A Heart of Thanksgiving

November 24th

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land. (Psalms 95:1-5)

Sunday night we had our Thanksgiving communion service, and it was great as we went around the table with people sharing what they were thankful for. It was the first time we did this service for two years. Many were thankful for their families, their church families, friends, and of course, the Lord for giving us the gift of salvation.
Thanksgiving is said to have started in 1621 when the settlers of Plymouth celebrated the harvest with a 3-day feast with the Wampanoag Indians. In 1789 Congress passed a resolution asking the President to recommend to the people we set aside a day of Thanksgiving. It was not until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the proclamation to celebrate the last Thursday of November in honor of Thanksgiving.
With a world that is in constant turmoil where two sides cannot agree on anything, it does my heart good to choose to turn my heart toward thankfulness. It is easy to become discontent and frustrated with the way things are today. But when you put everything in its proper perspective and choose to focus on the things the Lord has blessed you with, anxiety and stress begin to diminish.
The keyword in this devotion is “perspective”. As long was we keep things in proper perspective all is well. However, we tend to view things thorough eyes from this world and see things man has created as amazing and unbelievable, but they pale when compared to the things of the Lord. When you look at wonders of the world God has created and they will take your breath away, and they are only the tip of the iceberg to what’s to come for us in heaven. We are studying in Hebrews “Jesus is better” and that is better than anything. I want you to know God is also bigger and better than anything you will encounter in this life.
Many times, we take our problems and magnify them until they are overwhelming, and they are all we can see. God wants you keep things in perspective. If you do so, you will understand the things that cause you to stumble in this world are like a pebble in the vastness of God. The old story goes elephants can be held with a small rope if tied around their foot at a young age. As they get older they believe they cannot break the rope, so they do not. They let small things from this world tell them how they are going to live and react, when the reality is God wants us to break the chains of this world and live-in victory. It is then that we will not be ruled by this world and choose to Praise the Lord with Thanksgiving for He provides for us. Then we can eat our turkey and have our pie too. Bon Appetit.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!! Pastor Rick Lipira