A Thanksgiving Prayer

An Ancient Prayer of Thanksgiving

From the Didache, Chapter 10 (late 1st or early 2nd century):

We give you thanks, Holy Father,
for your holy name, which you have caused to dwell in our hearts,
and for the knowledge and faith and immortality that you have made known to us through Jesus your servant;
to you be the glory forever.

You, almighty Master, created all things for your name’s sake,
and gave food and drink to humans to enjoy, so that they might give you thanks;
but to us you have graciously given spiritual food and drink,
and eternal life through your servant.

Above all we give thanks to you because you are mighty;
to you be the glory forever.

Remember your church, Lord,
to deliver is from all evil and to make it perfect in your love;
and from the four winds gather the church that has been sanctified into your kingdom,
which you have prepared for it;
for yours is the power and the glory forever.

May grace come, and may this world pass away.
Hosanna to the God of David.
If anyone is holy, let him come;
if anyone is not, let him repent.
Maranatha! Amen.

Merry Hallowthankmas!

It's not just the stores - I've seen 3 homes already lit up for Christmas this week. NO NO NO 1,000 TIME NO!

Managing Holiday Expectations

Good article on managing Holiday expectation from Liz Hoist at Desiring God

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — or is it?

Thanksgiving is upon us, and Christmas just around the corner, and with this coupling come lots of expectations. For years I wrestled with how to navigate the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas with some semblance of sanity. Truth is, I still struggle with managing “the Holidays” well. Who will be home? What are the lingering family tensions? How can I make it special for friends who will walk through the front door? The questions, and stresses, go on and on.

I knew I was in big trouble one year when I fell prey to the jewelry commercials that convinced me my husband loved me only if he gave me diamonds. Really? Well, I bought it — obviously a small, neatly wrapped package with a sparkly red bow represented true love. When that package wasn’t under the tree, and my Christmas Day was ruined, I knew I needed to take a closer look at my heart and try to find out what was going on.

Santa’s Idol Workshop

And so began my journey toward “Holiday Expectation Management.” What did I discover? What is God continuing to reveal to me each year?

First, there is joyful anticipation of the Holidays and excitement about the main things that you know are going to happen. Thanksgiving and Christmas willcome, God willing. We will pause and give thanks to God for all he has done for us, and we will celebrate the birth of our Savior and be glad.

Then there are the expectations — those unspoken and sometimes misguided, deep beliefs that something could happen. This is where my heart went awry. I allowed wrong expectations to overshadow the real Joy of the season. I needed a serious heart adjustment. I needed to discern what was driving those wrong expectations. I needed to be honest with myself and others, but where to start?

Five Steps to Holiday Sanity

1. Holiday expectations can become holiday idols.

To begin with, I needed to be mindful that my expectations were becoming idols. I was replacing true thanksgiving to God, and all the mercies he has shown, with turkey and pumpkin pie. Celebrating the birth of Jesus, the real reason for Christmas, was being replaced with glittery trees and presents. Those things are good gifts, but they are not meant to take first place in my heart. I needed to remind myself of the simple truth in 1 John 5:21: “keep yourself from idols.”

2. Be honest about your holiday fears, weaknesses, and insecurities.

Communicating to others clearly that this can be a hard time of the year for me was the next step. Being honest and vulnerable wasn’t easy, but opening up the dialogue with my husband, my friend, or my coworker proved to be an amazing blessing. I found often that by communicating my angst, I found someone who was more than willing to help me. What a gift! What a sweet provision from God — which I would have missed out had I not been honest.

3. Ask where your holiday expectations come from.

Being aware of who or what was defining my expectations was another hurdle to get over. Was it my husband? My children? Extended family? Guilt? The media? Fear of man? The still, small voice of the Holy Spirit continues to help us when those “expectations gone awry” begin to surface in this way.

4. Plan ahead for holiday health, maybe way ahead.

Being proactive — planning — was next. Knowing what I can and cannot do is one of the most helpful things I have discovered. Determining healthy boundaries before Thanksgiving and December is an ongoing practice at our house. One year, after a particularly bad holiday season, I wrote a letter to myself outlining what I would say “yes” to the following year. I gave the letter to a dear friend who held it for me until the following October; I received it in the mail on November 1. To this day, I am thankful for my godly friend who had the wisdom to suggest this plan of action.

5. God is the Hope of every holiday, however sweet or hard.

Finally, and most importantly, it is essential to remember that we have a loving Savior whose plan is perfect. Whether it includes a large gathering of friends and family at Thanksgiving, or a happy Christmas celebration with squeals of delight or perhaps even tears of deep sorrow, it is exactly what God planned. He doesn’t make mistakes. It may be hard to weather the Holidays, and yet we are not without hope.

Ephesians 3:20 reminds us that he “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Knowing that, we can ask for healthy and happy expectations, anticipating that because God is sovereignly and lovingly directing all that happens, it may actually be “the most wonderful time of the year.”

