When Did Thanksgiving Really Begin?

 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)

 Dear readers, Time for a History lesson!  We think of Thanksgiving as an American tradition, and so it is.

There have been many changes in time and traditions since 1621 when the Pilgrims and Native Americans shared a feast together after the harvest was in.  Thankful for blessings of food, shelter and God’s bounty and protection after the harsh and deadly winter. Thanksgiving this year of 2020 will be one of controversy and different celebrations. Covid-19 will separate some by death, others hesitating to travel and some just fearful and isolated.

 In  1623 The Pilgrims celebrated with fasting and thanksgiving again, after years of drought. Some in that area continued with celebrations, but it was not declared a Nation day of Celebration until George Washington gave a proclamation declaring November 26, 1789 a National day of Thanksgiving, following the end of the Revolutionary War.  Some states and cities continued to do so yearly.

 Early 1800’s Sarah Josepha, a writer, began advocating for a National Holiday.  During the height of the Civil war, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln heeded her request with a proclamation asking all Americans to set aside the final Thursday of November to pray for the widows, orphans, mourners and suffers  in this lamentable “civil strife”, and that God would heal the wounds of this nation. (Very fitting for today as well.) Soo the yearly celebration continued until 1939.

 In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it to the 4^th Thursday, in an attempt to give people extra shopping time during the depression.  This was met with much opposition and he later  signed a bill making Thanksgiving the 4^th Thursday of November. 

HOWEVER, God’s Thanksgiving Day - The Feast of Tabernacles is found in Numbers 29:12-40.  God set the day according to the Biblical Calendar which is a 30-day month.  People of Israel would gather in Jerusalem (now that’s a crowd in one small place!!) bringing the first fruits of their harvest and give thanks for His blessings.   This was and continues as a festival of joy and thanksgiving.

 Sooo, if you want JOY in your heart, make it a heart of Thanksgiving.  “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18).  Don’t let a day go by with out thanking God for His blessings. (Psalm 103:2) The Lord dwells in the presence of His people.” (Psalm 22:3). 

 Be a Joy-filled Thanks-giver!!  Make Thanksgiving into Thanks-living!!

 Blessings,

Gma J

 

 

 

 

Why Should We be Thankful to God?

 

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another is psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, sinning and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lo Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Eph. 5:18-20).

 Hey gang:  it is my sincere opinion that designating a day called Thanksgiving is, in reality, designed for those who are non-believers in the goodness of Jesus Christ.   Why do I say that?  Because Paul teaches us in I Thess. 5:18 “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

 Several years ago, I was pulling my recreation vehicle home from a weekend in the woods. I was on a back road doing around fifty miles an hour when a car pulled out of a driveway about five hundred feet in front of us. 

Corrective action preventing my hitting the car, but shortly after that the driver slammed on the breaks and began a left turn off the roadway.   There was no way in the world I was going to keep from plowing into the car, not only did I not hit the car, but it  did not shake up the contents of the coach! 

 I have thought about that incident each time I drive by that spot and thank God for what he did that day.

 Have you ever taken the time to sit down and make a listing of the times God blessed you with a very special blessing? - or just thank Him for daily blessings?  Have you ever considered the times He may have saved your life and you knew nothing about it?  Are you one Who tends to use the phrase, “Boy that was lucky” instead of “Praise God?”

 If the will of God in Christ Jesus is to give thanks to God in everything, every believer should know why we should give thanks and be grateful all time.  Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation of everything the Almighty God is doing in our daily life.  It also makes us joyful people!

 Soooo, young colleagues, may I suggest that sometime, in the leisure of your Thanksgiving celebration, take your Bible and concordance and do a word study on thanksgiving and gratitude.  You will find many such references in both Old and New Covenants - for it is God’s will. Read one a day so that it becomes conscientious thought.

 Blessings,

 Gramps

A Wonderful Story on this Veterans D

 

Monday, November 11, 2013

"I urge, then, first of all that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone... Kings and all in authority... "I Timothy 2:1

 Hey Gang, we just returned from Branson where we celebrated with a whole barn full of Veterans from the various wars and police actions that we have fought   Today, I am considered weird by some, because I would fight to protect our “land of the free and the home of the brave”.  

 When the tragedy of 9/11 hit our nation, I wanted to call and volunteer to return to the military.  True, I was an old duck at the time but I still had the energy to sweep floors, do dishes and be an encouragement to those who would be asked to put their lives on the line.

 I want to share a WW II story that is a favorite of mine, though I don’t remember where I read it..

 “Tour boats ferry people out to the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii every thirty minutes. We just missed a ferry and had to wait thirty minutes. I went into a small gift shop to kill time.  In the gift shop, I purchased a small book entitled, Reflections on Pearl Harbor by Admiral Chester Nimitz.

 Sunday, December 7th, 1941--Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington D.C.  He was paged and told there was a phone call for him.  When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone. He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet.  

 He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941.  There was such a spirit of despair, dejection, and defeat--you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.  Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters everywhere you looked.

 As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, "Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?"

 Admiral Nimitz's reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice.  Admiral Nimitz said, "The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America.  Which do you think it was?"

 Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, "What do you mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?"

 Nimitz explained: 

 Mistake number one:  The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning.  Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave.  If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk--we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.

 Mistake number two:  When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships.  If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired.  

 As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised.  One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America.  I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.

  Mistake number three:  Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill.  One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply.

 That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America. I've never forgotten what I read in that little book.  It is still an inspiration as I reflect upon it.

