Praise the Lord for the Harvest and Thanksgiving
season. The Lord of the harvest always lavishes upon us a bountiful harvest of
blessings, seen and unseen, earthly and heavenly, mundane and majestic, earthy
and ethereal. We are so blessed to live in a land of such bountiful
blessings. The stores and market places are stocking up all the new produce and
harvest items as they get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We live in a
country where the people of the Lord open their hearts and their hands to
strangers, as well as to neighbors, with gladsome spirit.
I was talking to a woman a few days
ago who shared with me that on the farm where she lives with her family they
raise turkeys. . . big ones. Last year they cooked for the family Thanksgiving
banquet a turkey that weighed 60 pounds. WOW! A few years ago one of our
farmer friends raised turkeys for us and we cooked a turkey that dressed out at
over 40 pounds. It is all of His blessing and grace.
He blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday
Evening gathering this week. The day was a very warm, almost summer-like, day.
Yesterday, Thursday, was another wonderful gift from the Lord. It was sunny,
warm, and balmy.
Praise the Lord for children and
grandchildren. Jesus loves them dearly and deeply. I have been thinking of our
oldest granddaughter, Micah, who celebrated her 10th birthday this week. She
loves to embroider, sew, and knit like her mom and her grandmom. She loves
Indian foods and she is learning to cook. She tells her friends that she is 1/4
Indian. She told me that she is going to go to fiddle camp. She has been
playing fiddle for less than a year, but is already "jamming" with other
instrumentalists from time to time.
Yesterday we had Release time at the
church where the children from the public school come to learn about Jesus. It
was thrilling. The children were very courteous and eager to learn and wanted to
listen and share. The children make me feel young and invigorated. It was
great experience. The kids are smart, courteous, and inquisitive. We praise the
Lord for each one of them.
Since it
is getting dark earlier and earlier, Alice and I have changed our walking route
for a season. In the evening Alice and I walked around the "Village Green" and
the "Town Park" near the Civic Center. People were out and about , enjoying
another summer-like day. We saw young boys and girls playing soccer on the
soccer fields and young parents walking with their young ones, enjoying another
good day in God' Kingdom. Flocks of Canadian geese were hovering over the river
banks and ponds, singing melodious sonnets, praising the Lord for another
day.
As we all begin our pilgrimmage towards
Thanksgiving season and day let's look at a verse from 1 Thessalonians.
Be joyful always; pray continually; Give thanks
in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ
Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Writing over one hundred years ago, Professor James Denney
of Scotland called these three commands “the standing orders of the
gospel.” They are “standing orders” because they always apply
to every Christian in every situation.
In the Greek it is very clear because these imperatives are all in the
present tense. You could translate it, “continually rejoice, continually pray,
and continually give thanks.” This is a great challenge for all of us.
Most of us would have no problem if the text
said, “Rejoice
sometimes”, “Pray occasionally”, “Give thanks when you feel like
it." We are
invited, we are challenged, and we are given a command, “Always.” "Continually.” “In all
circumstances.” This suggests that the real impact of the gospel
will be seen when we don’t feel joyful, when we don’t want to pray, and when we
can’t think of a reason to be thankful. These simple
commands reveal the true life-changing power of Jesus Christ. When he
enters a life, he changes it from the inside out so that we have both the
power and the
desire to rejoice, to pray, and give thanks even in the worst moments of
life.
We know from our
childhood and our days in Sunday school that the shortest verse in the Bible is,
"Jesus wept" (John 11:35). However, this is only the shortest verse in the
English version. When we look at the Greek text we see that the shortest verse
is, "Rejoice always". When the angel told the shepherds about the birth of
Jesus he called it, "good news of great joy that will be for all people" (Luke
2:10).
Years ago we used to sing a gospel song that
began with the words, “We have heard the joyful sound. Jesus saves! Jesus
saves!” Whenever the gospel is preached, it is a “joyful sound” to those that
hear it. If the gospel is truly good news, then we ought to rejoice and be glad.
The evidence of the
gospel’s power for most people will be what they see in us.
Jesus said, These things I have spoken
to you, that my joy may be in you" (John 15:11). Jeremiah wrote, "From them
shall proceed the voice of thanksgiving and the sound of those who make merry
and I will multiply them and they will not be diminished" (Jeremiah
30:19). Let us consider what this means when we
gather for worship this coming Sunday In His House. "Majesty, worship His
majesty"
In Christ,
Brown
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