Author: John Page 131 of 166

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

The theologian and writer William Arthur Ward reminds us of an important precept:

“Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”

The fourth Thursday of November is designated as Thanksgiving Day. It is a wonderful day on the calendar to remind us of the importance of thankfulness and gratitude, primarily directed toward the Lord. Yet in reality, a true Christian spirit should prompt us toward thankfulness and gratitude on the other 364 days as well.

With a Lord that deserves our constant gratitude, every day should be Thanksgiving Day. Our routine should be filled with joy. We should feel blessed by the ordinary. As we wake on any given day, we should remind ourselves that “this is the day which the LORD hath made.” There are many reasons for which we should rejoice and be glad in it.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A CONSTANT, DAILY SPIRIT OF GRATITUDE.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving Day, filled with thankfulness and gratitude directed toward the source of all our blessings. Do the same on the day to follow, and the days and the weeks after that. Do so every day, common or not.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Please see this previous post for President Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation: https://prayatlunch.us/give-thanks/
Please see this previous post for thoughts on the 1621 day of thanksgiving: https://prayatlunch.us/a-good-god/

Psalm 107:1 “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

The following text comprises President Reagan’s 1986 Thanksgiving Proclamation:

By the President of the United States of America, A Proclamation,

Perhaps no custom reveals our character as a Nation so clearly as our celebration of Thanksgiving Day. Rooted deeply in our Judeo-Christian heritage, the practice of offering thanksgiving underscores our unshakeable belief in God as the foundation of our Nation and our firm reliance upon Him from Whom all blessings flow. Both as individuals and as a people, we join with the Psalmist in song and praise: “Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.”

One of the most inspiring portrayals of American history is that of George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge. That moving image personifies and testifies to our Founders’ dependence upon Divine Providence during the darkest hours of our Revolutionary struggle. It was then – when our mettle as a Nation was tested most severely – that the Sovereign and Judge of nations heard our plea and came to our assistance in the form of aid from France. Thereupon General Washington immediately called for a special day of thanksgiving among his troops.

Eleven years later, President Washington, at the request of the Congress, first proclaimed November 26, 1789, as Thanksgiving Day. In his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, President Washington exhorted the people of the United States to observe “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer” so that they might acknowledge “with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” Washington also reminded us that “it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”

Today let us take heart from the noble example of our first President. Let us pause from our many activities to give thanks to Almighty God for our bountiful harvests and abundant freedoms. Let us call upon Him for continued guidance and assistance in all our endeavors. And let us ever be mindful of the faith and spiritual values that have made our Nation great and that alone can keep us great. With joy and gratitude in our hearts, let us sing those stirring stanzas:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, in the spirit of George Washington and the Founders, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 27, 1986, as a National Day of Thanksgiving, and I call upon every citizen of this great Nation to gather together in homes and places of worship on that day of thanks to affirm by their prayers and their gratitude the many blessings bestowed upon this land and its people.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh. Ronald Reagan.

Let us mimic the character of our nation’s founding by showing thankfulness and gratitude towards the Lord on Thanksgiving Day. Doing so is rooted deeply in our heritage, and like our forefathers, reveals an unshakable belief in the Lord as America’s foundation. We are wholly dependent upon Him.

Let us also “be mindful of the faith and spiritual values that have made our Nation great and that alone can keep us great.” As Reagan proclaimed, Americans must affirm by our prayers and our gratitude the many blessings bestowed upon this land and its people.

PLEASE PRAY WITH AN OVERWHELMING SENSE OF THANKFULNESS FOR THE ABUNDANT BLESSINGS IN OUR LIVES AND IN OUR NATION. There is much for which to be thankful, and gratitude should drive us to our knees.

ADDITIONAL NOTE:  Please see this previous post for President Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving proclamation: https://prayatlunch.us/thanksgiving/

I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

Colossians 3:17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Christians are not to be mediocre in anything we do because all our actions represent Christ.  We are not to perform marginally in our chores, our ministries, our professions, our schoolwork, or our housework.  Instead, we are to strive for excellence in all that we do.  After all, the Bible makes clear that we are to do everything for the glory of God.  He deserves our best in all areas of our lives.  We are to prepare for excellence and put excellence into practice for Him.