 In jest, I might suggest that because Admiral Nimitz was a Texan, born and raised in Fredericksburg, Texas -- he was a born optimist.  But, anyway, you look at it--Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism.

 President Roosevelt had chosen the right man for the right job.  We desperately needed a leader that could see silver linings in the midst of the clouds of dejection, despair and defeat.”

 There is a reason that our national motto is:  "IN GOD WE TRUST"

  Soooo,  Why have we forgotten?  PRAY FOR OUR COUNTRY and THOSE WHO SERVE in every capacity.

Blessings and pray daily for our Country,

Gramps

We Remember Them

 

Hey Gang, This is a pre-Veteran’s Day story from this year’s Guidepost Devotional. August 20, that I set aside for this week.  We have many family members who have served and are serving our country today.  America bless God! We were blessed to have them return home -even  in different states of emotional and physical condition.

“He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had dome in Israel for God and his temple.” II Chronicles 24:16 (NIV)

As my family and I were flying from an overseas assignment back to the United States recently, I noticed something out of place about a passenger wearing his military dress uniform.  Having lived overseas for a number of years, I knew that soldiers, for security reasons, are not supposed to wear uniforms while traveling.

My curiosity was finally satisfied when we landed and heard that our flight carried the remains of a World War II casualty being returned home to his family for burial.  The pilot asked for respect as the person in uniform escorted the body.  I am proud to live in a country where such effort and care is taken to brin fallen service members home.  Decades after this service member lost his life, he was returned home with great dignity and respect.  Service to others is service to the Lord.

I believe every American on board sat solemnly while the service member left the plane and retrieved the remains.  I prayed.  Unfortunately, some of the passengers from other countries carried on as if nothing was happening.  While this was disappointing, I took comfort in the reverence with which many Americans do honor out fallen heroes.

Displaying your beliefs, whether because of national pride or religious convictions, can often meet with misunderstanding, lack of regard, or even outright opposition.  Standing true sometimes means standing alone.  Even when I am surrounded by people who do not understand my convictions. I hope I will always have the courage to standup for my beliefs and to honor those who deserve my appreciation and respect.

Dear Lord, we thank you for those who have loved others above themselves, for those who have sacrificed their lives so that freedom can reign in our great nation.  May we continue to revere their sacrifice.                                                                                      -Jolynda Strandberg

 

Is America in Never-Never Land?

 

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

 “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17).

 Hey Gang:  Have you been asked the question, “Where were you when some significant even happened?”  We had just arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel when we learned that Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States.  I will remember it well, for the remaining days on my tenure on this earth for I believe God said, “Now go for it!”

 Soon after arriving, a young man, I would guess by his accent was from the Land of the Emerald Isle, recognized the stickers on our suitcases that we were blokes from the United States and asked, “Hey Yank, what did you think of the presidential election outcome. 

 When the conversation began, I sensed he was not a supporter of the conservative movement that is taking place in America.  My answer was the same as that given on a number of occasions before: “I asked him a question, “If you were going through a very tough time in your life and you were given the option to stay with the same road you were on or a second unknown option that appeared that have some new ideas and a willingness to stand firm for those new ideas, what would you do?”

  I sensed, as the conversation progressed and ended, I detected a wish in his eyes that perhaps the same thing could happen in his country that is also has issues.  I admit that when I received the message the Donald Trump had won it was like a huge milestone had been removed from my shoulders.  I really wanted to run and leap and praise God for the answered prayers of His people, but it is hard to do that in a bus. 

 One of his question that was of special interest to me was, “Why would you support a person you do not have a clue how he will rule and govern?”  Again, my answer, “Because I knew from history what the opposition candidate will do and how she would govern.  Sometimes it is best to purchase a pig in a poke rather than one that is badly tarnished;” Note: I am calling our new President “a pig”. 

As we met the incoming group of travelers who would be our companions for the next ten days, it was not difficult to determine who the winners and losers were.  There was a brightness about the eyes of the winners.

 As we headed for Jaffa, in route to Jerusalem for the first night of our tour, I spent that half hour thanking God for His mercy in withholding judgment from our nation.  My prayers for the past months were centered on ‘His will be done’, and that ‘His will’ was that He would not give us the President we deserved but one that will not lean on his own understanding and will put his trust in Jehovah God.  

 My prayers have changed now.  I believe with all my heart God answered the prayers of His people.  I also believe that this is only the first step to restoring our nation to the creeds of the Founding Fathers.  In the development of the Village the easy part was writing the mission statement; it was the implementing of the mission statement that was the blood and guts part of the growth process.

 While Mr. Trump‘s political agenda is important, even critical, to achieving worthy goal in turning our nation in the right direction, Heaven’s priorities are truly the matters for which God’s reprieve has been so mercifully given.  

Read the following words very carefully “Of course, the Church (all born again believers) should take this reprieve as a mandate to recapture moral ground-to roll back some of the social evils the Obama administration has brought forth-most through executive fiat.  It is the very church which has, in my estimate, allowed this slide toward the moral abyss through her acquiescence.”  

 Hear me my friends!! Yes, I firmly believe that God has answered the prayers of His people- which should give His people the confidence and faith to not lay down the gauntlet now, but to increase our commitment to prayer and sharing the good news that Jesus Christ is still in control and will respond to the prayers of His people.

 Place these words of John on your refrigerator door, bathroom mirror and rear view mirror of your car and pray them whenever you come in contact with them.  “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us:  And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him.  (1 John 5:14-15).

 Blessings,

 Gramps

P.S.  Bottom Line: this is not the time to stop praying.