Thoughts from the Past – Willing to Give Thanks

Nov. 26, 2008

Willing to Give Thanks

Leviticus 22:29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.

I read this verse recently in my Bible reading and it stood out to me since Thanksgiving was approaching here in the U.S. There is a tendency now these days to refer to Thanksgiving as "Turkey Day". This shows an attitude of the heart in the people who do so, and I hope that it is a tendency only in the unbelieving. They are not willing to thank God Almighty for His goodness, mercy and grace to all, so they do not want to call the holiday by it's intended name. (Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.)

The very name 'Thanksgiving" implies an action - the giving of thanks. As the children of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, we should be willing and eager to offer thanksgiving unto our God. As New Testament saints, we should have the will to offer the sacrifice of praise.

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

This Thanksgiving, may we offer at our own will the sacrifice of praise unto the Lord, "the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto his name"!

Thoughts from the Past – Praise for the Future

November 14, 2007

Praise for the Future

Another year almost over! Where has it flown to? How amazing it is that a whole year can pass so quickly now! The older I get the faster they seem to go. I've heard older people talk about this in the past, but somehow as I get older myself it is becoming a reality to me more than before. The precious moments are flying away never to return. Things I would have done, could have done - things I should have relished and enjoyed more - they are over and past and it cannot be now. Mistakes cannot be retrieved either. It is all sealed in that unforgiving thing we call yesterday. Thank God that He does forgive sins, though! (1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.)

Thanks be unto God that this life is not an end in itself! We who are His children through faith in Christ Jesus have a good hope of the future! Imagine...a thousand years to live on this earth in a perfect, sinless body - and in the company of our Lord and our fellow saints. This is something to look forward to! Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday this year let us thank God for the blessings in store for us. The blessings of the past are great and surely we should thank Him for them, but we have much in the future to thank God for as well. We really are blessed and privileged to know so much about our future with Him!

2Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

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A poem to go with this post:

I Shall Dwell Forever

Random Links for A Cloudy, Rainy Day

My ham and lentil soup.

I haven’t done a link post for awhile, and since I’m a little behind on posts I thought I’d try to put one together today.  It’s a cloudy, dull November day here (though not cold yet), but we had a little rain which is always welcome here these days of drought!  Praise the Lord for every bit we get!

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Mommy’s Kitchen – Here is a neat cooking blog my mom discovered and declared useful.  I haven’t explored it much yet, but it looks like there are a lot of good “home cookin’” recipes here. :-)

Homemade Soup Recipes – Mmmm soooooup, that warm comfort food that makes a cold day seem a little less chilly.

Did someone say chili? A chili for every taste – more or less.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches at TasteofHome.com – Did I mention that I’m getting hungry?  I think we need to have some grilled cheese sandwiches soon!  Until then they are  grilled cheese sandwishes. ;-)

More Grilled Cheese, Please!

Old Time Cooked Banana Pudding – I never met “banana puddin’” till my family moved to the South (Tennessee, to be exact).  I’ve only ever had the instant mix, pre-fabricated food type banana pudding and I was not impressed (my apologies to my Southern readers).  But, I have to say that this sounds like it would be quite good, plus it sounds like you could or should serve it warm, which seems more appealing to me.  I thought there was probably an old fashioned method for this. (Now if I could only find some good vanilla wafers that didn’t have stuff in them that we don’t like to eat.)

An assortment of Winter Dinners.

Apple pie dish – for a yummy winter treat, serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.