A True Heart of Thanksgiving

In the message "Praise Him Even More" we considered our command, as well as our need, to rejoice and praise in order to sustain Spiritual life. A heart that has not been transformed by the Spirit of God cannot truly praise, and a transformed heart that does not praise will surely cease to pump Spiritual life through the body.

Silas had joined Paul on his second missionary journey. Early in the journey, the two men were seized and brought before the authorities: "These men are Jews and are throwing our city into an uproar" (Acts 16:20). For this act they were stripped, beaten, and thrown in prison with chains around their feet. However, their hearts continued to praise God and give Him thanks in spite of their conditions.

Acts 16:25
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them."

Giving thanks in the form of prayer, praise, song, celebration, or simply as an attitude of thankfulness is mentioned well over one thousand times in the Bible. It's no surprise that having a heart filled with thanksgiving should be an integral part of the Christian walk. We need to see this world and the entirety of our life with new eyes - eyes that see God's hand at work in every moment of every day.

If we believe in the One True God as the Creator of the Universe and accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, we should be compelled to give thanks...regardless of our circumstances. We should begin to see the evidence of God all around, and praise Him even for the air we breathe.

A heart without praise and thanksgiving is empty and does not yet understand a sovereign God or His plan. If our surroundings are continually dictating the thankfulness of our heart, perhaps we ought to ask God to reveal His loving plan in even greater clarity. Yes, God wants to see us live a life of true peace and contentment; but first and foremost, He desires for us to surrender our life to Him and bring Him glory and honor in ALL we do. Only then, and only with the power of His Spirit, will we be able to "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

We cannot produce thanksgiving by simply trying to be more thankful. We only become thankful by taking our heart back to the very origin of our new nature - back to the saving grace of Jesus. Let's return to the point where our life was made new and once again learn to rejoice; once again learn to absolutely trust; once again learn to live with a true heart of thanksgiving.

Well hello Steve and Families, and yes in words and deeds, about: .......

http://gdwmboard.org/eve/forums?a=tpc&f=625602588&m=623...0539241#62310539241, Col. 3:17,

but I'am being thankful unto GOD, and of his only begotten Son, who had bought us and redeemed us, to the bleeding side of calvary, and we must also, go on to perfection, loving our Lord Jesus Christ with all our heart, mind, and with all of strength by not only hearing his sayings, but by doing all of them, James 1:22, all the days of our life before him only, so that, we can have A True of Thanksgiving in not departing from the true and living God of our salvation,

and I do find that it is very important for us to: do exactly as our Lord have said about: loving one another, as he have loved his he disciples the whole while he was with them, according to each teachings that he had for them to learn as becoming apostles, wright ? : .......

“Love One Another, As I Have Loved You” ....... A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. John 13:34.

If one would really look back at this whole picture, just maybe they can have A True Heart of Thanksgiving, even enough to do whatsoever, and whenever issues arise in life worth while living all the days of our lives unto Our Saviour, wright ? , but still!: here is where the story of Thanksgiving and of its origin probably started at that time: .......

Hello! and how have you all been? Happy holiday season, and We love you all always, Fr. Walter and Deborah, La./Wa. : .......

Some Facts About: "The Origin of Thanksgiving Day": From the Book Holiday Symbols 1998 (1st Edition Omnigraphics) edited by Sue Ellen Thompson (pgs. 479-481)

Thanksgiving

Type of Holiday: Historic

Date of Observation: Fourth Thursday in November (United States), second Monday in October (Canada)

Where Celebrated: Canada, United States

Symbols: Corn Dolly, Cornucopia, Indian Corn, Parades, Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, Turkey

Colors: The colors of the autumn harvest-- orantge, brown, and gold--can be seen in Thanksgiving decorations and table settings. Because it is not strictly a religious festival, there are no liturgical colors associated with the day.

Related Holidays: Sukkot

Origins

The autumn harvest has always been a cause for celebration. The ancient Greeks honored Demeter, their corn goddess, at the annual festival known as the Thesmophoria in October, when the seeds for the next year's crop were about to be planted. The Romans had their Cerealia, held each year on October 4 in honor of the grain goddess, Ceres.

They offered her the first fruits of the harvest and paraded through the field, participating in games and sports and sharing a huge thanksgiving feast . The Jews observed SUKKOT, or the Feast of Tabernacles, in the autumn as well. They hung the walls of the small huts built for this festival with apples, grapes, corn, pomegranates, and other fruits and vegetables. Both the North American and South American Indians celebrated the harvest as well. All of these early thanksgiving ceremonies were social as well as religious occasions, providing those whose work in the fields was completed with an opportunity to sing, dance, feast, and play games.

Even in America, there were at least two Thanksgiving celebrations before the one that took place at Plymouth in 1621. In 1607, a group of English settlers led by Captain George Popham met with a group of Abnaki Indians near the mouth of the Kennebec River to share a harvest feast and prayer meeting. On December 14, 1619, there was a celebration in Virginia led by Captain John Woodleaf and 39 colonists who had traveled up the James River from Jamestown to a place called Berkeley Hundred, where they went ashore and gave thanks.

Most Americans, however, think of the first "official" Thanksgiving as being the one that took place a Plymouth Colony in October 1621, a year after the PILGRIMS first landed on the New England coast (ssee PLYMOUTH ROCK). They were joined in their three-day feast by Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoag tribe, and about 90 of his fellow tribesmen. Only 50 of the original 100 Pilgrims had survived the first winter, and those who did owed their survival to the Indians. The feast they shared with them in 1621 was primarily a harvest celebration rather than a religious one.



During the next several years, no one specific day was set aside in the American colonies for giving thanks. A day would be named when there was a special reason to be thankful, such as a bumper crop or escape from an epidemic. It was largely due to the efforts of a women's magazine editor named Sara Hale the Thanksgiving came to be a national holiday.

She petitioned presidents and government officials for more than 20 years to establish a national day of thanksgiving. On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed the fourth Thursday in November as Thanskgiving Day. President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it up a week to stimulate the economy by allowing more time for Christmas shopping. But the tradition was already so well established that the change created an uproar. Finally, Congress ruled in 1941 that the fourth Thursday in November would be the legal federal holiday. Canadians celebrate their Thanksgiving Day on the second Monday in October.

The Pilgrims' Thanksgiving can be traced back to the English Harvest Home celebration and Dutch thanksgiving traditions, which some Pilgrims learned about during the ten years they spent in the city of Leyden before coming to America. Today, Thanksgiving is a time for family reunions, most of which center around the preparation of an elaborate meal featuring TURKEY and a dozen or so accompanying dishes. Although some people go to special church services on Thanksgiving Day, far more line the streets to watch PARADES or sit in front of the television watching football games. In many American cities and towns, the day after Thanksgiving marks the official start of the CHRISTMAS shopping season.
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firstthings1st. Matthew 6:33/"A Phrase of our Lord"

Bro. Walter, Jr. and Sis. Deborah, La.

http://www.firstthings1st.com