Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November
24, 2016
“When you enter the land
the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession and you have
conquered it and settled there, put some of the first produce from each
crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of
worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be
honored. Go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, ‘With
this gift I acknowledge to the Lord your God that I have entered the
land he swore to our ancestors he would give us.’ The priest will then
take the basket from your hand and set it before the altar of
the Lord your God. “You must
then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was
a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt
they became a large and mighty nation. When
the Egyptians oppressed and humiliated us by making us their slaves, we cried out to
the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He heard our cries and saw our hardship, toil,
and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a
strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous
signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land
flowing with milk and honey! And now, O Lord, I have brought you the
first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.’ Then place the produce before
the Lord your God, and bow to the ground in worship before him. Afterward
you may go and celebrate because of all the good things the Lord your
God has given to you and your household. Remember to include the Levites and the
foreigners living among you in the celebration.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11(NLT)
A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout with joy to
the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with
gladness. Come before him, singing with
joy. Acknowledge that
the Lord is God! He made us,
and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter
his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For
the Lord is good. His
unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each
generation. Psalm 100(NLT)
Always be full of joy in the
Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate
in all you do. Remember, the Lord is
coming soon. Don’t worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything. Tell God
what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will
experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as
you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and
sisters, one final thing. Fix your
thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and
admirable. Think about things that are
excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you
learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians
4:4-9(NLT)
They found him on the other
side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus
replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you,
not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so
concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life
that the Son of Man can give you. For
God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” They
replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” Jesus
told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one
he has sent.” They answered, “Show us a
miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? After all, our
ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread
from heaven to eat.’” Jesus
said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from
heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and
gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “give us that
bread every day.” Jesus replied, “I am the
bread of life. Whoever comes to me will
never be hungry again. Whoever believes
in me will never be thirsty. John
6:25-35(NLT)
For You Today
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a
blessed day!
NOTES
[i]
Title image: By U.S.
Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Cheng S. Yang [Public
domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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