Our Thanksgiving Week Begins

Awww.....beautiful Thanksgiving Week -- the time we really focus on God's multiplied blessings to us. Though it's the mindset we should have all year through, this week we purposely hone in on what's most important to us. I'm in "game-on" mode for all that this week will hold.

But, before I go to that high energy "Martha" mode, I have to pause this morning, in these wee hours and settle into the "Mary" mode to reflect on the beauty of what this upcoming holiday is all about. First of all, I am so grateful that America continues to set apart a day each year for giving thanks. Whew! That's a close one! Aren't we so grateful that the "radicals" that keep trying to remove the values that our country was founded upon -- prayer, Christmas, "In God We Trust" and "The 10 Commandments" and other matters that exclude our Sovereign God, haven't been successful with removing Thanksgiving? And I think it's a double blessing that most of us still believe that Thanksgiving is a day for actually giving thanks to God, not just a time for feeling vaguely thankful while loading up on turkey and pumpkin pie, watching football AND perusing all the Black Friday ads!

May we not forget the heart of Thanksgiving. In fact, it may seem like a cliche, but I believe Thanksgiving should be a part of our DNA where that spirit of gratitude is at the very core of our lives. Just being grateful to wake up in a warm bed. In fact, being grateful we WOKE UP -- considering the alternative. Grateful to be vertical -- not horizontal. And, the list could go into pages for so many other blessings we have.

Thinking about this wonderful holiday, I did a little research on how it started. On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation inviting citizens of the United States to "set apart and observe the last Thursday of November, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise." His act established Thanksgiving as a national event. Thanksgiving that year was celebrated on November. 26, one week after Lincoln's trip to a small Pennsylvania town, where he memorialized the fallen in one of the Civil War's most critical and devastating battles. With bodies still lying unburied in the fields behind him, Lincoln asked the nation to "highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom." And with those words, Lincoln rewrote America's political lineage. He traced the nation's birth to the Declaration of Independence, in which Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men are created equal, instead of the Constitution, which allowed slavery to exist. During the four years of the Civil War, more than 620,000 people would die — 2% of the population. Nearly everyone who survived the war was touched by it in some way.

Even amid such profound sorrow, Lincoln found the reason to give thanks. It all bears repeating, but for the sake of space here, I simply offer the last paragraph. We might ask this question: "What would happen if an American President used this kind of language again in an official proclamation? How could the tide change for our country if our nation turned its heart toward God again?

President Lincoln finishes his proclamation with: "I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this 3rd day of October, A. D. 1863."

Happy Thanksgiving, my precious FB friends!
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD....." Psalm 33:12

Hang On!! Help is Coming!!

Yesterday morning was wonderfully cooler and cloudy so Bentley (the family dog) and I embraced the opportunity to just bathe in God’s creative beauty from the patio. As I looked out at the hills of Austin, immediately the scripture in Psalm 121:1,2 came to mind: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” THAT’S the answer yesterday, today and forever to our plea for help in the moment of distress, worry, concern, fear, and pain. That scripture is our emergency 911 call number 24/7. It should be our first line-of-defense – NOT when all else fails. We are reminded many times in God’s Word to “Seek FIRST….the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (finances, healing of relationships, physical healing, decision-making), will be added to us.

I know there are those of us who have a built-in positive attitude. We are like the little engine that pushed up THAT hill saying “I think I can. I think I can.” And, indeed a positive attitude is what we achieve when we get the right order: First God, in first place in all matters of our lives. Not just "I think I can", I KNOW "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13. My HELP comes from the Lord.

My "teacher" instincts drive me to know more about scriptures and their meaning. I checked out this one from a Bible commentary. This chapter was called the Song of Ascents as Jews made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem for annual feast days. With that in mind, it is plain to see that this is a pilgrim's song that speaks of the dangers of the journey, and of the help, God provides along the way. This verse is first a cry of despair. "Where does my help come from?" Obviously, there is danger lurking in the hills above and is waiting for an opportunity to pounce upon the weary traveler. When that happens, where can the pilgrim turn to for help? The psalmist answers his own question by reminding us that "the Lord is our help"!

Yesterday morning, I wasn’t worshipping the hills I saw, but I was certainly appreciating their beauty as I worshipped my Father Who created them. Here’s the value of looking to God for help. Like I said earlier, He is available to us 24/7. He is always with us. Relying on friends for advice and comfort can be a problem. They are not always there when we need them. But, God is!

We are all pilgrims on our own pilgrimage that began the very moment that we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior and it will continue until we step out of this life and into eternity. In the meantime, we're still here and no doubt there are dangers lurking all around. There are enemies that desire to rob us of peace, joy, and victory. There are problems that try to strip us of trusting in God’s power. I've been through those difficult times myself. Times when dangers surrounded my life and I wondered where my help would come from. You might be there right now! If so, maybe you're the reason for God giving me these words today. Please take them to heart. The HELP the Psalmist is referring to is the source of help Who is greater than any problem we can imagine. The HELP is our friend, our ally, our Father AND the Creator of the hills and the universe. If God can make this world, then surely, He has the power to take care of me! Our Helper is none other than the very One who stood on the edge of nothing and made everything with His words. Hang On. Our HELP comes from the Lord and HELP is coming!none other than the very One who stood on the edge of nothing and made everything with His words. Hang On. Our HELP comes from the Lord and HELP is coming!