Thanksgiving Day is Ours

There is a friendly debate among historians as to when the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in America. Some say it was in Virginia in 1610, and others hold fast to our traditional first Thanksgiving celebrated in Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts, in 1621.

Whichever side of the debate one chooses to embrace, the fact remains that Thanksgiving Day is ours.

Before America existed as a nation, the hardy souls who persevered to found this great country made the effort to thank God Almighty for His provision and grace.

Giving thanks in Virginia, Massachusetts, and many other settlements across the new world was a spontaneous act by grateful people. They experienced a life so rugged, that without the providence of God they would have surely not survived. They were grateful for God’s favor and blessing.

Our first President, George Washington, a man acclaimed to be the Father of our Country, acknowledged God as the source of our Nation’s strength and very existence. He felt so strongly about this that he made a proclamation for a national day of thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26th 1789.

He believed in the importance of setting aside a day to honor God and give thanks individually and corporately as a people. President Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday on Thursday November 26th, 1863.

Thanksgiving day has become a tradition, which like other traditions, has developed, grown, and transitioned from being a simple spiritual act of acknowledging God’s blessings, to a national event of unbridled proportions.

Ball games, shopping, days off from work, and travel are just a few of the Thanksgiving activities that can encumber us and help us to forget the true meaning of the holiday.

This day is meant to be a time to stop, take notice of our blessings, and acknowledge God with a grateful heart. Lest we forget, there have been Thanksgivings in the past that were very trying and somber, days of prayer and fasting.

Today one could say that we are too busy enjoying our blessings to pause and be thankful. We all share in the responsibility for the national event that Thanksgiving Day has become because it is our day.

I am so thankful to God that He has given us the freedom to worship Him with our thanks. And the blessings that we enjoy over this holiday are truly from Him.

I believe that He continues to bless us in part because we do take a day, our day, each year, and as a people tell the whole world that we thank Almighty God for His provident grace.

The Bible says: “Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done” (I Chronicles 16:8 NLT).

This Thanksgiving as we share our feast with our loved ones, plan our shopping for Friday, and our Christmas decorating for Saturday, give a nod to our forbearers whose grateful hearts made this all possible.

Enjoy taking part in a celebration uniquely our own, individually and corporately. Pass on to the next generation the knowledge of how blessed we are as individuals, families, and as a people.

Speak of the mighty and wondrous things that the Lord has done, and share our thankful hearts one with another.

“Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power” (Psalms 145:4 NLT).

The famous author O. Henry wrote, “There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.”



Happy Thanksgiving!

Islamist Winter Report from Erick Stakelbeck

Islamist Winter Strikes Again: Meet the Most Powerful Man in Tunisia



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Beware of Shadow Lane

Some years ago my wife and I were planning to purchase our dream home. We searched and searched to find just the right house in the best location. We found it at the end of Shadow Lane.


It was a beautiful traditional two-story home in a quiet neighborhood. It seemed like the answer to our prayers. The price was right and we were ready to buy. Everything seemed perfect…too perfect. So I decided to check the court records on the property. It didn’t take a long search before discovering that the owner did not have clear title to the property. There were liens against the property, which he failed to disclose.

After confronting him with the situation, he refused to pay off the liens. He wanted us to lease the house from him until the liens were paid off. If we had taken the bait, we would have ending up investing our money and not owning anything. We were so disappointed! This was our dream home, our answer to prayer, our blessing from God. Or so it appeared. But it was revealed to be a counterfeit, a substitute, and a trap!

God had promised us a house. He was, if fact, preparing a house and a great deal for us, but before His plan could be fulfilled, the enemy tried to slide in a counterfeit blessing and rob us of the true blessing that God had for us.

Well, in spite of how badly we wanted the house on Shadow Lane, we rejected the deal. A short time later, we found and received the house that God had for us all along. It was a better home in a better location, and we bought it for below market value. The grief over losing what we thought was the perfect home, turned to joy when we received the authentic, perfect home.

When you walk in the blessings of the Lord, be advised that the enemy will try to rob, cheat, and steal those blessings from you. He will even go so far as offer something similar to God’s blessing, anything, in order to ruin God’s plan for you.

When Satan tempted the Lord Jesus, he offered a substitute for Father’s plan.

“Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8-9 NLT).

As good a deal as that may have appeared to some men, it was a poor counterfeit for the kingdom that Father had for Him. Satan offered Lord Jesus every Shadow Lane in the world, but He didn’t settle for what the devil had to offer. No, He knew that the best gifts, the authentic gifts, come from our heavenly Father, and He was determined to follow Father’s will.

He faced this again through His Disciple Peter. When Jesus told His disciples that He was the Christ, and that He must suffer at the hands of the Chief Priests in Jerusalem,

“Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matthew 16:22-23 NLT).

The enemy used every trick to encourage Jesus to receive a substitute, counterfeit Kingdom, one of Satan’s making, one that would not satisfy, one that would not last. If Jesus had invested Himself in Satan’s Kingdom, then like the owner of the Shadow Lane property, Satan would have been the true owner, and Jesus would have lost everything, and missed the true Kingdom that Father had for Him.

As you follow Christ, seek His will, and wait on your blessing. Be careful not to fall for the first thing that comes along. It might look good, and feel great, but if you notice that one little detail that doesn’t fit, when in doubt, throw it out. Don’t get stuck on Shadow Lane!



Read "Beware of Shadow Lane" my devotion today on cbn.com.


http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/devotions/Markland_shadowlane.aspx

Do Christians Have A Split Personality?

What a difference a day makes! Sunday you’re in church where people love you, where you’re at peace with God and filled with love, basking in His presence. Then Monday comes. Home is hectic and disorganized; every single driver on the road has it in for you, the boss snaps you up for no good reason, and your co-workers hate you.

The world has hammered you hard, so when you get back home, everybody had better watch out for your patience is long gone. Sound familiar? We can be one person at church and totally different during the rest of the week if we’re not careful. It’s hard to recognize it in ourselves because we see ourselves as that same good church person all the time, not as a hypocrite. Why do we fail to be the people we think we are? Why do we fail to sustain the personalities we think we have?

The Apostle Paul wrote, “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” (Romans 7:18 NLT).

We tell ourselves that it’s the circumstances that make the difference. Well, it’s more than the circumstances; it’s our split personality! The Bible says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God” (1 Corinthians 6:19)?

The temple of God, as described in the bible, was divided into three distinct areas. The outer court where anyone could enter, the holy place where the priests enter, and the holy of holies where only the high priest was permitted to enter once a year in order to make a sacrifice for all the people. It is the most holy part of the temple, the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and the presence of God met and communicated with man. There is a trinity to the make up of the temple.

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and there is a trinity to our make up as well. We are a spirit; we possess a soul, and live in a body. Our body is like the outer court of the temple. It is there for the entire world to see. It is our connection to the world through our five senses, without which, we could not communicate with the world.

Our soul is like the holy place in the temple. It’s between our spirit and body. It is where our mind, will, and emotions rest. It’s our connection between the spiritual and the physical, heaven and earth.

Our spirit is like the holy of holies, the innermost sacred part of the temple. It’s the place where God dwells, heaven is approached, and where we fellowship with the Lord.

Our spirit, soul, and body are in a constant rivalry. We determine in our soul if we are going to be more body oriented or spirit oriented. This is the struggle we endure. This is where the split happens. The pull and tug between our fleshly body, which craves the things of the world, and our spirit, which craves the things of God, can become fierce unless we keep our body under control and seek God through our spirit. Our body will rule us unless we die to self and embrace the presence of God through our spirit.

We become born again by asking Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and come into our heart. Our spirit becomes alive to God when this happens and we have a new relationship with Him through our spirit. The split personality we were born with becomes one in Christ, and God accepts us as a temple in which He can dwell, through the Holy Spirit.

The split between the things of heaven and the cares of life will always challenge us, but when we submit to God and keep our flesh, that worldly connection, under subjection, we bring the peace from Sunday into the chaos of Monday and all is right with the world.

Great Video about God's Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r-HGDxt6RE&feature=player_detailpage

Feast of the Tabernacles Celebration in Israel

The ICEJ's annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration will be streamed here live everyday from Oct 13-18, 2011. This streaming is made possible by Visjon Norge.

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Blind Faith

My Article today is called "Blind Faith" today on cbn.com.


http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/devotions/markland-blind-faith.aspx