By Elizabeth Prata
Happy Thanksgiving 2020
Christ’s glorious name is upon us, let us show why we’re different
By Elizabeth Prata
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:15-17)
Christ called us to be different. To be salt, which is a preservative, and light, which is shining to show our works in His name and give Him glory. We cannot be hid. Though you may have lost your job and want to hide, you cannot. You must not. Though your brother may have wronged you, you cannot hold a grudge and hide from fellowship. You must not.
NOW is the time for which we have been put on the earth, for just such a time as this. We should be seen singing praises, hosannas, psalms to Him and about Him with all joy! We need to have peace with each other and in our hearts. Everything we do, let us do for Jesus, He who became sin and died for ours. Even now, especially now, the kind of Christians Paul was urging the Colossians to be, let US be!
A Gratitude Morning
By Elizabeth Prata
God thank you for the rain. Thank you for the refreshment from the skies of your bounty, and even as the rain drops fall I am reminded of the Living water that is Jesus. He refreshes and renews all the time, not just the ground but the soul. He who drinks of His water will never be thirsty again. (John 4:13).
Thank You for the beautiful creation, which will be greened after this refreshment. But even as its current beauty is marred by the curse of sin, I long to see Your creation in its full glory. Today I am grateful for the pastures and the rain and the beauty, even so, I know I am seeing through a glass darkly. On Your day I will see everything clearly. (1 Corinthians 13:12).
I awake this morning in the world this morning but I am not of the world. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
I’m grateful to God the Father, Jesus the Messiah and the Holy Spirit for my future with Him, my salvation, my sanctification, for hearing prayer, for the saints here on earth. How long this message would be if I listed all for which I am grateful! He is my All in All.
Is your church, your friend, your small group going progressive? Here’s how to tell
By Elizabeth Prata
I like this video. Alisa Childers presents in simple and straightforward manner, 5 signs to watch or listen for to see if your church is inching toward progressivism. I especially liked the art of what to listen for in specific phrases you might hear at church, small group, or in your friends. It’s helpful, being accurate and practical. It’s just 6 minutes and well worth your time.
How to Spot the Danger Signs of Progressive Christianity in Your Church
Acknowledging God’s providence yields gratitude
By Elizabeth Prata
One of the ways God intervenes in the world is providence. The quote below is from a sermon titled “Secrets of Contentment“.
“There are two ways God can act in the world: by miracle and by providence. A miracle has no natural explanation. In the flow of normal life, God suddenly stems the tide and injects a miracle. Then He sets the flow back in motion, just like parting the Red Sea until His people could walk across and closing it up again. Do you think it would be easier to do that—to say, “Hold it, I want to do this miracle” and do it—or to say, “Let’s see, I’ve got 50 billion circumstances to orchestrate to accomplish this one thing”? The latter is providence. Think, for example, of how God providentially ordered the lives of Joseph, Ruth, and Esther. Today He does the same for us.”
I find it incredibly restful to dwell in the knowledge of His sovereignty and His providence. It doesn’t mean I kick back and drift like a twig down a river, doing nothing. I still pray, study, and diligently perform all the things the Bible says we are to do. But I know that He is directing my steps. His providential care of me is in the best hands. What a great and glorious God we serve who providentially orders all events simultaneously to come together at every given moment to ensure His works come to pass!! How can I NOT worship a God who, from the moment He breathed life into Adam, has superintended every event at every moment to accomplish His divine will?
More importantly in terms of our worship, no one is self-sufficient, and everyone is answerable to God. Nebuchadnezzar praised God, saying,
“all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth;” (Daniel 4:35)
The sermon I linked to above concludes,
Contentment comes from learning that God is sovereign not only by supernatural intervention, but also by natural orchestration. And what an incredible orchestra it is! Appreciate the complexity of what God is doing every moment just to keep us alive. When we look at things from that perspective, we see what folly it is to think we can control our lives. When we give up that vain pursuit, we give up a major source of anxiety.
That God is ordering our steps, and doing so for all 8 billion people on earth, and every creature, and every storm, and every tide, and every cloud, and heaven’s hosts, and so on, should yield a gratitude that we can know this magnificent and powerful God. In your gratitude and prayers and praise, consider the providence of God. He preserves His own, down to the minutest detail.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” (Matthew 10:29)
I think if we were allowed to see God’s providence in real form and in real time, how He connects everything to be consistent with His will and His glory, it might look like this photo by Steve Irvine for NatGeo, called Moth Trails at Night
Puritan Thomas Manton wrote of providences as one portion of our heritage. Here again we shout in gratitude-
“It is a full heritage, and nothing can be added to the completeness of our portion; for in the promises here is God, heaven, earth, providences, ordinances, all made ours, and all inward comforts and graces they are a part of our portion; and what can a soul desire more? Here is God made over to us; the great blessing of the covenant is, I am thy God. Other men say (and they will think it a great matter when they can say), This kingdom is mine, this lordship is mine, this house, these fields are mine; but a believer can say, this God, this Christ, this Holy Spirit is mine.”
