Thursday, November 26, 2020

What is Biblical about Thanksgiving?


Today in the United States is Thanksgiving, an annual celebration officially recognized by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. It is on this day that Americans traditionally join together and celebrate the heritage of one of the first people who colonized this land. These people were known as the Pilgrims.

The Pilgrims were a group of devout Christians who left Europe to worship God in accordance with His word, rather than by the rules of European governments. The Pilgrims wrote a compact to England stating they undertook their journey from Europe to an uncolonized America, "for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith and honour of [their] King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia."After an awful time crossing the Atlantic Ocean where many Pilgrims passed away due to illness, the Pilgrims landed in Massachusets. They would have likely not survived, but thanks to God's providence, they met the native American Samoset who would introduce them to a man named Squanto.
A depiction of Squanto
When Squanto was young, he was captured by Spanish slavers. He was brought by the Spanish from America to Europe, and was sold as a slave. This would not be Squanto's final fate, though. As God would have it, Squanto was bought and set free by a group of Christian monks. According to historians, Squanto learned the reason behind his being set free was the monks' love for Jesus, the man of God who sets every captive free (Luke 4:18). Squanto embraced the Christian faith from the monks, and became a devout follower of Christ. Later in Squanto's life, after years of working as a guide for sailors on the ocean, Squanto made it back home to his village. Tragically, though, everyone in Squanto's home village had recently been wiped out by a plague that likely originated from other European explorers. It is probable that Squanto's anger towards the Europeans, for bringing the plague that wiped out his village, is why he did not greet the Pilgrims when they arrived a year or so later. He hid from them in fear, but his friend Samoset introduced the Pilgrims to him, assuring Squanto that these Europeans were much different from previous Europeans and were in need of help. By the grace of God, Squanto and some otehr native Americans came to unite with the Pilgrims, and they worked together in the love of Christ to create and run a small village.

The Pilgrims, Squanto and the other native Americans endured a harsh first year together. The winter, to be brief, was brutal and many people died. When the air got warmer, the weather nicer and the grounds more fertile, the Pilgrims and the Native Americans sewed seeds that reaped an abundant harvest. In the autumn of 1621 all of the Pilgrims and the native Americans with them had a grand harvest feast, and they likely invited other neighboring people to join with them in their feast. It is not known or recorded what the Pilgrims and native Americans prayed at this feast, as their prayers were spontaneous. A typical prayer the Pilgrims may have prayed could have been similar to this one (written in its original English):

O Lord our God and heavenly Father, which of Thy unspeakable mercy towards us, hast provided meate and drinke for the nourishment of our weake bodies. Grant us peace to use them reverently, as from Thy hands, with thankful hearts: let Thy blessing rest upon these Thy good creatures, to our comfort and sustentation: and grant we humbly beseech Thee, good Lord, that as we doe hunger and thirst for this food of our bodies, so our soules may earnestly long after the food of eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
George Webb, "Short direction for the daily exercise of the Christian,"
London 1625. Courtesy of Plimoth Plantation
A depiction of the Pilgrim's prayer at the harvest feast
It may seem natural reading that the Pilgrims gave thanks for their lives, but upon reading about their lives it should seem prepostorous, certainly to an unbeliever, that the Pilgrims should be thankful for anything. They were under religous supression in Europe, they endured terrible travel conditions that cost many their lives, and they barely survived an awful first winter. Still, in the midst of this, the Pilgrims remained faithful to the LORD, and He was watching over them. They would have surely failed to settle down in America without God, but He made it so that Squanto would suffer as a slave for a time, so that he could be set free by Christians, become a devout believer, return home to America and help the Pilgrims survive their first year as colonists. Only God in His sovereignty could orchestrate this perfect chain of events, and it is these divine chains of events that we as believers refer to as providence. 

We, as Christians, have a lot for which to be thankful. It is not because of all the stuff we have or our life situations. It is because we, as believers, know we are in God's hands. God is sovereign, which means He has control over everything that happens, and He does what pleases Him (Psalm 115:3). We may not always understand why God does what He does, but we know that God is good and His good will shall be done. Sometimes that means having to suffer, such as how the Pilgrims were inflicted with illness or how Squanto was sold into slavery. Still, amidst this suffering, God's will is being done. As Joseph remaked to his brothers who sold him into slavery only for Joseph to become the leader of Egypt, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Genesis 50:20). Many times God uses terrible situations to bring about His goodness and prosperity. Such is why all the words of Psalm 100 offer thanksgiving to God:

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before Him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is He who made us, and we are His;
    we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving
    and His courts with praise;
    give thanks to Him and praise His name.
5 For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
    His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Give thanks to God for He is good (Psalm 107:1a), remembering on this day that it is by God's goodness and sovereignty that the Pilgrims as well as all of us who are in Christ are able to live with hearts of abundance and thanksgiving. It is not that we, as Christians, are thankful for the things we have, but rather that we are thankful for the God of all creation who has given us everything we have. It is with this belief, that our faith fills us with thanksgiving. So, it was written of the Pilgrims may it also be written of us as believers, "And thus they found the Lord to be with them in all their ways, and to bless their outgoings and incomings, for which let His holy name have the praise forever, to all posterity." (William Bradford).

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Thursday, November 19, 2020

Psalm 145:18 (Talk with God)

Psalm 145:18
The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
to all who call on Him in truth.

Hello. How are you doing this week? Has it been rough for you? Have you been enjoying yourself and your time? Is there anything new happening in your life, or do you feel you're stuck in the same old same old? Have you been feeling lonely lately; like you have no one with whom you can talk? I've been feeling that way alittle bit. I've got alot of things on my mind, but sometimes I don't feel like I can tell them to anyone. Sometimes I feel like I have no one with whom I can talk.

