, forever purified, In God’s garner to abide; Come, ten thousand angels, come, Raise the glorious harvest home!”

With Thanksgiving this month, this hymn speaks to the heart of the Christians as it shows us where their hearts should be. It encourages Christians to open their hearts and to come thankfully to God. We must be thankful in life and must remember our place in the kingdom.

We are the product of His field and are grown in His nurture and grace. The Lord will return to take the harvest home, a harvest that will be gathered and will be taken home to be with Him.

We must help cultivate the field, we must make the field ready for harvest. We are the ones that are called to bear fruit for the Kingdom, and it is our fruit that could change the lives of others who are searching for answers in their own pursuit of the Gospel.

Raise the song of praise this Thanksgiving, lift up your praise to the one who will return to harvest the field and take home with Him those who have been grown and matured. Are you ready for the harvest? Are you ready for your great Thanksgiving homecoming?

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalms 100:4 ESV)”