Nothing But Thanksgiving

"The whole life of a Christian should be nothing but praises and thanks to God; we should neither eat nor sleep, but eat to God and sleep to God and work to God and talk to God, do all to His glory and praise." - Richard Sibbes

HT: Dash House (picture and quote)

A Song of Thanksgiving

 David's Song of Thanksgiving (from 1 Chronicles 16):

    Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
        make known his deeds among the peoples!
    Sing to him, sing praises to him;
        tell of all his wondrous works!
    Glory in his holy name;
        let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
    Seek the LORD and his strength;
        seek his presence continually!
    Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
        his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
    O offspring of Israel his servant,
        children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
    
He is the LORD our God;
        his judgments are in all the earth.
    Remember his covenant forever,
        the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
    the covenant that he made with Abraham,
        his sworn promise to Isaac,
    which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
        to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
    saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
        as your portion for an inheritance.”
    When you were few in number,
        of little account, and sojourners in it,
    wandering from nation to nation,
        from one kingdom to another people,
    he allowed no one to oppress them;
        he rebuked kings on their account,
    saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
        do my prophets no harm!”
    Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
        Tell of his salvation from day to day.
    Declare his glory among the nations,
        his marvelous works among all the peoples!
    For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
        and he is to be feared above all gods.
    For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
        but the LORD made the heavens.
    Splendor and majesty are before him;
        strength and joy are in his place.
    Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
        ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
    Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
        bring an offering and come before him!
    Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
        tremble before him, all the earth;
        yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
    Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
        and let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
    Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
        let the field exult, and everything in it!
    Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
        before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
    Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
        for his steadfast love endures forever!
    Say also:
    “Save us, O God of our salvation,
        and gather and deliver us from among the nations,
    that we may give thanks to your holy name
        and glory in your praise.
    Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
        from everlasting to everlasting!”
    Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.

It's Too Early For Christmas...

A Song of Thanksgiving

   David's song of thanksgiving (from 1 Chronicles 16

    Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
        make known his deeds among the peoples!
    Sing to him, sing praises to him;
        tell of all his wondrous works!
    Glory in his holy name;
        let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
    Seek the LORD and his strength;
        seek his presence continually!
    Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
        his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
    O offspring of Israel his servant,
        children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
   

An Unending Enumeration

Hat Tip for Picture:  Thinking Out Loud

Frozen Chosen

From:  The Sacred Sandwich:

Thankful for Your Bible? Help Give Bibles Away!

For those of you who use Facebook, here's an easy way to  give Bibles to some people who really need them via Crossway Books:

That’s why this Thanksgiving week, as a way to raise awareness for how important books are in passing truth on to the next generation, Crossway is inviting you to help send Study Bibles to leaders in the Global South (in partnership with our friends at Desiring God).

It’s super easy.

Through next Monday (11/28), for every new “Like” on our Facebook page, Crossway will give $1 worth of Study Bibles through Desiring God’s International Outreach initiative. Every Study Bible given will go directly to our brothers and sisters in the Global South, many of whom are hungry for tools to better understand, apply, and share God’s Word.

A Day for Gratitude

“God has two dwellings; one in Heaven and the other in a meek and thankful heart.”
   —Izaak Walton

Hat Tip for the quote to No Sheeples Here

Turkey Day Protest

Happy Thanksgiving

"We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. "(Psalm 75:1)

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”(2 Chron. 20:21)

"Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence. "(Psalm 140:13)

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign." (Rev. 11:17)

Thanks be to God today for all his abundant and wonderful gifts - life, health, family, job, and most of all the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thankful for Little Things

I'm thankful tonight for some little things:

• The sound of rain drops on my roof.
• The feel of a puppy's tongue on my hand.
• The taste of ketchup on a hot dog.
• The joy of rediscovered music I haven't heard in over 20 years.
• A little Internet silliness.

It's good to be thankful for the little things; it helps build the habit of thankfulness- the attitude of gratitude- so that I can be more appreciative of the big things also.

Thank you, Lord, for it all!

Thanksgiving Prayer

Hat Tip for Cartoon: RedState

Let Us Give Thanks

Psalm 7:17 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 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

Psalm 86:12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Getting Christmas Back

While we are celebrating the Thanksgiving Holiday in the USA, Lars Walker at Brandywine Books wrote some good stuff on "How to Get Christmas Back."

You will never get the magic of Christmas back by making the holiday longer. You'll only get it back by making the holiday deeper.

The people who invented Christmas actually believed that God became man. That means that all our highest aspirations, dreams and hopes are not fantasy, but fact, and that Ultimate Truth came down to hang out with us a while. And then died for us. And then defeated death.

When you get that, you'll get Christmas back.

Hat Tip: The Thinklings

Pilgrims: The Next Generation

Hat Tip: Pilgrims: The Next Generation The Sacred Sandwich