Give Thanks!

For Thursday, November 23, 2022, Thanksgiving Day (US):

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT: “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Happy Thanksgiving! In the US, we have designated today as a special day on which to show gratitude. But we shouldn’t save up our gratitude for this one day. We should be thanking the Lord every day. We have a saying – “God is good – all the time!” So we should give thanks – all the time!

Paul counsels the Philippians like this: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Of course the thing for which we should be eternally grateful is that Jesus took the sins of the world to the place of the dead, making it possible for believers to know heaven. Thank you Father God for your benevolent plan for us. Thank you Jesus for putting it in motion. Thank you Holy Spirit for keeping us on track!

Psalm 50:23, God speaking: “Giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Give Thanks!

For Thursday, November 25, 2021 Thanksgiving Day

Psalm 100:4 NIV: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”

Each of our lives is unique, and yet each of us has similar things for which to be thankful. Jesus said that just as God provides for the birds of the field, so would He provide for us. Certainly mankind is more valuable than some wild birds! So we have food, shelter and clothing. And we have family, friends and our Christian brothers and sisters. God blesses us with jobs, transportation and a whole lot more! I couldn’t begin to list all the good things that God pours into our lives!

Think about this - If God has richly blessed you, shouldn’t you be grateful? Shouldn’t you offer praise and thanksgiving for all he has done? It almost goes without saying.

God only wants what’s best for you! Therefore God has laid out an open-ended offer to include you in his kingdom. God’s desire is truly that no one would be lost; that all would repent and return. He wanted that so much that he sent his Son to rescue mankind. (John 3:16) “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Now put your own name in there. God so loved Mary or Bob or Linda or Ralph – God loves YOU so much that He sacrificed His only Son, that you might be granted everlasting life.

And because of that colossal gift of eternity in the presence of the Father, it is not only right, but it is essential that we give thanks in great quantity!

Today is a good day to give thanks!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406