I saw these guys in the park the other day. J/K. This is for you Mary. Maybe you should try this w/ Dotty and Crazor.
With Thanksgiving around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it actually is. I’m in a country that doesn’t have a clue. I tried to describe it to my landlords and I butchered it. I said something like it’s a holiday where families get together, eat big meals, and give thanks for the blessings in their lives. You may be thinking, “That sounds just about right.” But is it really? Should that be what Thanksgiving is?
All holidays over here everything are associated with their religion. So, they associate all of our holidays with the one religion that all Americans follow, Christianity. (Yeah right, but that’s how the world views us)
For instance, I’ve heard that people over here think that Santa Claus is one of our gods because we plaster him everywhere during December. Same with Christmas trees. I wonder how Halloween looks to them. I don’t even want to know.
I’m starting to think S. Asia has something right. Their religion is so embedded in them that it overflows into every aspect of their lives. Let’s keep in mind this is a false religion that is keeping millions blinded from the truth. Of course, the devil wants their beliefs to infiltrate all aspects of society.
Back to Thanksgiving. Should we do anything that isn’t for God’s glory? Of course, we immediately say no b/c that would be sin. But I know in the past when I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, etc. focusing on giving Him due praise and honor hasn’t been first on my mind. I don’t doubt for one minute that many of you reading this get our holidays right. I don’t. For example, in the past I've spent more time decorating the Christmas tree than reading or sharing the Christmas story with others. My very existence is dependent on Him, and everything in my life is from Him. So this Thanksgiving day, I want to give credit where credit is due. Someone sent me this scripture, so I’m passing it along to you. It’s a compilation of scripture that sums up Thanksgiving. (It’s long, but worth it) If you don't have time, skip to the bottom and read it later.
"On that day David decreed for the first time that thanks be given to the Lord…Give thanks to the Lord; call on His name; proclaim His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him; sing praise to Him; tell about all His wonderful works! Honor His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice…Remember the wonderful works He has done, His wonders, and the judgments He has pronounced…He is the Lord our God; His judgments [govern] the whole earth. Remember His covenant forever…Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Proclaim His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all peoples. For the Lord is great and is highly praised; He is feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His place. Ascribe to the Lord, families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of [His] holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth…Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is King!”…Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. May You be praised, Lord God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of everything. In Your hand are power and might, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand. We give thanks to You, God; we give thanks to You, for Your name is near. People tell about Your wonderful works. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations. Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts or proclaim all the praise due Him? Open the gates of righteousness for me; I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord…I will give thanks to You because You have answered me and have become my salvation. I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing Your praise before the heavenly beings. I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your constant love and faithfulness. You have exalted Your name and Your promise above everything else. May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him…Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.' Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"
(1 Chron 16:7-15; 23-26; 29:10-20; Psalms 75:1; 100:3-5; 106:1-2; 118:19-21; 138:1-5; Dan 2:19-23; 1 Thess 5:16-18; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 15:56-57 HCSB)
After that if you’re still wondering what you should be thankful for this year think about the people in these statistics:
· Every day 799 million people in developing countries—about one of every seven people worldwide—go hungry.[1]
· Every 5 seconds a child dies because he or she was hungry.[2]
· A child dies every 15 seconds from a water-related disease. This amounts to nearly 6,000 deaths, or the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing, every day.[3]
· Americans spend $26 billion annually on ice cream, an amount that could feed 83 million hungry children for an entire year.[4]
I’m definitely not trying to make you feel bad about the blessings we both share or how much ice cream you eat. I love ice cream. When I get back, I’ll continue to buy over-priced ice cream from Coldstone. Just keep the nations in your prayers this Thanksgiving. Pray for more workers, especially for national/local workers. The gospel spreads like wildfire amongst nationals. It’s been amazing to see.
Also, you can give to organizations such as this one:Water Missions International. It’s an amazing non-profit. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to serve there and get to know its leaders. They have an online Christmas catalog where you can purchase life saving gifts. Look online for more detail. I cannot describe it well. Please check it out. It’s based out of Charleston. http://www.watermissions.org/ P.S. Family this is what you’ll be receiving this Christmas.
Thanks for hanging in there through this long post. Thanks for all of your support. I cannot imagine where I would be without your prayers.
