Thanksgiving! a day of remembrance,
For all the blessings of yore,
That Providence bestowed upon us,
Upon those we love and more.
Blessings upon all who love Him,
Even on those who don’t,
He sends the sunshine and rain,
To th’ unjust as well as th’ just.
I am thankful for family,
I am thankful for friends,
Relationships that are godly,
For love that knows no end.
Thankful for God and creation,
Thankful He made even me,
Thankful for His salvation,
Thankful He offers it free.
Because I was born a sinner,
Without resources to pay,
My only way back to the Father,
Was for Messiah to say,
Forgiven! he is forgiven!
The price for sin is paid!
Though the results of sin is pain,
T’was upon my Savior laid.
It is finished! the Master cried,
Hanging on the cruel cross,
He gave up the ghost and died,
For me and all that are lost.
So I am thankful for not only me,
All who in Jesus believe,
The way back to the Father is free,
For all who in Jesus Live!
Jesus calls us to be serving,
Christ is all about Life,
In Jesus we go on living,
Even when our bodies die.
As I pray for life eternal,
For myself ‘n all mankind,
Privileged! I am most thankful,
May we in Jesus abide.
Thanksgiving! for present blessings,
To th’ One who knows us best,
He knows whom we are serving,
Who seek eternal rest.
A day of reckoning is coming,
Separating evil from good,
Evil to darkness departing,
Those raptured going home with God.
Home! Home! O sweetest of sound,
When at God’s table we gather,
The saved in Christ all gathered round,
All safe with God our Father.
Home! Home! O sweetest of sound,
As at this table we gather,
May thanksgiving be remembered,
Ev’ry day throughout the year.
Jesus Lives! Today and ever,
He is worth our living,
He is also worth dying for,
He is why we can sing;
"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now I’m found,
Was blind but now I see.
T’was grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved,
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers toils and snares,
I have already come,
T’is grace that brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures,
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise,
Then when we first begun." (John Newton)
Today we thank God for all His blessings, for His daily sustenance, for the bountiful harvest that again is laid up in store for the future. God is God of the past, the present, and the future. We can entrust all to Him. He has proven Himself faithful in the past, He is proving Himself faithful now. We can trust Him for the future. We never know what the future holds but we can know Him who holds the future.
We don’t know, there is an uneasiness in the air, about the future of AI and how it will affect our lives. Will our livelihoods be taken over by machines? How can we make an honest living? In the race to make our lives easier, will the hard only shift to someplace else? If so, where is that ‘someplace else’? That we are seeing a literal fulfillment of Revelation chapter thirteen has become without question. God clearly saw this coming and gave us a warning that now, 2000 years later, makes sense as digital technology continues its intrusive push into nearly all facets of life here on this globe that He has temporarily provided for us.
Temporarily. That is the key word here. We are called to a higher calling. A calling to have the spiritual mark of God upon us, upon our lives. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The devil is limited to destruction here, he has been cast out of heaven, so here is his only avenue of destructive activity, and as he seeks to destroy, he seeks to place a mark of ownership upon people that transfers loyalty from God to the love of money and hence to himself.
God has this. He will not let us down. So as we faithfully thank Him for natural sustenance this Thanksgiving day let us thank Him most of all for life beyond this life.
Life Matters!