The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

I was looking up the national holidays that are celebrated on November 28th. Are you ready for a smile?

Today is National Alan Day. We are encouraged to celebrate the Alans or Allens in our lives!
Today is Red Planet Day. We are encouraged to learn all that we can about the planet Mars.
Today is National French Toast Day.

How and from where do these holidays originate?

There was one more that kind of caught my eye. Tuesday November 28th is the National Day of Giving. It’s called GIVING TUESDAY and is celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Now that’s a good celebration!

We certainly do give first and foremost to the Lord Jesus through our local churches (2 Corinthians 8 and 9). We do give to worthy ministries and missionaries (Philippians 4:15-17). We do give to those who truly need our help (Acts 6:1; James 1:27). There may be opportunities to give not only of our funds, but with our time and talents as well.

Take a couple of verses with you that speak about giving.

“Therefore I will give thanks unto Thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto Thy name” (Psalm 18:49).

“Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:1-2).

“Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness” (Psalm 30:4).

Have all your Thanksgiving visitors gone home? All the turkey sandwiches eaten and does your home seem rather quiet just now? Or is it the opposite for you? Are you in overdrive getting ready for Christmas and you hardly can catch your breath?

Whatever the case might be for you, think of this verse with me today.

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Giving thanks is easy when everything is going the way that I want it to go. The Apostle Paul speaks to us about the absolute importance of staying thankful in every kind of situation. Regardless of what is happening around us, we can be thankful that our God is sovereign and in control. We can be thankful that our God is good. He’s good all the time. We can be thankful that our God is working out His plan. We can be thankful that we have His Word, the privilege of prayer, and the fellowship of God’s people. There are dozens of additional things for which we can be thankful.

Not just once a year. The national holiday of Thanksgiving might be over. However, our attitude of gratitude continues daily. What a great privilege and challenge as well.

I am thinking of a word. See if you can guess it.

Some synonyms are alien, different, strange, outlandish and unknown.

I have a feeling you’ve guessed correctly. I am thinking of the word “foreign”! It literally means “from another country or strange.” Let me share the verse and then a couple of thoughts about this word.

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Think of it. An ambassador represents his or her country and goes to a field far from home where the culture, customs, and practices may indeed seem very strange. One of the biggest challenges for any overseas ambassador is this sense of being a foreigner. Often everything around the ambassador seems strange. The thinking process, the ways of the culture, even just the simple day-by-day ways of doing things are so different.

Friends, as the culture of this world plunges deeper and deeper into the darkness of animosity toward our Lord and rejection of common-sense morality, we need to stay focused. Our stay is limited but our message is true, and our Homeland is Heaven. We get to represent our Lord everywhere we go in this very foreign and sometimes hostile culture.

To all my fellow ambassadors,

Be wise.

Be careful.

Be focused.

Be rejoicing in the One you get to represent today!

I will never forget that moment.

Yep! I cried.

It would be the first Thanksgiving gathering in our home that was new to us. This took place several decades ago when we moved to Elyria, Ohio! The family arrived at staggered times depending on how early they could begin their journey and how far they had to come. Soon our new home would be bursting with the sounds of family arriving, greeting one another and enjoying being together.

Then it happened. One of my daughters said, “Oh it is so good to be home!” Immediately one of her young children said, “Why do you call this place ‘home’ if you never lived here with grandma and grandpa?” Her mom’s answer hit the target.

She replied, “Because this is where my mom and dad live. Wherever they are is home to me.”

Wow!

It made me think, “That’s just what Heaven will be, only perfect. Heaven will be Home because that is where my precious Savior is and that is where my Heavenly Father is. That’s what makes Heaven so special to me. Yes, of course, I can’t wait to see my loved ones and be reunited with them. I can’t wait to meet the saints of the ages and worship with them. I can’t wait to see the angels and the sights and sounds of Heaven.

But being wherever the Lord Jesus is and with our Heavenly Father is what makes it Home. Think of what the Lord Jesus said,

“In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3).

“So shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:17b-18).

So regardless of whether you are alone just now and it is very quiet or you might be surrounded by many faces, keep looking forward to your Home, where the Lord Jesus is!

Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever (Psalm 118:28-29).

What a grand statement of assurance it is to be able to say, “You are my God!”

This changes the way one faces life with all of its joys as well as all of its heartaches. When we come to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we begin the blessed journey of remembering and understanding every day that He is our God. Regardless of how the circumstances may appear, God is always good.

Therefore, He is to be exalted, and my thanksgiving is to come before Him. I am so grateful that He understands my ways. He understands my hurts and my frustrations. In the midst of the deepest times of anguish and the happiest days that one could ever experience, He is God.

It is a wonderful joy to be able to say, “He is my God!”

May I ask you this quick question? Do you have this wonderful assurance that He is your God?