Thanksgiving - Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. - Psalm 100:4

    If we just stop for a moment each and every day to count our various blessings how can we not be thankful for God’s divine providence? Certainly, we can grouse about the things we would like to have in our lives and while Satan knows our wants it is our most holy God who knows our needs. “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:19.
    We go through our days striving for material possessions. Often they are merely desires of our hearts - a new car, a more expensive wardrobe, a bigger tv screen. But those are merely desires. God knows our desires as well but He also knows that often they would serve us no good service were we to obtain them. It is our needs that God provides for us. “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” - Matthew 6:31-33.
    How often have we achieved our worldly goals or garnered those earthly possessions we so urgently reached for only to come away with that still and numb feeling of emptiness? How often have we gained all we wanted and still felt beleaguered and unsatisfied? “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.” - Ecclesiastes 5:10.
    Our wants and desires change like the weather but our needs remain constant. And the greatest need we could ever have has already been fulfilled for us by God: our very eternal lives redeemed by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16.
    Let us all take time on this Thanksgiving Day to meditate on all our merciful and gracious God has provided for us and bless His holy name. Have a great Thanksgiving Day. We all are indeed blessed!

American Idols - Joshua 24:23

  
 “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.” - Joshua 24:23.

    I have heard it said that Christians in America suffer from circumstances  similar to the Jews in Egypt. Personally, I believe the parallel is dubious at best. In particular, I cite one major reason for the failure of this example. Idolatry.
    In Egypt there was a pantheon of idols. The Egyptians called them “gods,” but make no mistake: they were nothing if they weren’t idols. Even the Pharaoh was worshiped as a god. But who did the Israelites worship? “And he blessed Joseph, and said: ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” - Genesis 48:15-16. Clearly the God of Abraham was the sole focus of the Israelites in Egypt. It was indeed the clearest indicator of an Israelite; so clear that the Pharaoh was easily able to identify the Chosen People and thus mark them for bondage. “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage - in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.” - Exodus 1:12-14.
    The Israelites in Egypt were set aside (made holy?) for persecution and enslavement because they were fruitful and mighty . . . and they worshiped the one true God of Abraham. So how does this concept translate to modern day America? The fact is - it doesn’t; it can’t because Christians today are barely distinguishable from the idol worshipers of this nation. Remember: the Israelites were easily recognized and easily observed because they worshiped the one true God, not idols.
    While we no longer worship the gods of rain or the gods of prosperity or the gods of health, we still worship enough idols in America to be virtually indistinguishable from those who we dare call “unbelievers.” Face it, unless we speak of our faith in Jesus Christ how many of us would actually be perceived as such based solely on our outward behavior?
“Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” - Romans 13:13-14.
    It was by the way the Israelites walked that the Egyptians were so easily able to ostracize them and enslave them. They walked as Abraham and Isaac walked before God. Are we not called today to do the same? “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” - 1 John 2:6.
    No, the Israelites in Egypt were not perfect, nor are we but we have been called to make such perfection our sanctifying goal. “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” - Matthew 5:48. Can you imagine the effect on this nation if just we Christians could walk as we have been instructed to walk? “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?"  - 2 Corinthians 6:14.
    Let us today put away our American idols so that all the world can see us as a people set apart by God almighty. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” - Colossians 2:6-7.

The Hand Of God - Isaiah 43:13

“Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it? ” - Isaiah 43:13.

    I have deliberately declined to post anything for the past week to allow for the post-election hysteria to level off. Apparently, a week hasn’t been enough. Will it take a month? A year? I can’t answer those questions nor do I care to. What is more important to remember is that God has ordained a new President just as He ordained the last President and every President since the inauguration of George Washington. Despite our hopes and votes the man or woman who sits in the Oval Office must, by virtue of God’s sovereignty, be His choice and not necessarily ours. “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” - Psalm 115:3.
    There will be times in our frail human lives when it seems God’s presence is lacking. Be assured: it is not. He is here with us. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10. He is always here with us.
    Despite what we may perceive as a setback or as a blessing we must be assured that nothing takes place that is not within God’s will . . . nothing! Still, we fret, we worry, we have anxiety. What are we to do? “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7.
    And should the outcome of your concerns turn out in a way that pleases your heart, remember - “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” - Philippians 4:4. Let us all find peace and solace in knowing that nothing that comes to pass ever happens without the hand of God behind it.