God knows how important talking and being together is for human beings. At the beginning of creation God looked at the first man and said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him," and so God made man a female companion with whom man could talk and share his life (Genesis 2:18). God then created the covenant of marriage, so that a man and a woman could deeply share their life together, and have children who could also spend time with them. God designed human-kind to be social beings who talk and commune with each other.

Sometimes, though, I don't want to talk with other people, or maybe I want to talk with someone about something very specific, but there is no one I know who would care about it. What do I do then?

The Bible says I can talk with God. The way people can talk with God is by praying. God promised those who believe in Him, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3). It's great to know that when we call on God in faith God will answer. The psalmist wrote, "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth" (Psalm 145:18). When we, as believers, talk with God in prayer, we are taking our words and requests directly to God's throne room. We, as believers, are in Christ, so "let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrew 4:16). We have this confidence that God hears us, unlike those who do not believe. One of Jesus' followers once said, "We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the Godly person who does His will" (John 9:31). It is written, "The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry" (Psalm 34:15). Therefore "let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22).

Talk with God, because He cares for you. He has kept count of all your tossings and turnings, put your tears in a bottle, and written all of your sorrows down in His records (Psalm 56:8). He is the God of all mercy and comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). Go to Him, when you feel needy and alone. He says to His children, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7). When you talk with God, you do not have to worry about what you will say, or how you will say it. You do not have to "keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him" (Matthew 6:7-8).

When you talk with God, know that talking with God is not a one way conversation. He desires to tell you so much about Him. The word of God says that the sky and everything in it declares God's glory, and even though no sound is heard from the sky, its voice goes out to all the world (Psalm 19:1-4). The beauty and wonder of creation speaks to you on God's behalf every day and every night. God, Himself, speaks to you through the Bible. In the past God spoke to His children in many ways, but in these times He speaks to us through the preserved words of His son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). Talk with God. Go to Him, and listen to what He says to you.
Pastor Justin Peters once said this Biblically sound quote:

Sources

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Is There No Place for Hate? (Are Christians All Love and No Hate?)

You may have heard that the biggest conflict in all of human history has been an ongoing war between love and hate. This story is a pretty simple one that has been perpetuated through popular media. The question is: Is this story true? Some in the modern U.S. political climate believe so, as shown through various yard signs that have been put up across the country. On these yard signs is typically written, "Hate has no home here". The Question is: Does hate really have no home in a Christian house?
A Common yard sign that features
the "Hate has no home here" phrase
Most people would say that Jesus teached His followers to love their enemies, and He did, along with telling His followers to pray for their enemies (Luke 6:27-28). Jesus calls His followers to do this, so that they may be children of their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:45a). Jesus says that even God "causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous," showing that God has love for both His followers and His enemies (Matthew 5:45b). In addition to this, Jesus on the night before He was arrested tells His disciples, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).

Christians have clearly been called by God to love one another. If love and hate are diametrically opposed forces, as culture tends to show, then it should not be possible for loving Christian households to have any room for hate. This seems like a logical conclusion.

Not so fast. The Bible has more to say, and what the Bible says is always better than what our culture says.

God does not just call His followers to love, but He also calls them to hate. Jesus Himself told His followers, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). Here God is stating that the cost to follow Jesus is to hate anyone who keeps you from serving Him (whether it be your spouse, family or even your own life). God calling His followers to hate others seems like it diminishes the purity of His call to love one another, but in reality our love cannot be sincere, if we as Christians do not hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). Hating anything sounds terrible in light of some worldly ideas, but Christians are not called to love what the world loves. On the contrary, it is written, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them" (1 John 2:15).


Not only are Christians commanded to hate what is evil, but God sets an example for this hatred. God loves righteousness and hate wickedness (Psalm 45:7a). God says, "I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them" (Isaiah 61:8). Those who do what God loves will be rewarded, and those who do what God hates will be under His judgement. This is why it is written, "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). These are all sinful practices that the Lord hates, and anyone who habitually practices "what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work" (1 John 3:8). Yes, one reason Jesus came to earth was out of hatred for the devil, and one day God will cast the devil into an eternal punishment that He has prepared for him (Matthew 25:41). This is how our God hates what is evil.

Christians should follow God's example. A wise follower of God wrote, "To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech" (Proverbs 8:13).  It is also written, "The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked make themselves a stench and bring shame on themselves" (Proverbs 13:5). From this verse the real ongoing battle throughout history has not been between love and hate, but is between those who love evil and those who hate it. It is so that everyone has love and hate in them, but only those who follow God can love and hate the right way.

Living in hatred, though, is a detestable thing. The tempation for a Christian to fall into sinful hatred is strong, and it is a daily struggle for a Christian to hate evil without sinning in that hatred. One Biblical writer strugglining with their hatred of God's enemies wrote this in Psalm 139:19-24:

19 If only You, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of You with evil intent;
    Your adversaries misuse Your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against You?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

We, as believers, must ask God to search our hearts in the same way this Psalmist did. We must hate what is evil, but we must keep away from sinning in that hatred. It is written, "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold" of your life (Ephesians 4:26-27). Love well and hate well, but do not become bitter or "anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). If we pray for our enemies and cast those prays and burdens on God, then He will sustain us (Psalm 55:22). Yes, there is a place for hate in a Christian home, but that hate must be kept in line with God's word.
Remember, serving God means loving
what He loves and hating what He hates

Sources