At a recent conference I picked up a book by Ravi Zacharias (RZIM) which I read while traveling from Colorado to Los Angeles (via Dallas – that is a story for another day). The book is “Cries of the Heart” and in the chapter titled The Cry for a Reason in Suffering there was this quote, “I used to think that time was a healer. I no longer believe that. I now believe that time is only the revealer of how God does the healing.”
The entire book is excellent and I highly recommend it!
Following is the text of George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation dated October 3, 1789.
WHEREAS, It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor;
WHEREAS, Both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted’ for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
SHOUT for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are 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 endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is recevied with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. I Timothy 4:4&5
“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:11
Did you know that :
As we set aside Thursday to be thankful for our blessings consider how you can be generous on this occasion and throughout the year in order to be a blessing to someone else. Please check out the links on my blogroll under the Favorite Links if you’d like to read more about the issues and how you can help – Aids Orphans and Street Children, Compassions International, World Vision and Save a Child all work in the hardest hit areas of the world to provide bare necessities and comfort.
While you are doing your Christmas shopping this year, consider shopping at retailers that have committed a percentage of each sale on certain items to buy and distribute anti-retroviral medicine in Africa (The (RED) Manifesto). For more details regarding Product Red and the retailers involved click this here.
“We are blessed to be a blessing. Are you a reservoir or a river?” Gary Snavely, Pastor of Teaching – Willamette Christian Church
(Statistics courtesy of ONE.org)
“There in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you.” Deut. 12:7
Thanksgiving is my favoritie holiday. It earned that spot primarily because it is a time spent with family and friends. When I was growing up it was our tradition to spend the day with my mother’s side of the family. There is no such thing as a small gathering when you get all of us together. When I was very young we usually celebrated at my Aunt Lynne and Uncle Jim’s house in Manhattan Beach, CA. They had a large family room at the back of the house that would be transformed into the Thanksgiving Dining Room that could seat all of us – that number could range between 20 and 30 on any given Thanksgiving.
At some point in my teens my mom’s family moved to the Santa Ynez valley in Central California. My aunts and uncle had purchased 40 acres of land and built a multi-family dwelling, Rancho Mono, a story which can be read about in the book written by my Aunt Lynne, “Be Careful What You Dream…it might come true”. I think we had Thanksgiving in the mobile home on the property one year and at least one celebration in the “big house”. After they sold Rancho Mono Thanksgiving memories were made at my Aunt Leslie’s house in Solvang, CA. We’d clear out the family room or living room and set up many tables – the family was growing with in-laws and children.
In the late 90′s my mother and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house in Torrance, CA. We set up tables in our backyard under a tarp. We suspected at the time, but did not know for certain, that this would be the last of the thanksgivings celebrated with all of my mom’s side of the family – all but one or two of us were in attendance at that celebration. I think we had upwards of 35 people that year!
Shortly after that Thanksgiving each family unit started their own traditions.Our unit began celebrating Thanksgiving at my brother and his family’s house. My sister-in-law, Connie, would try new things each year (which caused some angst for the traditionalists in our family)…one year she boned the turkey, another corn bread stuffing was on the menu. Man oh man did that girl know how to make gravy – to this day it is the best gravy I have every eatten!!! One thing remained the same, we’d clear out the living room and set up tables to accomodate a large number of people. Connie’s aunt and uncle, brothers’ and their wives and families were now a part of the celebration too.
Last year was the most unique celebration of Thanksgiving that I have experienced to date. A number of us spent the day at Disneyland. It was the first Thanksgiving after Connie’s death. Phil had always wanted to spend thanksgiving at Disneyland because he had heard it was not very crowded that day and we weren’t really up the traditional celebration. I don’t even remember where we all were last year – the whole year is a bit of a blur, but Phil and his kids and I went to Disneyland – I know there were others that went too, but like I said it is a bit of a blur.
This year we will be spending the holiday at my sister’s in Orange County, CA in the traditional way and our numbers will more like the old numbers and the faces in the crowd will be the familar ones. I am looking forward to the fellowship with family and friends, loving on my siblings, my parents, my nieces and nephews, Connie’s mom and dad and brothers and sisters-in-law.
Colossians 3:3 was referenced in today’s My Utmost for His Highest devotion by Oswald Chambers. The reference prompted me to read the entire chapter. Following is the entire chapter from the Message paraphrase.
Colossians 3, The Message
So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.
Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.
Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.
Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.
Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.
Here are a few quotes and passages I’ve collected recently from various sources:
“Hearts are longing for the truth in a world that often claims there none.” Kevin Harney, Seismic Shifts
“We are blessed to be a blessing. Are you a reservoir or a river?” Gary Snavely, Pastor of Teaching – Willamette Christian Church
We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue – if sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine – thtat is, sin will kill the life of God in us. We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
“It will all happen as I have planned. It will come about according to my purposes.” God, Isaiah 14:24 NLT
That is the search phrase by which someone showed up at my blog…The internet is a crazy place!!! I hope he / she found what he / she was looking for while browsing the contents of this Jesus Freak’s blog!
“God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. “ This is a quote from the October 30th devotion in My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
Circumstances in others lives can have a direct or indirect impact on us as well and God will use those to educate our faith too. I am thinking specifically of the turn of events that have taken place in Pastor Ted Haggard’s life last week. There is much shock, saddness and grief in the whole Christian community – it is the death of a leader. Just like any other loss there will be a process of grieving and healing that will need to occur. Our faith will be educated by these circumstances and maybe, just maybe others will come to know the restoring and redemptive love of our Lord Jesus Christ through our response to these circumstances both individually and corporately.
It has been an awesome thing to watch God’s family (including Ted and Gayle Haggard) acting quickly and biblically with regards to addressing the sin that came to light. Yesterday’s New Life services was broadcast in it’s entirety here in Colorado Springs. There was beautiful worship, thoughful words from the head of New Life’s Board of Overseer’s and New Life’s interim pastor Ross Parsley and letters from both Ted and Gayle were read.
In Ted’s statement he said, “The public person I was wasn’t a lie; it was just incomplete. When I stopped communicating about my problems, the darkness increased and finally dominated me. As a result, I did things that were contrary to everything I believe.” (Click here to read the entire statement) There is a valuable lesson here for all of us – communication, confession and prayer. James 5:16a says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” Jesus said, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Matthew 26:41 & Mark14:38.
Included in our faith education is discipline.
Proverbs 3:11& 12 - My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
Proverbs 10:17 – He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
Proverbs 12:1 - To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.
Proverbs 13:18 – He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.
Proverbs 15:32 – He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
We are all broken people who sin. We all need Jesus to restore us back to relationship with God the Father and “God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. “ The object of my faith is Jesus Christ, how about you?
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