Skip to main content

Thanksgiving

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 118.1 (ESV)

Thanksgiving has been a theme for believers in every generation and in every culture. This refrain occurs numerous times in the Bible by different writers over several centuries. Two reasons are given in this verse to be thankful. The first reason is the goodness of God. The second reason is the steadfast love of God.

The goodness of God is at the heart of our understanding of who God is. The first temptation in the Garden of Eden was to doubt the goodness of God. The Serpent essentially asked Eve if God really cared about her. Does God really care for you? Is God really for you? If God is good, then why are you being denied something? You have the right to what you want.

What is your response to God? Is God good? How has He proven Himself to you?

I was asked recently if there was a special word in Scripture for steadfast. In the original language the first word of this verse is a word that means loyal love or unfailing love.  It refers to God’s covenant love for us and is a love that lasts through every trial throughout all of time. David uses this word here to praise God for His protection and care. Many people have failed David. David has failed God and others. But God never fails.

Have you experienced the unfailing love of God in your life?

These words were written as a celebration of thanksgiving. May we join the ancient writers in giving thanks?

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Life Worth Living

We all have an idea of how we hope that our life would go. We all have dreams. We have dreams for our own lives and the lives of people who are close to us. We have goals that we would like to accomplish during our lifetime. We have a measure of what would constitute a complete life for us. When reality does not match our idealized life, we are disappointed and sad. We grieve the loss of a life that we had imagined both for ourselves and those who are close to us. We wonder where God is in all of these situations. The Bible tells us about a man with whom we can identify. Jacob’s life had taken several unexpected twists, yet he came to the end of his life content with God’s will. Jacob was ready to die, when his end was approaching. He was at peace with his life and all that God had done through him even though life had not turned out the way that he had planned. Finally, Jacob said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen your face again and know you are still al
Post a Comment
Read more

Technical Difficulty

This blog has been inactive for a while due to some technical issues. It is good to be back and I have learned that my technical ability has declined in the last few years. It is amazing how quickly things change. I have been around computers for almost 30 years. My dad bought a commodore 64 in the early 80’s and bought an IMB clone pc later that decade. I spent part of my childhood playing Impossible Mission and Pac Man while typing the occasional paper. For those of you who did not grow up in the 80’s, yes, typing a paper was a big deal. I’m surprised that I didn’t get beat up more as a kid. I learned how to use pc’s before Windows 3.1 and remember when Word Perfect was better than Word – the WYSIWYG was way better on Word Perfect when printing to a dot matrix. While I was in college in the early 90’s I took computer programming and worked in the computer lab. During graduate studies I continued working in computer labs and began doing contract work for computer vendors
Post a Comment
Read more

A pat on the back

I really just wanted a pat on the back. Several years ago I attended an appreciation luncheon for pastors. I had been to a similar event hosted by the same group the previous year, and I really enjoyed it. The previous year they gave away some nice prizes, and we all left the event feeling encouraged and valued. I knew the main speaker before the event and I had been looking forward to his encouraging words. As soon as he started his address, I knew that it was going to be a difficult lunch. He began asking us probing questions about our prayer life and our personal relationship with God. He continued pressing us to evaluate sin in our life and called us to turn from our sin. I could not believe it. How could this guy do this to us? I came here to be encouraged not attacked. His assignment was simple. All he had to do was talk about how tough ministry is and let us know that he has been there. He could throw in a few funny stories and everyone would leave happy. The longer he s
Post a Comment
Read more