With Gratitude!

Many places of business have lighted message signs in front advertising products or offering seasonal greetings.  Just the other day I passed one.  In the time that I approached and passed it, I only had time to read 2 consecutive thoughts of several.  The ones I read: Do you know the symptoms?   Happy Thanksgiving!.

My thoughts wander to the "symtoms" of a "Happy Thanksgiving". How do you know if you are having a "Happy Thanksgiving"?  There are at least three symptoms that came to mind: gathering - abundance - gratitude.  Often we find ourselves making arrangements to gather together to share time during Thanksgiving.  It is a holiday shared by all Americans and not specific to religion.  Families gather, sometimes traveling great distances to spend time with each other.  Food is gathered and prepared, and special meals are shared.  In this I find abundance ~ of provision and of time shared to reflect upon the blessings of life. While focusing on our blessings, it is easier to be thankful.  But are these really the symptoms of a Happy Thanksgiving?

Our plans often get in the way, often draw our attention away from God. Gathering together with God, spending time being nourished by His carefully prepared Word feeds the soul. In these times, we find the abundance of God's goodness and grace; we find blessings beyond need.  Surrounded by such provision, the heart must acknowledge Our Sustainer, and with gratitude - whisper and shout - Baruch Hashem Adonai! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!


In our gathering, let's be sure to set a place for the Holy One.  In our abundance, let's focus on The Source of all goodness and blessings.  In our gratitude, let's remember The Giver of all good things and respond with gratitude.  Baruch Hashem Adonai! Blessed be the Name of the Lord.  Are these your symptoms of a Happy Thanksgiving?  If so, then every day will be a day to celebrate Thanksgiving. ~dho

Hallelujah! Give Thanks to GOD

                           Psalm 111
Hallelujah! I give thanks to GOD with everything I've got--
Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation.

GOD's works are so great, worth
A lifetime of study--endless enjoyment!

Splendor and beauty mark his craft;
His generosity never gives out.

His miracles are his memorial--
This GOD of Grace, this GOD of Love.

He gave food to those who fear him,
He remembered to keep his ancient promise.

He proved to his people that he could do what he said:
Hand them the nations on a platter--a gift!


He manufactures truth and justice;
All his products are guaranteed to last--

Never out--of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.
All that he makes and does is honest and true:


He paid the ransom for his people,
He ordered his Covenant kept forever.
He's so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.


The good life begins in the fear of GOD-
Do that and you'll know the blessing of GOD.
His Hallelujah lasts forever!

The Message

In The Desert

[God] found him out in the wilderness in an empty, windswept wasteland.  He threw His arms around him, lavished attention on him, guarding him as the apple of His eye."
Deuteronomy 32:10 The Message

God always knows where His children are, where we rest, where we run.  God knows when we strive, when we struggle.  He hears us when we sing and when we shout.  On the mountain or in the valley, in the forest or in the desert, God knows where we are and what we need.  He is both Protector and Provider.

Holy Lord of all,
Let me feel Your loving arms around me; help me know Your Unfailing Love.  Amen. ~dho

New Clothes

Consider these words from Colossians, chapter 3 from The Message:

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it.  Pursue the things over which Christ presides.  Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed in the things right in front of you.  Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ . . . See things from His perspective.

            Your old life is dead . . . your real life . . . is with Christ in God.  He is your life . . . [so] be content with obscurity, like Christ.

And that means killing off everything connected with [the old life] . . . a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. 

You’re done with that old life.  It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes . . . Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe.  Every item in your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with His label on it.  All the old fashions are now obsolete . . . From now on everyone is defined in Christ.

            So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you:  compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.  Be even tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. . .

            And regardless of what else you put on, wear love.  It’s your basic, all-purpose garment.  Never be without it. .  . let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other . . . Let the Word of Christ – The Message – have the run of the house.  Give it plenty of room in your lives . . . And sing, sing your hearts out to God!  Let every detail in your life – words, actions, whatever – be done in the name of Jesus, thanking God . . . every step of the way.        from Colossians 3 (The Message)

Adonai ~

You are Lord; You are Father and Son and Holy Spirit, Creator and Redeemer and Counselor.  You are above us and below us, to our left and to our right, before us and behind us. You surround us with abundant blessings, and we are humbled by such generous gifts.  You are in everything and everything comes from You.

 You see our hearts and our motivations, see all that we conceal from the world.  You know our selfish ambitions, our pretentious vanities, our deceitful words.  You hold our deepest fears, our greatest disappointments, our darkest thoughts.  Behind our masks, we struggle with loneliness.  Beside our idols, we long for more. Beneath our veiled hearts, we cry out loud.  And You?  In exchange for what we bring, You offer real forgiveness, real love, real life.  You are Grace and everything happens through You.

You choose us for real life, a life defined in Christ.  You reform our minds, renew our hearts, refresh our spirits.  Taking holy threads of faith and hope and love, You weave a robe of righteousness adorned with purity and holiness.  You wrap us in this exquisite tapestry, every detail shouts of Your majesty.  You are Perfect Love and everything ends up in You.    

We come before this altar with servant hearts.  Solitude surrounds us. Prayers rise to You, our Adonai ~ prayers of hope and possibility, prayers of thanksgiving and songs of praise.  You are in every detail!  Defined in Christ, our souls are made new, for one purpose, for Your Glory!  You are the Central Force that draws our hearts together, for one purpose, for Your Glory!   Let everything ~ everything ~ speak of Your Glory!  In the name of Jesus, the Beloved, Amen.    ~dho

Shalom

The Hebrew word shalom means "completeness, peace, ease" according to Strong's Dictionary.  In Psalm 29:11 we read:

The Lord will give strength to His people;

The Lord will bless His people with peace.

This peace is shalom; it is completeness that is found only in God.  In the midst of storms and difficulties, the tendency is to doubt and waiver, despair and wonder if God is really there, if God is near.  Throughout Scripture we are told that our strength is from God.  In Nehemiah 8:10 we read "the joy of the Lord is your strength."  In God we find the peace, the ease our spirits seek.  Madeleine L'Engle's words point out that peace is not freedom from pain but quiet endurance.  Made in God's image, He desires to reside in each of us.  His Presence is our peace.  Shalom. ~dho

Peace is not placidity:  peace is

The power to endure the megatron of pain

With joy, the silent thunder of release,

The ordering of Love.  Peace is the atom's start,

The primal image:

God within the heart.  ~Madeleine L'Engle

Infused by Grace

some words from William Wordsworth:

"And I have felt
A presence that distrubs me with a joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns."

These words from 1 Thessalonians 3, verses 11-13 in The Message, express the soul's knowing of the Presence of God, of His strength and grace infused through the lives of those who share Christ and into the lives of others:

May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus . . . pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, . . . May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God . . .

Praying that each of you recognizes the presence of the Light that infuses the soul! ~dho