Inspirational Article From Joanne Lowe Index of Writings by Joanne Lowe on Gospel Web

THANK HIM

“And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.”

Psalm 78: 35 - 38 King James Version

It is a sad commentary on those of us who claim to be Christians; those of us who say we are saved because we have been born again through the precious redeeming and atoning blood of Jesus, that we only gather with our families, loved ones and friends once a year to officially give thanks to our Heavenly Father. We really should be gathering together every day to give thanks to Him.

Oh dear people, Thanksgiving is not a day just to gather with family and friends to eat a delicious meal. Thank God that He lovingly and graciously provides these wonderful meals for us but Thanksgiving should be a time of reflection and giving thanks to a Holy God for all that He has done for us. I believe that it would rejoice the heart of our Heavenly Father if we would spend most of today thanking Him for His unconditional love and protection.

Our precious Heavenly Father has feelings and it hurts Him when we take advantage of Him. Many times we do take advantage of Him. We know that He is there for us whenever we need Him so sometimes without even realizing it; we forget to thank Him every day for all He does for us. I think that we have forgotten the real reason for Thanksgiving Day just as we have forgotten the real reason for Christmas.

The real reason for Thanksgiving is to spend the day ministering to God, praising Him and thanking Him for His unconditional love for us and for His grace and mercy to us. Yet many times we neglect to thank Him except when we sit down to eat. The rest of the day we pursue our own interests and we put Him back on the shelf until we need Him again. May God forgive us for the way we treat Him! Thank You precious Heavenly Father, for Your unconditional love, mercy, grace and forgiveness that You so graciously extend to us.

We should be filled with gratitude every day that He turns His anger away from us and does not stir up all His wrath. If He were to punish us as we so richly deserve because of the way we treat Him, all of us would be in serious trouble. He has told us that we are to love one another and that we are to spread the love of Jesus to our families, loved ones, friends and to a world that is lonely, hurting and desperately needs to know that someone loves them. Yet, many times we fail Him in this area. He has done so much for us and He asks so little of us. Oh that we would fall in love with our Heavenly Father and with Jesus!

As you gather with your family and friends today, don’t forget to spend time with your Heavenly Father praising Him and thanking Him for His unconditional love, grace, forgiveness and mercy to you. When you thank Him for the food that He gave you to eat today, thank Him that He gave you teeth to chew the food and thank Him that you have a plate, knife, fork and spoon to use during the meal.

Thank Him that you have food to eat because there are many people right in your own neighborhood that do not have food to eat today and they are hungry. Not only are they hungry for the food that we buy at the grocery store; they are hungry for someone to love them, to understand them and to accept them just as they are. Isn’t that what Jesus does for us? He accepts us just as we are. Thank God that He does because if He didn’t every one of us would be on our way to hell for all eternity.

We take so many things for granted and I’m sure that it breaks our Heavenly Father’s heart when we forget about Him during the day. Our loving and precious Heavenly Father deserves to be recognized and honored all day today and every day. Thank You, dear sweet Heavenly Father, for loving us unconditionally and for turning away Your anger from us. Especially thank You for loving us when we hurt You and when we hurt others.

Thank You for Your compassion, for Your grace and for Your compassion. May we be the children that You desire us to be. May we do and say kind and loving things that would bring joy and happiness to Your heart. Grant that when people look at us, they will know that we are Christians by our love to You and by our love to others. Amen.

Joanne Lowe

November 22, 2007

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