An Adventure In Thanksgiving

Last night during our family devotional, our focus was on preparing our hearts for Thanksgiving. Earlier in the day at church, we had a "Thanksgiving Praise Celebration." So it was fitting to continue the theme in our time together as a family.

Doesn't our world have it all wrong? Thanksgiving Day becomes a mere, "speed bump," on our way to Christmas. Christians are equally as guilty. Why not, go against culture and make this Thanksgiving a time of reflection, praise and thanksgiving. 

Soon we will begin advent, why not have an adventure in Thanksgiving and count down the days actually reading God's Word, recalling His promises, and singing praises back to Him.  Our family is committed to doing exactly that.

Sunday morning in church, Pastor Craig shared that "praise," and "thanksgiving," do not have the same meaning.  Praise's direction is outward towards God, while thanksgiving's direction is more inward towards us. For example, the things we are thankful for that generally affect us. Even during our devotional time, Christine had remembered this from the morning message which made both Rob and I smile. 

The passage we used in our devotional was found in I Chronicles 16:8-12 (Amplified Bible) ~

(8)   O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make 

known His doings among the peoples!

(9)    Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His wondrous works and devoutly praise them!

(10)   Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!

(11)    See the Lord and His strength; yearn for and seek His face and to be in His presence continually!

(12)   [Earnestly] remember the marvelous deeds which He has done. His miracles, and the judgments He uttered [as in Egypt].

So at the conclusion of my day, I checked out some blogs of friends and came across two postings from a friend's blog, "Twilight Vespers."   

On Thursday, November 20th, Rochelle posted 2 entries, one, "Thanksgiving Blessing Mix," and the other, "Giving Thanks."  I'm all for not reinventing the wheel. Please take the time to read both entries.  The first one is something you can make to eat while the second one is an excellent article for you to ponder.  Please click here.

Let's ready ourselves for an adventure in Thanksgiving!