Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from all of us here at A Rood Awakening International!
Thanksgiving is a great celebration. It really is. But of course, the whole point of the celebration is to focus our minds and our hearts on those things that we are most thankful for, those things that we’re most grateful for.
We need to cultivate an attitude of gratitude in our daily lives; we should focus on it every single day of the year, 24/7/365. That’s something we should be focusing on 24, seven, 365 days out of the year. If you want to have a fantastic life, be grateful. Have that attitude of gratitude. Live in constant thanksgiving to YeHoVaH God and the outpouring of his love, his mercy, his blessings upon you.
Gratitude opens the door to a wonderful life, a fulfilling life, and being ungrateful is guaranteed to lead you down a path of absolute misery and despair.
It is impossible to count out all of the things to be thankful for, but I thought that I would at least try. Number one, I am thankful for my Father in heaven. I am thankful that I get to be in relationship with the Almighty Creator, and that He loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. It’s mind-blowing.
Secondly, I’m thankful for His written Word and for his beloved Son Yeshua the Messiah, the Living Word — that living embodiment of the Torah to show us what living Torah looks like! He is the good Shepherd. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And He shows us what the way looks like.
Thirdly, going along with that living word, I am so thankful for the sacrifice of my Lord Yeshua. I am so thankful for the broken body in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. I am thankful that He transferred my record of debt, my sin (and yours) upon himself, died, and resurrected three days later to conquer evil once and for all!
Another thing that I am so thankful for is family, especially my two beautiful girls. The Psalms tell us that children are a gift from YeHoVaH; if you are a parent, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Being a parent gives us a glimpse of the love that our Father in heaven has for us.
I’m also grateful that YeHoVaH brought me out of man-made religion. I’m a seventh-generation Mormon so I’m grateful that the truth is powerful enough to break through those chains and bring me into ministry to teach and to preach the Almighty’s Word and get that truth out into the world, to help others do the same.
That brings to mind something that happened just recently. I was asked to immerse (aka baptize) a brother and sister in Christ, a husband and wife, who were born and raised in Mormonism as I was. They came out recently from the lies of Mormonism, and they requested that I immerse them. It was an amazing experience and I am so very thankful for that.
Paul, to the Philippians in chapter 4 says, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (verses 12-13)
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year but we need to be filled with that spirit of gratitude no matter what our circumstances may be, even to the point of homelessness — and I do know what homelessness is! I was homeless for 11 months. Maybe you know what that feels like; but regardless of our circumstances, we need to be grateful.
Your heavenly Father loves you. He’s there for you, and he can fill you with that grace, that empowerment you need to get through any circumstance. Give Him thanks for everything and He will see you through it. Shalom.