With Thanksgiving around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it actually is. I’m in a country that doesn’t have a clue. I tried to describe it to my landlords and I butchered it. I said something like it’s a holiday where families get together, eat big meals, and give thanks for the blessings in their lives. You may be thinking, “That sounds just about right.” But is it really? Should that be what Thanksgiving is?
All holidays over here everything are associated with their religion. So, they associate all of our holidays with the one religion that all Americans follow, Christianity. (Yeah right, but that’s how the world views us)
For instance, I’ve heard that people over here think that Santa Claus is one of our gods because we plaster him everywhere during December. Same with Christmas trees. I wonder how Halloween looks to them. I don’t even want to know.
I’m starting to think S. Asia has something right. Their religion is so embedded in them that it overflows into every aspect of their lives. Let’s keep in mind this is a false religion that is keeping millions blinded from the truth. Of course, the devil wants their beliefs to infiltrate all aspects of society.
Back to Thanksgiving. Should we do anything that isn’t for God’s glory? Of course, we immediately say no b/c that would be sin. But I know in the past when I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, etc. focusing on giving Him due praise and honor hasn’t been first on my mind. I don’t doubt for one minute that many of you reading this get our holidays right. I don’t. For example, in the past I've spent more time decorating the Christmas tree than reading or sharing the Christmas story with others. My very existence is dependent on Him, and everything in my life is from Him. So this Thanksgiving day, I want to give credit where credit is due. Someone sent me this scripture, so I’m passing it along to you. It’s a compilation of scripture that sums up Thanksgiving. (It’s long, but worth it) If you don't have time, skip to the bottom and read it later.
"On that day David decreed for the first time that thanks be given to the Lord…Give thanks to the Lord; call on His name; proclaim His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him; sing praise to Him; tell about all His wonderful works! Honor His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice…Remember the wonderful works He has done, His wonders, and the judgments He has pronounced…He is the Lord our God; His judgments [govern] the whole earth. Remember His covenant forever…Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Proclaim His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all peoples. For the Lord is great and is highly praised; He is feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His place. Ascribe to the Lord, families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of [His] holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth…Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is King!”…Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. May You be praised, Lord God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of everything. In Your hand are power and might, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand. We give thanks to You, God; we give thanks to You, for Your name is near. People tell about Your wonderful works. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations. Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts or proclaim all the praise due Him? Open the gates of righteousness for me; I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord…I will give thanks to You because You have answered me and have become my salvation. I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing Your praise before the heavenly beings. I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your constant love and faithfulness. You have exalted Your name and Your promise above everything else. May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him…Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.' Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"
(1 Chron 16:7-15; 23-26; 29:10-20; Psalms 75:1; 100:3-5; 106:1-2; 118:19-21; 138:1-5; Dan 2:19-23; 1 Thess 5:16-18; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 15:56-57 HCSB)
After that if you’re still wondering what you should be thankful for this year think about the people in these statistics:
· Every day 799 million people in developing countries—about one of every seven people worldwide—go hungry.[1]
· Every 5 seconds a child dies because he or she was hungry.[2]
· A child dies every 15 seconds from a water-related disease. This amounts to nearly 6,000 deaths, or the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing, every day.[3]
· Americans spend $26 billion annually on ice cream, an amount that could feed 83 million hungry children for an entire year.[4]
I’m definitely not trying to make you feel bad about the blessings we both share or how much ice cream you eat. I love ice cream. When I get back, I’ll continue to buy over-priced ice cream from Coldstone. Just keep the nations in your prayers this Thanksgiving. Pray for more workers, especially for national/local workers. The gospel spreads like wildfire amongst nationals. It’s been amazing to see.
Also, you can give to organizations such as this one:Water Missions International. It’s an amazing non-profit. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to serve there and get to know its leaders. They have an online Christmas catalog where you can purchase life saving gifts. Look online for more detail. I cannot describe it well. Please check it out. It’s based out of Charleston. http://www.watermissions.org/ P.S. Family this is what you’ll be receiving this Christmas.
Thanks for hanging in there through this long post. Thanks for all of your support. I cannot imagine where I would be without your prayers.
Here's one more funny:
[1] United Nations Human Development Report 2003.
[2] State of Food Insecurity in the World, Food and Agriculture Organization, 2003.
[3] World Health Organization, 2004.
[4] State of the World 2004, World Vision, International Dairy Foods Association, Dairy Facts 2008.
1 comment:
On behalf of Water Missions International, thank you for your much-needed support, prayers, and encouragement as we bring safe and Living Water to a thirsty world.
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