This week we celebrate our national Thanksgiving Day holiday so it is appropriate to briefly discuss the holiday and it's greater significance for believers in Jesus Christ.
The first Thanksgiving celebration is considered to have occurred in 1621 one year after the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock on the Mayflower when Governor William Bradford stated his Thanksgiving Proclamation:
Therefore, I, William Bradford by the Grace of God today, and the franchise of this good people, governor of Plymouth, say' through virtue of vested power 'ye shall gather with one accord, and hold in the month of November, thanksgiving unto the Lord.'
We see from this that those who fled England through Holland in pursuit of religious liberty were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ because the Lord he is referring to is the Lord Jesus Christ.
It was celebrated off and on from 1789 after being proclaimed by President Washington until President Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the USA on October 3, 1863 during the war between the states.
It is interesting the only the USA and Canada have established a day of national Thanksgiving. I believe this is because Christians pursuing religious freedom so they could freely worship God under the doctrines taught by Protestant theology founded both nations.
As a national holiday Thanksgiving Day is celebrated by both believer and unbeliever but for the believer thanksgiving is not only the ritual of celebrating a national holiday it is also an integral part of the spiritual life so we will briefly consider thanksgiving as it relates to the spiritual life of the Church age believer.
We have noted that the ritual of our national Thanksgiving celebration is rooted in the Christian faith that is the basis for the nation's founding principles no matter how much propaganda the progressive deceivers use in their attempt to contradict that reality.
Freedom, privacy, and self-determination for both believer and unbeliever are establishment principles that are exclusively established on the basis of God's Word of truth are the principles that our nation was founded upon and our nation cannot continue to exist in it's present form without them.
In addition to the establishment principles God's Word also contains spiritual principles that apply only to believers. One of these spiritual principles is the mandate to have grace orientation that results in capacity for gratitude that results in the expression of thanksgiving to God. Eph 5:20; Col 3:17;
Remember the unbeliever functions exclusively under a merit system based on self-discipline, hard work and achievement but the believer functions under God's grace system that is based on developing capacity for grace conveyance from positive volition to Jesus Christ and His Word of truth.
The believer learns how to deploy the power of God's grace system through the application of doctrine to fulfill the self-discipline, hard work, and achievement that are required by the merit system. Gal 5:23; Gal 5:18; Rom 8:3-4;
Lasting blessing comes from God's grace system that results in the expression of gratitude and thanksgiving to God.
William Bradford was noting the principles that God's Word reveals about God's grace system in his proclamation to "hold in the month of November thanksgiving unto the Lord."
William Bradford institution of a day of thanksgiving unto the Lord was a response to the capacity in his soul from God's Word that caused him to recognize the grace blessing from God that the Pilgrims had received since they had arrived on the Mayflower.
He understood that everything they had was from God's grace and his response was to be thankful to God for His grace blessings.
1Thes 5:18; "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." It is God's will that you thank Him for everything.
Eph 5:20; "Always be thankful with reference to all things to God even the Father through the person of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Col 2:7; "Having been rooted and grounded and having been edified in Him (Jesus Christ) and being stabilized by means of doctrine as you have been taught, overflowing with thanksgiving."
Col 1:12; "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us for a share in the endowment of the saints."
No one can properly comply with these verses without having grace capacity from God's Word circulating in their stream of consciousness because the gratitude that is expressed in thanksgiving can only exist where there is grace capacity from metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness.
We see from this that thanksgiving expressed from grace orientation is directed toward God who is the continuous source of every perfect gift (James 1:17;) and everything we need in life. Phil 4:19;
When your relationship with God is correct then your relationships with others automatically falls into line. All blessings start with God's grace so gratitude that is expressed in thanksgiving is an indication of one's grace capacity for fellowship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Capacity for life, happiness, love, integrity and ability for problem solving is made possible by our relationship with God. 1John 4:19;
Our spiritual life is measured by our relationship with God. Therefore, the gratitude in our soul reflects the capacity of our rapport with God that is based on the amount of the faith (metabolized doctrine) that is circulating in our stream of consciousness under God the Holy Spirit's filling ministry.
As gratitude increases capacity for fellowship with God increases under the principle of. "He must increase, I must decrease." As capacity for integrity in the soul increases virtue-love and true happiness increases.
Minimal capacity for gratitude is indicated by ingratitude and unthankfulness resulting in maximum vulnerability to OSN control of the soul with its mental attitude, verbal and overt sins.
This is the problem we have in our country today and we see the results in the unhappiness and chaos that exists. 2Tim 3:2-5;
Thanksgiving comes from gratitude that comes from having true happiness. True happiness requires that God's Word of truth to be more important than anything else. Matt 4:4; Matt 24:35;
This means that God's Word is more important than any created thing.. Rom 3:4;
True happiness is the deployment of problem solving device of sharing the happiness of God in the stream of consciousness. Heb 12:2;
The only true happiness in life is sharing the happiness of God. The details of life will not make you happy. Happiness has nothing to do with what you have it is based exclusively on how you think.
Happiness is in the soul. It is not in your body so happiness does not depend on the circumstances of life. It depends exclusively on the thoughts that are inside of the soul under the principle of "as a person thinks in their heart so they are."
This means that happiness is not derived from fulfilling the desires of the lust patterns of the OSN. Attempting to acquire happiness on the basis of external circumstances is one of the major reasons that many people will never be happy.
Maximum happiness comes from maximum gratitude that comes from feeding the soul with God's Word of truth. Happiness is the product of consistently learning and applying God's Word.
Happiness requires believers to put God's Word above and beyond themselves (Psa 138:2;), happiness belongs to those who listen to God's Word and keep it (Luke 11:28;YLT), and in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. 1Thes 5:18;
Happiness comes from waiting on God it does not come not from trying to achieve or acquire things in life. Isa 40:31;
Gratitude in soul comes from the deployment of +H or sharing the happiness of God that is the basis for true happiness in life. Gratitude in the soul is the entrance into the maximum blessing of occupation with the person of Jesus Christ.
Bossing from God is predicated on is capacity for blessing. Capacity comes from Bible doctrine in the soul that is reflected in gratitude and thankfulness and expressed in thanksgiving.
The more there is capacity for gratitude in the soul the more there is blessing from God.
When blessings are taken for granted there is no gratitude and the soul dries up. In our country today there are many people who possess abundant prosperity but have no gratitude. Their dried up soul makes them unthankful and unhappy no matter how much they have.
+H or God's happiness is the happiness that Jesus Christ utilized to endure His suffering on the Cross, Heb 12:2; "Be concentrating on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our doctrine, who because of His exhibited happiness, He endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
With the happiness of God the humanity of our Lord Jesus solved the problem of staying on the Cross while He was enduring the maximum adversity of being judged for our sins while people were maligning and ridiculing Him.
We see from this that true happiness has the capacity to endure the most horrible things in life with a relaxed mental attitude and complete tranquility and contentment of soul.
True happiness is the only real and lasting "safe space" because when you are happy you are self sustaining and you aren't concerned with what other people think say or do.
Without grace orientation there is no happiness even if all of one's desires are fulfilled, because without grace orientation there is no capacity for happiness.
Gratitude that is expressed in thanksgiving is one of the great productions of the spiritual life. 1Tim 6:6; because positive volition to God's Word creates capacity for gratitude and thanksgiving in the soul and sucks grace, blessing and prosperity from God into your life Psa 23:6;
This is why God commands us to be thankful in everything because of Jesus Christ.1Thes 5:18;
So was we celebrate the Thanksgiving Day ritual this year let's recall all that God has done and continues to do for us and celebrate in the reality of spirit and truth.