Thanksgiving

We pause today and reflect on the countless graces that God pours out on the world. Both believers and non-believers alike share in the gifts of God, "for He sends rain on the just and on the unjust." But the greatest gift that any human soul can receive in this life is the miracle of a heart and mind healed from it's inherited blindness and now able to see "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."  God is the supreme Sovereign of the universe who alone deserves our gratitude, praise and thanksgiving. In John's vision of the end of time, he is witness to the throne room of God and hears angels and the elders surrounding the Throne of God proclaim: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." -Revelation 7:12. Scripture speaks loudly and clearly and constantly about the heart matter of gratitude toward our Father in Heaven.

I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. -Psalm 7:17

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. -Hebrews 12:28-29

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me. -Psalm 50:23

Too numerous to list, the Bible is one long, extended story that declares that God alone is worthy of all our praise, and that His adopted children will spend eternity with hearts overflowing with thanksgiving, bathing in the light of His glory. This is the reason that today and every day, we seek to live lives of worship and gratitude, and say with the Psalmist: "In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah." -Psalm 44:8

So today, we unite in spirit with God's Church to remember that: "He did not leave himself without witness, for He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." -Acts 14:17

The wind and the clouds and the blue in the skyThe sun and the moon and the stars so highThe sand on the shore and the waves in the seaThe air in my lungs and the way You made me
The blood in my veins and my heart You invadeThe plants how they grow and the trees and their shadeThe way that I feel and the love in my soulI thank you my God for letting me know.
I am captivated by YouIn all that you doI am captivated "Captivated" -Shawn MacDonald
Though life is but a fleeting breathA sigh too brief to measureMy King has crushed the curse of deathAnd I am his forever
Oh praise Him, hallelujahMy Delight and my RewardEverlasting, never failingMy Redeemer, my God
"My Soul Finds Rest"- Aaron Keyes
"Father, we thank you for the Cross of Jesus Christ and the gift of eternal life, a life that begins now, as we see and savor Your great works and your kindness that leads us into lives of contrition and repentance, for you alone are Holy."
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.  -Psalm 100

Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!
-EnJ