Atypical Thanksgiving
Father, I am grateful for a few much-needed days off. May I find rest, and may I use the time I have been given wisely. Amen.
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Today, being the last school day before our Thanksgiving break, I got to thinking about atypical Thanksgiving experiences. Unfortunately, they may be far more common than I would admit.
Traditionally, at least in our mind’s eye, we like to think that on this day multigenerational families gather around the table. Favorite dishes are expertly prepared by hands that others would be hard-pressed to recreate. A prayer of sincerest gratitude is uttered as heads are bowed, eyes closed, and, many times, hands are held in the unity of spirit and love. There is lively conversation. There is laughter. A picturesque experience is had by all.
Now maybe none of us can hit every point there but, the ones that can accomplish any number of them are truly blessed.
As I thought about the kids on my routes, I could not help but think of the many from divided families. There may have been a number of years when the above was true for them as well. But sadly, it is no longer the case. For some this year it is mom’s turn, for last year was dad’s. For others, part of the day will be spent with one parent and their new companion while the other part of the day is spent with the other.
For others, no choices of division were made. The division was thrust upon them – accidents, disease, violence – and life will never…ever…be the same.
Others, possibly due to poor decisions on their part, or often circumstances totally beyond their control, brought devastation and loss – debilitating loss – to their lives. Abject poverty and homelessness plague far too many in a culture where many have money to burn.
Now maybe they might have access to shelters or missions that would provide them with some type of sustenance. I’m sure they are grateful…but does their experience equal any semblance of a “traditional” Thanksgiving.
I am not belittling or downplaying any of those experiences. May we support organizations that with great determination take up the challenge to meet the needs of those less fortunate. May we even lend a hand when we are able.
But what went through my mind as I drove my routes today, was to pray for those individuals who have found themselves in the middle of division or loss…or grief. Even when they are surrounded by others, even those they would consider loved ones, the loss and grief cannot just be set up on the self and forgotten. Those things are a part of who they are. It would be just as possible to remove the head off their shoulders and place it on the shelf…it simply cannot be done.
This Thanksgiving…this holiday season, in your prayer time, set apart some time to lift others up…those who have lost spouses, parents, siblings, and on and on it goes – some to death and some to the hardness of life. I cannot help but think of children – both young and old – whose parents had once been united in love and are now divided. May we pray for them, as well.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18 NLT
He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow]. Psalm 147:3 AMP
Lord Jesus, I’m glad You understand all this and love despite our selfishness and sin. My understanding is limited, but may I take Your lead and love as You do. May I be burdened to pray for the hurting. May I lift them to You, the Healer of all. Amen.
Nov 22nd, 2022, Tues, 7:20 pm
Now Thank We All Our God
I am dragging, Father. Pretty sure it’s one of the not-so-good impacts of being around a bunch of kids regularly. But I am grateful that all the good way over balances the bad. Thank You for the blessings I receive!
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Yesterday at church, we focused on Thanksgiving, with a sermon entitled ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE. I love singing the old hymns that we get to sing every year on this Sunday – Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (1844), We Gather Together (1626), and then we closed with, Now Thank We All Our God (1636).
I’ve shared from a couple of hymn background devotional books in the past, and this last hymn, Now Thank We All Our God, has a very interesting story.
This long-standing hymn was written close to 400 years ago by a German pastor who was called to serve the state Lutheran church in his native city of Eilenberg, Germany at the age of 31. Martin Rinkart began his pastorate just as the horrific 30 Years’ War began (it lasted from 1618-1648). Shockingly so, this beautiful hymn was born out of some of the severest human sufferings imaginable.
Sadly, the war pitted Catholic and Protestant forces from various countries throughout Europe, against one another. Germany, the battleground of this conflict…was reduced to a state of misery that baffles description.
It’s hard to believe that the though the German population at the time was 16 million at the start of the war, it dwindled…to 6 million in that 30-year span!
Because Eilenberg was a walled city, it became a frightfully overcrowded refuge for political and military fugitives from far and near. Throughout these war years, several waves of deadly diseases and famines swept the city, as the various armies marched through the town, leaving death and destruction in their wake. The plague of 1637 was particularly severe. At its height, Rinkart was the only minister remaining to care for the sick and dying. Martin Rinkart’s triumphant, personal expressions of gratitude and confidence in God confirm for each of us this truth taught in Scripture, that as God’s children, we too can be “more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”*
Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God thru all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
and keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills in this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God the father now be given,
the Son and Him who reigns with Them in highest heaven-
The one eternal God whom earth and heav’n adore-
for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:35, 37 NIV
*Amazing Grace: 366 Hymn Stories for Personal Devotions,
by Kenneth W. Osbeck. ©1990 by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapid, MI
Nov 21st, 2022, Mon, 7:10 pm
Lake Mead and God
Father, I am always amazed by the things that You bring to my mind. I continue to give myself over to be used by You. May Your blessings flow to all who take the time to read my offerings. Amen.
Romans 5:6-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
Lake Mead is a reservoir that was formed by the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River (completed in 1936). It lies across the states of Nevada and Arizona providing electricity for hundreds of thousands of people living across the area. It also supplies water to roughly 25 million people across seven states, tribal lands, and northern Mexico.
A megadrought, which began in 2000, has only accelerated the drop in Lake Mead’s water level. It has dropped more than 170 feet since 1983, the year the Colorado River flooded Hoover Dam’s spillways.
