O Give Thanks!

"Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." (Psalm 136:1 NKJV)

On this day, one which we traditionally set aside in America to celebrate Thanksgiving, our celebration should be about more than a day off work, watching sports, shopping and eating.

In spite of all the things that have gone wrong or are not what we expected, we can still give thanks to The Lord!

Many people complain daily about what is happening in America--and no matter what our President does--he is never right. But instead of complaining, we should be grateful we don't live in a country where if we dared to raise our voices in dissension or opposition to anything the leader did, we could be arrested and executed.

We complain our economy that acts more like a roller coaster out of control, but there are people in other countries who are starving, penniless, and would sell their souls to the devil for a scrap of bread. We know they sell their children and we know they know, how those same children are abused and misused for the satisfaction of the perverted--influenced by the enemy. We should be grateful that most of us--have never been in such a predicament and will probably never know the anguish a parent might feel who had to resort to selling a child.

We complain about those who worship God and those who don't. We hate instead of loving one another. We do not understand that disagreement with someone is not a strategy to hate.
Whether we choose to believe in God or not, it is our choice and for the most part, in this country--we won't be executed or forced to believe anything we choose not to believe. That is not true is some other countries where people are forced to believe whatever that leader wants to believe and if they don't, they are arrested or executed.

We complain about the senseless violence in this country, when we should be grateful that we are not living in war torn countries, living with the prospect of bombs dropping on our roofs at any moment. Violence is never the answer, but when people do not God or how to think before acting, there is and always will be--senseless violence.

On this Thanksgiving Day, my family will enjoy a good meal, watch TV, or play video games (we will not shop), but before we do anything, we will offer thanksgiving to God--for all He has done, is doing, and will do in our lives that we may be living letters, read by others, encouraging them to seek Him and enjoy the benefits of His love. I pra,y that you, too,will take time to give thanks.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for keeping us safe, healthy, and ready to praise You for all things. For we know, that without You in our lives, our lives could be so much different than it is. We could be slaughtered and left to die of illnesses without appropriate care. We could starve in the land of plenty. But thanks to You, O God, we have all we need and we truly grateful for Your many blessings that we might bless others. Amen!

O Give Thanks!

"O give thanks" (the exact phrase) appears in 10 verses of scriptures with explanation as to why we should give thanks.

"For the Lord is good and His mercy lasts forever" is why we should give thanks.

Where would we be without His mercy? His mercy that provides us with an avenue to not get what we deserve, but gives us another chance to get living right before Him.

His mercy--covers the guilt-stained messes some of us have made of our lives.
His mercy--gives us chance after chance to get it right.
His mercy--extended to us not because of who we are, but because of Who He is.
His mercy--new every morning, giving us fresh beginnings when we repent.
His mercy--gives us opportunity to rethink our direction the paths we take.
His mercy--allows us to hear Holy Spirit when He speaks--teaching, reminding, and guiding us.

O give thanks to The Lord for His mercy endures forever and ever, and ever! Hallelujah! I will praise You for Your greatness, Your mercy, Your love, Your grace all the days of my life. No matter what happens in this world, You are awesome and there is none like You, anywhere in the earth. If I had the tongues of angels, I could not praise You enough. If I could live forever, I could not praise You enough. Thank You, Lord for being who You are and for being in my life!

Give Him praise and thanks for family, friends, loved ones and even for those you don't know. Pray for those in the midst of chaos and wars, for those who are incapable of thinking right thoughts, for those who refute and refuse God's goodness, for those in your home, in your neighborhood, in your country, all over this world.

God grant you the hindsight and foresight to receive all that He has in store in for you this day. Have a wonderful day celebrating thanksgiving or whatever it is you do! Give Him Glory, because it all belongs to Him!