Thursday, November 23, 2017

When Was the Last Time You Said, "Thank You Abba' Father" From the Depths of Your Soul?


“Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.”  “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness” (Psa. 33:8, 12, 18).

Hey Gang, Did you know that our Founding Fathers openly recognized that God was the source of a successful nation? They were aware of our need for God, if we were to be a healthy nation.  George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”  They knew that, if the nation was going to work, its people needed to voluntarily live by God’s rules. 

My Bride and I have been truly blessed this year as we have traversed a devotional book compiled by Dr. Richard G. Lee, titled In God We Still Trust.  It consists of quotes from many of our Founding Fathers, and others who have succeeded them, openly acknowledging that a nation without God was a nation that would soon join all the civilizations that have gone before that did not recognize this truth. 

On October 3, 1863, in the midst of the civil War, President Abraham Lincoln called Americans to a National Day of Thanksgiving and Praise.  He proclaimed “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.  It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.  I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens…to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our Beneficient Father who dwells in the Heavens.

He went on and implored the Lord to heal the wounds of our great Nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and Union.” 

Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “The Bible is God’s chart for you to steer by, to keep you from the bottom of the sea, and to show you where the harbor is, and how to reach it without running on the rocks or bars.”

In his 1815 Thanksgiving Proclamation, President James Madison reminded his audience:  “No people ought to feel greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of the great Disposer of Events of the destiny of nations than the people of the United States…And to the same Divine Author of Every Good and Perfect Gift we are indebted for all those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil, which are so richly enjoyed in this favored land”.

Times have changed.  We may be the only culture in the world that openly acknowledges God in our Constitution, on our money, and on Thanksgiving, but refuses to allow God to be named in any of our public intuitions.  As a nation, we are working hard to push God out of our lives. Ignoring God is not unusual, it began in the Garden of Eden with the statement, “You surely will not die, you can be just like God”.  The history of the world is really the story of people finding new ways to reject God.  

My prayer for you this day is that you will turn your face towards God from the depths of your soul this Thanksgiving.  That you will do more than thank Him for the good things in your life but give your heart to Him with a new and deeper commitment and that Thanksgiving day will be a daily ThanKsliving event in your life and not just a one day passing celebration.

Have a Blessed and happy Thanksliving Year,

Gramps

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