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

Psalm 92:1 “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High”

Psalm 136:1-3 “O Give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

Several years ago, my family and I spent Thanksgiving Day at the Macy’s Day Parade. Because of my position in the military, we had a perfect reserved location to watch the entire event along the southern edge of Central Park. While the parade was magnificent, especially the participation by the Air Force Band and Honor Guard which was the primary reason we had made the trip to New York on that day, it was cold. I mean really cold! Maybe the coldest feeling of my life (and I’ve spent 12 hours in the wintertime in northern Greenland). It took at least the rest of the day to rewarm our core body temperatures, choosing coffee, New York bagels and New York pizza for our holiday lunchtime and dinnertime meals.

We had cold bodies, warm hearts, and ever-burning memories.

Theologian and author William Arthur Ward wrote the following: “Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”

This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving. It is good to rejoice in that day and be glad in it. It is good to give thanks unto the LORD on Thanksgiving Day, and to sing praises unto His name. 

But in reality, every day is the day the Lord hath made, and we should rejoice and be glad in all of them. If we are struggling in doing so, Thanksgiving Day is the perfect time of the year to embrace a positive habit of gratitude that can last throughout the entire year, and bring honor and glory to the our Most High God!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO USE THANKSGIVING DAY AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR EVER-PRESENT THANKSGIVING, GRATITUDE AND PRAISE IN OUR LIVES. Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.

ADMIN: I will not be posting a PLUS blog next weekend, and will be back to regular posting on the 7^th of December. Please keep faithfully praying for our nation and our leaders.

I Kings 19:11-13 “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake, a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?”

Psalm 85:8 “I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.”

John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”

Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

There is a memorable old time series of commercials for financial management company EF Hutton. Whenever a customer starts to share a piece of investment advice in a public place –  “EF Hutton says …” – the entire surrounding environment goes silent as people strain to hear information and guidance that will be profitable to them. “When EF Hutton talks, people listen” is the catchy tagline.

If only American Christians in 2024 would similarly strain to hear the still small voice of the Lord. When God speaks, He provides information and guidance that would be eternally and immensely profitable to us in ways far more significant than the returns of our financial portfolios. His Word offers peace to His people, avoidance of folly, and fellowship with the Divine.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO SQUINT WITH OUR EARS TO HEAR THE STILL SMALL VOICE OF THE LORD. When God talks, we must listen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

I recently came across the amazing poem from Sir Francis Drake from 1579

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

What a series of stunning thoughts. By faith, we must thirst for the waters of life, to dream of eternity, to expand our vision of heaven, to dare more boldly, to venture on to wider seas, to expand our horizons of hope, and to push into the future with strength, courage, hope and love.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A BOLD FAITH. Only when we lose sight of land shall we find the stars.

Isaiah 53:5-6 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Recently I read an amazing book about our American founding documents: “American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation – And Could Again” by Yuval Levin. Levin makes the following powerful point:

“We is the first word of the Constitution. It is the first word of the glorious second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Both documents speak in the first-person plural, because they both speak for a people taking joint ownership of their common fate.”

Our world is obsessed with picking and displaying their pronouns. While we rightfully see this as a misguided secular trend, they are right to some extent – pronouns matter!

In the powerful doublet of verses in Isaiah 53, the intentional use of pronouns provides a poignant, instructive reminder to all humanity. Jesus – as revealed by the five-time use of he/him/his – endures unimaginable wrath through a sacrifice that bears the burden of all iniquity. As a result, He was wounded, bruised, chastised, and lashed.

Yet, it is the Bible’s use of first-person plural pronouns that punctuates the powerful point. Seven times, we vividly see our Lord’s personal sacrifice for us through the use of our/we/us and His resulting love. We have gone astray and turned to our own way. It is us who transgressed and lived in iniquity. Yet, through these intentionally placed words that we sometimes overlook, we witness a God whose connection to us is personal. He isn’t an untouchable being who sits on a distant throne, but a personal loving God who understands our needs and perfectly meets our desperate condition. It is joint ownership, but He does all the giving and we do all the receiving. Praise God for all of it!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO RECOGNIZE AND CONVEY THE PERSONAL NATURE OF OUR ALL-GIVING, ALL-LOVING SAVIOUR. Pronouns matter and we/us must live passionately and humbly grateful for He/Him!

Isaiah 30:21 “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

II Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing”

As a part of the Greek sailing trip that I described in a recent post, my wonderful wife and I first landed in Athens and spent a few days seeing the sights in that historic city. Then, in order to get to the sailing point of departure four hours north of Athens on the east coast of Greece, we rented a car and started our short journey. We were armed with only a high-level map, when people had to figure things out on their own without GPS and cell phones. The signs were all in Greek, and our success hinged on our innate direction, a bit of map-based dead reckoning, and knowledge of Greek characters stemming from our STEM educational backgrounds.

The streets of Athens were frenetic, and I was trusting Melonie to do the majority of the navigating. Our routine on the journey was amusing. At every upcoming consequential intersection, I would point to the street sign and give my wife a countdown … 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. No later than reaching 1, she would have to tell me left, right, or straight. This exercise happened dozens of times, and she was on it! Most importantly, we successfully made it out of Athens and on to the port for our sailing extravaganza. Our marriage survived intact as well!

Life is filled with dozens of decisions a day where we need to properly navigate by turning left or right, or continuing straight. It is a tricky navigational exercise, with plenty of routes that would lead us astray and a slew of time sensitive decisions that will yield long term consequence. The upcoming election is an example that heavily weights on our minds, but the onslaught of decisions throughout our lives can be overwhelming.

We need a navigator who can properly guide us in the right direction at all times. Only the Lord can provide us the guidance that can allow us to finish our course. We must constantly pray to do so, while hearing and yielding to his leading.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO RESPOND TO THE LORD’S LEADING AT EVERY INTERSECTION OF OUR LIVES. The endless steams of decisions – left, right, or straight – are vital to our well-being and our ability to safely and effectively reach our destination.