Thanks Giving
- Heidi Eva Jones
- Nov 28, 2020
- 6 min read
Volume 9 Issue 11
Greeting in His Name,
Well we are almost at the end of the year. And what a year it has been. For those of us who are still breathing, still in the land of the living, still functioning with a reasonable portion of our health and strength we must say THANK YOU! Today's blog has a different flow from the rest. So with that being said, today's blog is entitled Thanks Giving. Hope you find some inspiration, conviction, and queries.
shalom and love,
heidi
Happy Thanksgiving! Or should I say Happy "belated" Thanksgiving. This seasonal term could be used year round. There is really not a moment when we couldn't use this term. Even in the old testament; Leviticus 22:29 KJV reminds us, And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. People were encouraged to offer thanksgiving unto the Lord by giving a cow or a ewe and to eat it in the same day and not leave any for the next. Thanksgiving in our society is a time to share with families and friends a traditional meal that includes turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a host of other foods. But where did this time of celebration come from? And if you look at a calendar that highlight holidays you will notice that Thanksgiving is not just celebrated in the States but there are other areas in the world like; Canada, Liberia, Norfolk Island, Leiden and the Netherlands that celebrate Thanksgiving. So this holiday is not an American exclusive. I decided to write and research about thanksgiving because of a statement by a close friend. He stated that Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday and mainly because of the compound words ‘thanks’ and ‘giving’. These are two valuable words that I will explore separately.
Let’s look at thanks. I Thessalonians 5:18 KJV, In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. As believers we have much to be thankful for: God being merciful to us and blessing us in spite of ‘us’, God hearing our prayers and then moving beyond hearing to do what we ask, and thinking about how much love He shows us when nobody else does or better yet how well He takes care of us, I "thank Him." That's what thanks is showing gratitude. When I think about the ability to think, speak, hear, read, study, just plain being in my right mind (when there are times when I could have lost it), I thank Him. So I concur with my friend that to have the world to observe a day of thanks called Thanksgiving is truly a blessing. Then when I think of giving, Luke 6:38 KJV comes to mind, Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. I have found that a stingy person is always a needful person. But a giving person, despite of their need are always giving. A giving person is always willing to provide; emotionally or financially. I have seen people and even myself in a place of need and hear of someone else's need and open my heart to give. To give is like opening your own special gift; JOY.
A snippet of information about Thanksgiving from Wikipedia:
Thanksgiving in North America originated from a mix of European and Native traditions. Typically in Europe, festivals were held before and after the harvest cycles to give thanks for a good harvest, and to rejoice together after much hard work with the rest of the community. At the time, Native Americans also celebrated the end of a harvest season. When Europeans first arrived to the Americas, they brought with them their own harvest festival traditions from Europe, celebrating their safe voyage, peace and good harvest. Though the origins of the holiday in both Canada and the United States are similar, Americans do not typically celebrate the contributions made in Newfoundland, while Canadians do not celebrate the contributions made in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. There is also evidence for an earlier harvest celebration on the continent by Spanish explorers in Florida during 1565, as well as thanksgiving feasts in the Virginia Colony. The initial thanksgiving observance at Virginia in 1619 was prompted by the colonists' leaders on the anniversary of the settlement. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. In later years, the tradition was continued by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford who planned a thanksgiving celebration and fast in 1623. While initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival like this did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660's. According to historian Jeremy Bangs, director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Pilgrims services of Thanksgiving for the relief of the siege of Leiden in 1574, while they were staying in Leiden. Contending origins claim the first Thanksgiving was held in the United States, and even the Americas had often been a subject of debate. Author and teacher Robyn Gioia and Michael Gannon, of the University of Florida, have argued that the earliest attested "Thanksgiving" celebration in what is now the United States was celebrated by the Spanish on September 8, 1565, in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida. Similarly, many historians point out that the first thanksgiving celebration in the United States was held in Virginia, and not in Plymouth. Thanksgiving services were routine in what was to become the Commonwealth of Virginia as early as 1607.
In my mind and at this moment I don't debate the start but I'm grateful - THANKFUL that someone thought enough to continue the tradition to this day. After reading this brief history my mind wondered back to the Old Testament when people celebrated the Feast of First Fruits, Leviticus 23:10-11 KJV, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Most of the history above states that people celebrated because of a good harvest and that they found land safely. Well I don’t know about you but God has truly allowed my household to experience a good (safe) harvest this year, in spite of the virus, the presidential dilemma, race issues and unnecessary killing - the world is dealing with; God has kept my land safe. I know that this occurred only by God's mercy and prayer. So I hope this past Thursday, when you sat down to eat your meal I hope you thought about how good God has been to you, and I hope you thought about someone else who may need a tangible gift from God. A gift sent through you from the Father. Happy Thanks—Giving!
LIFE QUOTE
“Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow."
- Edward Sandford Martin
Let Us Laugh!
Knock, Knock. Who's there? Norma Lee. Norma Lee who? Norma Lee I don't eat this much.
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Join me in Prayer Once a week; preferably Tuesday or Thursday at 9pm, for the next four weeks let's bombard Heaven...
Our prayer focus is AMERICA! Week One: 2 Chronicles 7:13-15 KJV If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. Week Two: Psalm 82:5 KJV They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. Week Three: 2 Timothy 2:19 KJV Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Week Four: Revelation 3:19 KJV As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
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