God is great.
Kay Cude Poetry: Betrayal’s Seal
Artist’s Statement:
In this Gustave Dore print (I am really taken with his work!), I looked closely at Christ’s face and saw easily within His expression Christ’s “knowing all things” of the heart of Judas (and the like-minded).
Kay Cude is a Texas poet. Used with permission
Thanksgiving Cornucopia: Jesus is the horn of plenty
Romans 8:14-17:
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
The Westminster Larger Catechism succinctly explains the verse’s benefits of this adoption as sons of God-
What is adoption?
“A. Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, whereby all those that are justified are received into the number of his children, have his name put upon them, the Spirit of his Son given to them, are under his fatherly care and dispensations, admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow-heirs with Christ in glory.”
Think of that for a moment…how great and bountiful this gift is.
At Thanksgiving we often see the American symbol of the ‘horn of plenty’ also known as the Cornucopia. The horn is filled to overflowing with harvest items from this time of year, such as this depiction :
Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, whereby all those that are justified are given gifts from HIS harvest of plenty. Picture the overflowing cornucopia of plenty from Jesus with His harvest treasures:
–the number of his children,
–have his Spirit sealed within them,
–are under his fatherly care,
–admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God,
–made heirs of all the promises, and
–fellow-heirs with Christ in glory.
All Christians have these and so much more to be thankful for. I know I am grateful for the opportunity to be grateful to Jesus forever.
Thank goodness it’s not Sinai, but Zion!
Let’s see where we have come to! If you are saved by the blood of Christ, having repented and believed in His life, death, and resurrection, then you have not come to Sinai, but to Zion!
“For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, “IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:18-24).
Pretty far! Keep walking. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7).
We have much to be thankful for. As the verse says, we can be thankful for His city, for His angels, for His church, for His Justice, for His Spirit, for His mediation, for His blood. And as we know, someday we will be thanking Him in person. We will see His face. What a day that will be!
A grateful heart withstands a shaking
By Elizabeth Prata
As this year draws to its close: I stand on the Cornerstone of all creation, because the mercy of Jesus saved me lo those many years ago. Gratitude fills my heart and my life with the blessings He has delivered to me, first fruit of which is that precious salvation. He Who is the fount from which all beneficence flows, in His mercy accepted my piteous cries for forgiveness and smiled upon my soul, bringing light and peace.
He continued to bless me by sealing the Holy Spirit within me to rely upon as my guide and teacher. He allows me to grow in His light and remain upon His paths by sending me wisdom as I read His Holy Word. He gives me earthly fulfillments- I am not hungry, I am in a warm home, I am clothed and I am employed. I learn from Paul who said to the Philippians,
“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13)
Contentment no matter the circumstance is truly a gift. Do you have a grateful heart as this year closes? The end time is a period when the Lord is shaking heaven and earth, and we see what remains. “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” (Hebrews 12:26).
Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:26-29). Gratitude and contentment in the midst of terrible circumstances is key to remaining unshaken. Paul was unshaken, content in all that occurred.
So was Abraham Lincoln. His Proclamation in 1863 at the height of the US Civil War was The basis of the holiday we celebrate nowadays. Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation was gratitude to the LORD. Notice how his decree began, not with a listing of current troubles, and if any man had a right to complain it was Lincoln. But the proclamation began with gratitude toward the Lord for blessings. Lincoln begins:
“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.”
“In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
“Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.”
“No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”
“It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
“And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”
“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three…” (1863. end Lincoln proclamation)
Friend, you are of the Kingdom – the Kingdom that will not be shaken! My prayer for you is that your heart is filled with gratitude for all things, no matter the circumstance.
“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” (Colossians 3:16).
Further Resources:
The premier thankfulness
By Elizabeth Prata
About Thanksgiving, the holiday- I’m reminded of the hymn, “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.” My thankfulness stems from the root of it all: my salvation. I’m thankful Jesus came, taught, died and rose again for pardon of my sins. I’m thankful for the Holy Spirit’s ministry to guide me on all straight paths in His Light. I’m thankful for Father God Who made us in His image….and did not wipe us all out in the Flood. I’m thankful that He sends the angels to protect me. Am I thankful for friends? For turkey? For my job? Absolutely. But the gratitude for secular things pale in comparison to the center of the universe: GOD, and the fact that He resides in me through His grace and mercy. From that One Truth, all other blessings flow.
The most important question you can ask yourself at Thanksgiving, is “Am I thankful I’m saved?”
the-end-time.org 