His Enemies Have Scattered

Psalm 68:1-10 KJV; 7th Sunday of Easter; The enemies of God continue to fight a war that was already one by Jesus on the cross.

Feast Of The Ingathering

Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. (Deut 16:13-14 KJV)

Thanksgiving is a day specifically set aside to give thanks for the bountiful blessings that we have received. Contrary to popular opinion days of thanksgiving have been set aside in the fall for thousands of years by various cultures and religions. A day of thanksgiving is celebrated in many countries throughout the world. In the United States the date of celebration has changed a few times. Originally it was thought to be celebrated in October or possibly late September as the earliest settlers celebrated it as a way to give thanks to God for the ingathering of their crops. This tradition for Christians originated from God's command to his people through Moses to observe the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of the Ingathering.

The tradition of giving thanks for the gathering of the fall harvest has lasted through many generations in many forms. Christians are not the only ones who set aside a day of thanks. The Jewish community continues to celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles. Pagans, druids, witches and many others celebrated (some still do) some sort of day of thanksgiving in the fall for the blessings they have received over the year. 

Today families and communities all over the United States will gather together to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. Unfortunately, there will be many who will celebrate alone. Families have scattered around the country and the world. Gatherings in some states have been limited to ten or less people due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

Most of us do not have an ingathering today. We do not farm. We do not even have small gardens. Yet, we can give thanks to God for the farmers and the truckers and for all who ensure that we have food to eat. We can give thanks for family, for friends, for the church and especially for the gift of his Son our Savior. Although many will be alone today for this day of thanksgiving we can look with hope to the day that we will rejoice and celebrate with the whole family of God.

And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

                                                                                      (Isaiah 25:6-9)

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: 

The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 

                                                                                         (Num 6:24-26)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Just Stop Doing Wrong!

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Isa 1:16-17 NIV

I just finished reading a bit of news on the internet as I do every morning. There were some articles that I chose not to read because the headlines pointed to some pretty gruesome and despicable conduct. I get tired. I imagine much of the world gets tired of reading and hearing about the evil that is done. Some of the evil is so bold and in your face that it is nauseating.

Other evil deeds are more behind the scenes and are often looked at as lesser evils or maybe not even evil at all. What is evil is sometimes called good. This lesser evil can have an even more far reaching effect on the world than some of the seemingly worst atrocities because this type of evil has become generally accepted in society as something that we just need to learn to live with. It is often justified with the excuse that someone was exercising their personal rights without considering that someone else's personal rights just got trampled on. Just because one thinks that the damage they do to others is not as horrible as what others do does not make it right.  

Other evil deeds are perpetuated daily by a world that has forgotten what evil is. Sin abounds. The Lord's name is taken in vain. People curse one another and act like their words are said in jest. The filth that is seen on television makes it appear that these words and activities are actually good things. The list goes on. Do we really think that the youngest people who see and hear this evil can discern what it good and what is evil unless someone teaches them? And, who can teach them if we ourselves no longer know?

Evil is evil. Sin is sin and when we say that sin is no longer sin it changes the world's perception of what is right and what is wrong and wrong gets perpetuated and approved at an even more alarming rate. There is way too much evil in the world. Let us focus on doing what is good and right.

Create in us clean hearts, O God, And renew steadfast spirits within us. (Psalm 51:10)

God's Peace - Pr. J