Sandwiched between the world’s Halloween and the chaos of Christmas is a day that many people have forgotten. Retail sales roll from their 7 billion dollar increase at Halloween into the expected 48% of their yearly sales at Christmas. If you are lucky you might be able to find a package of napkins or a cardboard turkey centerpiece that somehow acknowledge Thanksgiving, but in most regards it is the forgotten day.
This day that has been forgotten has been relegated to 4 activities: 1. Eating 2. Sleeping 3. Watching football 4. Mapping out your plan for black Friday I think I could find scriptures that could loosely condemn all four of those activities, but I am not against them as much as I am about us getting Thanksgiving back to what it needs to be. Psalms 100 1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. So what can we do as Christians to acknowledge and celebrate this glorious day as it should be? 1. Inventory God’s blessings in our lives: Even in our struggles and trials we have many blessings in our lives. If we take the time we will see that we are overwhelmed by all that God has truly given to us. 2. Consider the invaluable things in your life: As you find yourself around the table this Thanksgiving, truly look into the faces of your family and friends and realize their worth to you. Thanksgiving gives us the chance to really evaluate the things that cannot have a price tag put upon them. 3. Do something for someone else: Sometimes we need to reset our priorities and realize how thankful we should really be. By doing for someone else it gets our minds off of what we think that we are missing and it just might get you to realize how blessed you really are. 4. Practice thanksgiving throughout the year: Not only should we pray with thanksgiving and enter the house of God with thanksgiving, but we should live our lives with thanksgiving. The discipline of gratitude brings natural wealth by freeing us from the snare of comparison living and the trap of unrealistic expectations. It is impossible to be truly grateful for what God has given to us and discontent at the same time. Purpose in your mind to not let Thursday, November 24, 2016 become a forgotten day; Be filled with Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksliving! Pastor Hoffman
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Have you ever done something you wished you wouldn't have done? Have you said something you later regretted saying? Or have you felt impressed to do something but didn't, and later beat yourself up for not doing it? We've all had regrets in our life. We've made decisions that have affected our life in a negative way and we've had to live with those decisions. It doesn't matter your status in life, how much money you may or may not have, what your family name is or what your skin color may be. We've all been given the gift of choice and that includes making the choice to serve the Lord or not to serve the Lord.
Someone may ask "Why do you live the way that you do?". To me, there is no greater life than living for the Lord. I couldn't imagine, nor do I ever want to live a different way. Have you ever looked at someone's life and thought "They sure do have a good life"? It seems everything is always in their favor. Well, that is how I feel about this life that I live. Don't get me wrong. I have bad days, things go wrong, sometimes it seems everything is against me. But, THIS IS LIFE and life affects everybody the same. The difference in this life is, I KNOW the way maker and He is always with me. He gives peace, comfort, happiness, and joy no matter what I'm facing. I have lived this life, all my life. I love this life! It is a "good life". Having a relationship with the Lord is what makes it. One of the meanings of the word relationship is "the state of being connected". You can't have a "good life" without being connected to the one who gives life. I've known people all my life that have served the Lord, but never took the time to be connected to him. A person is only hurting themselves when they don't fully commit or connect to the "good life" giver. He wants you to have a good life like you have never known. But the secret to having a "good life" is this. It's not up to Him, it's up to you. You alone can make the choice to be connected daily and to live "the good life". There's a song we used to sing that goes like this: I found a good life, when I found Jesus When your living for Jesus, you just can't go wrong. My weary burdens, I laid them down, cause it's a Good life in Jesus that I've found. If your not living the "good life" make the choice today! Sis. Tara Hoffman |
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