Are you ready for Thanksgiving? It’s a great time to reconnect with others and share hope. When was the last time you said “thank you” to someone in your life? The Thanksgiving season is upon us and it’s a great time to thank those who are special to you. Doing so only takes a minute when using FREE LifeTalk digital eCards. A host of different and beautiful designs are available. Just a few clicks and you’re done. It’s a simple and easy way to let others know you’re thinking about them via email or SMS texting. Don’t miss this chance to make someone feel appreciated. SHARE THE JOY of Thanksgiving. Let them know today! It only takes a minute, but your message will last a lifetime!
How much do you know about Thanksgiving? Imagine living four hundred years ago. That’s when Pilgrims survived a treacherous ocean voyage of 66 stormy days in search of religious freedom. They landed on the shores of North America on November 21, 1620. Their lifestyle was very different from ours. Try placing yourself in their shoes: No trains, planes or automobiles. No running water, indoor bathrooms or carpeted floors. No hospitals, flu vaccines or walk-in clinics. No phones, computers, internet or mobile devices. No shopping malls, mail order catalogs or grocery stores! What they ate they had to grow or hunt. Are you feeling thankful yet?
Here’s a bit of history you can share around your dinner table this month. The Puritans celebrated Thanksgiving as a three-day festival of praise, worship and prayer in response to God’s providence. It was a harvest celebration for the bounties nature had provided after their first year since arriving. They were thankful and desired to honor God because they felt blessed. It was celebrated with the local Native Americans to whom they felt indebted and thankful for as well. Without the generosity of the Indians we might not be celebrating Thanksgiving today.
It’s doubtful the early colonists would have made it through that first brutal winter without the assistance of the Wampanoag tribe, “the People of the First Light” who taught settlers how to cultivate and respect the resources of this new land. The Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower six weeks before winter with little food and were unprepared. Their intended destination had been Virginia, but the storm had blown them far off course. Half of them died from malnutrition, disease and exposure to the harsh weather that first year. (Tradition has it that an earlier Thanksgiving was actually celebrated by settlers in Virginia in 1619, prior to the more well-known event celebrated by the Pilgrims in Massachusetts in 1621. An even earlier Thanksgiving day is said to have occurred with Spanish explorers and the Teya Indians in Texas in 1541.)
Thanksgiving has long been celebrated in our country, as well as some other countries around the world. In Canada it’s celebrated in October. In the United States it’s observed on the fourth Thursday in November. As president, George Washington declared November 26, 1789 as the first nationwide Thanksgiving celebration in America. His proclamation stated, “as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.” On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson had less regard for Thanksgiving as a national holiday. He declared it was a matter for the states to decide and declined to make a presidential proclamation in 1801 which in his mind would be endorsing a religious event and thus a violation of the First Amendment. Jefferson advocated a firm stand on a wall of separation between church and state.
It was during the American Civil War, in 1863, that President Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday to be observed annually on the last Thursday of November. Up to that point Thanksgiving had largely been celebrated regionally, mostly in Northern states. In fact, Lincoln used both Thanksgiving and Christmas (largely celebrated in Southern states, but viewed as a pagan holiday by Northern Puritans) as an attempt to reunite a divided country. Years later, President Franklin Roosevelt signed a proclamation changing the official day for Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday in November.
Thanksgiving is a holiday. Thankfulness is an attitude. Our attitude determines much of life. In his letters, the Apostle Paul reminded his readers to be thankful. “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,…and be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
In the Old Testament, David referred to “thanksgiving” multiple times. “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving.” Psalm 95:2 and “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4
On Thanksgiving Day, many of us have a tradition of recounting what we are thankful for around the dinner table. Some may have many things to be thankful for, while other scratch their head a bit to figure out exactly what they are thankful for. However, some times it’s harder to have an attitude of thankfulness when things are not going our way. Yet we can CHOOSE to be thankful in all circumstances. As Paul says: “No matter what happens, always be thankful.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
One of my favorite books has this comment, “In the matchless gift of His Son, God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air which circulates around the globe. All who choose to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will live and grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus.” Steps to Christ, page 68. (By the way, I would love to share this marvelous book with you. If you’d like a copy please call 1-800-775-HOPE (4673) and request the free book, Steps to Christ. Or you can request it by using the handy form at: lifetalk.net/contact
Just imagine, we can choose to live in a continual atmosphere of grace! When the world around us seems to be falling apart, keeping a heavenly “life-giving atmosphere” in our homes may not sound easy. But staying tuned to LifeTalk Radio can help. Here is what one listener told us, “Continuous godly music in a home can absolutely transform the atmosphere! We are blessed to have LifeTalk saturating the air waves over this area.” If you desire to live in a heavenly atmosphere, stay tuned to LifeTalk Radio—connecting you with Christ!
We are so thankful and encouraged by the responses from listeners like this. Let me share what some others have said. “I am thankful for LifeTalk because it lifts and encourages kids and adults in their walk with the Lord.”
“My wife and I love your radio and appreciate you very much. You encourage us in our walk with Christ and want to encourage others.”
“I woke up listening to LifeTalk and I heard a woman talking on the radio. I was so grateful to hear her speak on how to handle sorrow. It helped me instantly, God spoke within my soul, within my heart, within my mind. So beautiful, so beautiful. Thank you LifeTalk.”
“I love LifeTalk Radio’s music and programs! It is so encouraging to my soul.”
We are so thankful to know LifeTalk is blessing people everywhere. Our goal is to grow this radio ministry so we can reach an even larger audience. You can help us achieve that goal through your on-going support.
This November as you contemplate what you are thankful for, hopefully you are thankful for LifeTalk Radio. If this radio ministry has influenced your life in a positive way I encourage you to pay it forward and help support LifeTalk so others can be reached with the Gospel. Your gift, large or small makes a difference in the lives of others.