Robert Glennon, a water policy and law expert and emeritus professor at the University of Arizona stated in a Newsweek interview, “Canyons in the West all are pretty much in the same shape. They’re very wide at the top and very narrow at the bottom. Think…the letter V. …right now [the] reservoir [is] way down in the V… So each foot of elevation has less water in it. I don’t think people really understood how quickly it could start to drop once it got down to the bottom …”
The reservoir has been hurtling towards dead pool level – which could be catastrophic. If it continues, there is a possibility that the dam’s turbines will no longer be able to generate power. This would happen if the lake reached a reservoir elevation of 895 feet, a level where water would not flow past the dam.
Two years ago, the lake was at 1,084.65 feet. Last year, it was at 1,067.71 feet. By July 31 of this year, at 1,040.92 feet, the reservoir is at just 27% of its capacity. It’s less than 200 feet from catastrophe.
We don’t like to think about it, but the things of this world have limits. Sometimes things we depend upon over time, often decline or cease to exist altogether. But when we look at the things of the Kingdom – God’s things – that is not the case.
The note on verse 10 from my study Bible* states,
The love that caused Christ to die is the same love that sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us every day. The power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that saved you and is available to you in your daily life. Be assured that, having begun a life with Christ, you have a reserve of power and love to call on each day for help to meet every challenge or trial. You can pray for God’s power and love as you need it. (emphasis mine)
God’s reserve of power and love is infinite! His resources will never run dry! And, no forms to fill out! No lines to wait in! You are never put on hold! He is only a prayer away and He is more than able and willing to meet your need! PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Nov 17th, 2022, Thurs, 6:37 pm
Talk about Perfect Timing!
This morning was fruitful, Father, but this afternoon was a hodgepodge of things. May our time together this evening be productive in shining forth Your light. Amen.
Romans 5:6-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
I have a sweet young lady on my high school route who tends to forget things on my bus – usually, it’s her water bottle (I recognize it by now and give it to her when she gets on in the afternoon.) She has also accidentally left her phone in her seat. One of the last times, knowing it was hers, I swung by the high school after my elementary route and was just going to leave it at the front desk. I used my ID to enter the main entrance and who should walk by the inner set of doors, but the phone’s owner! She was heading to her next class!
Talk about perfect timing, I don’t think we could have set it up any better!
Now that incident was happenstance, but when God is involved in the equation – chance, luck, or coincidence does not factor in the least.
I find it amazing the number of prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus – the Christ, the Messiah. It is almost incomprehensible, all the things that coincided to bring about the desired result at just the right time. We must not forget that before the world was even created that God had already set into motion everything that would need to take place to bring about our salvation – before the first sin had even been committed.
By our invitation sin entered the world, and after that, there was nothing more we could do about it. It was our choice to embrace it, but we were utterly helpless (v6 NLT) to stop it. We were enslaved. We were bound with no way to extricate ourselves. But… while we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly. v6 AMP (emphasis mine)
Not by chance. Luck paid no part. Coincidence? That’s laughable!
Remember our God is Sovereign! He is in charge, so His timing is perfect!
The Apostle Paul declared in Colossians 1:16-17,
For by (or in) Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]
We were helpless as newborn babes. We were totally incapable of freeing ourselves from sin’s ruthless grasp, but our Sovereign God was already at work!
Verses 8-11 speak for themselves. Nothing more needs said!
…God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. NLT
Nov 16th, 2022, Wed, 6:43 pm
Pouring the Vastness of an Ocean into a Teacup
The darkness of these days is getting to me Father. With it getting dark so early, due to the time change, and the overcast day it has been, I ask that You would light up my heart and mind with Your presence. Amen.
Romans 5:1-5 (<<click here to read the passage)
Alight, I sat down to read and write, and I copied and pasted the passage to read through a couple of versions. I read through the New Living Translation (NLT), the Amplified Bible (AMP), and the New International Version (NIV). As is often the case, words and phrases were jumping out at me, grabbing my attention. Only after reading some of them through a couple of times, did I realize that I hadn’t shifted to the next portion of verses after yesterday’s portion – I had read through yesterday’s portion all over again!
I tell you; God’s Word is living and though it was written so long ago, it is so full of life! Its age makes no difference, it continues to speak, to impact, to change lives! Who am I to argue if God’s Word, has something else to say!?
…our confident hope of salvation…will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. v4b-5
One of many songs I remember from my childhood is the song, Running Over. (It has hand motions, too!)
Running over, running over
My cup is full and running over
Since the Lord saved me
I’m as happy as can be
My cup is full and running over
The last part of the 5th verse tells us that the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with His love. In the New Living Translation, the final line of the 5th verse of the 23rd Psalm reads, “My cup overflows with blessings.” NLT The Common English Bible translates it as “…my cup is so full it spills over!” CEB
In real life overfilling a cup is disastrous! It often leads to a mess to clean up. No one purposely fills a cup to overflowing! But the Holy Spirit is not just anyone!
God’s love is immeasurable! It is infinite! God giving us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love makes me think of attempting to pour the vastness of an ocean into a teacup!
So often we feel overrun and defeated. And though we know better, at least from a spiritual perspective, we lose hope.
Verses 3-4 tell us that we can rejoice because problems and trials…help us develop endurance, which develops strength of character, which strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
A note in the Amplified Bible states, “…the New Testament…word “hope” expresses a cherished desire along with the confident assurance of obtaining that which is longed for.”
The Biblical concept of hope is not wishing thinking, it is assurance – it is confidence in that hope!
Lord Jesus, we implore You to enable us to see the struggles of life as a means to lead us, not to disappointment, but to an unshakeable assurance of Your love for us. May we all experience the Holy Spirit’s filling of our hearts with Your love! Amen!
Nov 15th, 2022, Tues, 7:10 pm