If you are called to the ministry, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be a politician, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be a mother or a father, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be a scientist or an engineer, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be an entertainer, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be a businessman, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be a craftsman, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be a laborer, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be an athlete, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be a soldier, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  If you are called to be an author, prepare and do it to the glory of God.  Whatsoever you are called to do, prepare and do it to the glory of God.

The world sees mediocrity all around us.  There is nothing mediocre about Christ, and as Christians our actions should not represent Him as such.  PLEASE PRAY THAT CHRISTIANS WOULD STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE IN ALL WE DO.  Christ deserves our best as we continuously represent him.

Genesis 41:46-48 “And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.  And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.  And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.  And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.”

The Lord gave Joseph, like Daniel, amazing visions that he was able to use to gain favor with the rulers of his land.  Joseph, like Daniel, was faithful to put the Lord first and to follow Him.  Joseph, like Daniel, relied heavily upon the Lord’s blessings to serve faithfully and fully.  Joseph, like Daniel, diligently put his unique God-given gifts into practice in a way specifically tailored to his situation.  Like Joseph and Daniel, we are to do the same.

We are to use God-given wisdom and Holy Spirit nudging to dictate the course of our lives and to influence those around us.  We are to be faithful to put the Lord first and to follow Him.  We are to heavily rely upon the Lord’s blessings to serve faithfully and fully.  We are to diligently put our unique God-given gifts into practice in ways that are specifically tailored to our situations.

Our gifts aren’t the same.  The Lord won’t direct us in the same ways.  God’s blessings and our opportunities for impact are unique to our situations.  Yet, if we are faithful to follow Him while resisting the urge to limit the spheres within which we utilize our gifts, our influence can bring forth what this world needs.  We can bring it forth by the handfuls.

PLEASE PRAY FOR CHRISTIANS OF ALL PROFESSIONS TO IMPACT EVERY CORNER OF OUR LAND.  Joseph and Daniel impacted the corners of the land where the Lord had directed them.  They did so faithfully and diligently.  They did so by the handfuls.

ADDITIONAL NOTE:  Please see this prior post for related thoughts:  https://prayatlunch.us/standing-before-kings/

Daniel 1:20 “And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.”

In an essay on Christian apologetics, C.S. Lewis wrote the following:

“While we are on the subject of science, let me digress for a moment. I believe that any Christian who is qualified to write a good popular book on any science may do much more by that than by [any] directly apologetic work. The difficulty we are up against is this.  We can make people (often) attend to the Christian point of view for half an hour or so but the moment they have gone away from our lecture or laid down our article, they are plunged back into a world where the opposite position is taken for granted. As long as that situation exists, widespread success is simply impossible. We must attack the enemy’s lines of communication. What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects–with their Christianity latent… You can see this most easily if you look at it the other way round. Our faith is not very likely to be shaken by any book on Hinduism. But if wherever we read an elementary book on Geology, Botany, Politics, or Astronomy, we found that its implications were Hindu, that would shake us. It is not the books written in direct defense of materialism that make the modern man a materialist; it is the materialistic assumptions in all the other books. In the same way, it is not books on Christianity that will really trouble him. But he would be troubled if, whenever he wanted a cheap popular introduction to some science, the best work on the market was always by a Christian.”

We need Christians to produce the “best works” in all areas of our society.  Daniel’s works were exactly that.  He and his faithful colleagues were ten times better than the alternatives.  Such powerful capability and credibility were impossible to ignore by the powers of their world.

PLEASE PRAY FOR CHRISTIAN EXCELLENCE IN ALL ARENAS.  Such excellence won’t just happen, but must be prayerfully and practically supported and cultivated by our Christian communities.   In doing so, we can better shake the world for Christ.