Everywhere, Everywhere, Thanksgiving Today

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise:  be thankful unto Him, and bless His name   For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting:  and His truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100 (KJV).

At Thanksgiving and other important observances, how we were “brought up” (reared) makes a difference in how we ourselves lead our own families, when we establish them, to observe important days.  I like to think that “Everywhere, Everywhere, Thanksgiving Today” when people remember the Lord’s goodness and raise sincere thanks to God from whom all blessings flow.  I pray that you will lead your own family to make the day one of sincere searching to name and thank God for recognized blessings.  For without Him and His ever-giving, ever-benevolent grace, we can do nothing.  Today, I give grateful testimony to the grace and leadership of God and blessings so numerous I cannot name them all.  But here are some major ones I recognize and am truly grateful for.

I am thankful for God’s Word that is steadfast and sure and provides light and guidance for my life.  I quoted Psalm 100 in the King James Version, for that is the only version we used when I was a child and memorized this stately psalm when I was a child of seven.  I was encouraged at home, at Choestoe Church and at Choestoe School (yes, it was a public school) to memorize scripture.  And Psalm 100 was in that early repertoire of memorized passages.  My teacher at school, Mrs. Mert Collins (I remember her with love and gratitude, for she was my school teacher and my Sunday School teacher in those formative years) made a chart with our names and gave us a star when we could successfully quote to her a passage selected for memorization.  She helped me more than I could ever know then, for throughout my subsequent life Psalm 100 and other passages she led me to memorize have come to mind for inspiration and guidance from then until now.  This passage is part of what I term my “life verses.”  I thank God for His Word that remains forever “a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).  I am thankful for His Word that led me to salvation in the Lord Jesus!

I am thankful for family .  I grew up in a hard-working Christian farm family.  We had my mother for such a short time.  When I was fourteen, she passed away from heart difficulties.  In a later time, modern medical science might have prolonged her life, but in the country and in the mid-1940’s, neither facilities nor medical help was available to us.  I was greatly bereaved and extremely distressed, but even at her funeral, I determined to seek to be the sort of woman our pastor talked about my mother being, using those wonderful verses from Proverbs 31:10-31 to pay her tribute. To summarize, I was able then to assume duties in my family that were far beyond a normal fourteen-year old’s responsibilities.  At the same time I had to grow up quickly, the Lord became my daily companion and encourager.  Hardships were many but strength was always available.  If we can thank God even for adversity, we can learn to grow thereby and learn “in all things” to give thanks.  God granted me a wonderful Christian family, a godly husband, and children who early-on became Christians and sought the Lord’s way for their lives.  From my parents, to their children, to my own family and to their children and grandchildren—from generation to generation—God has been our Guide and Stay.  And my heart wells up with gratitude.

Prayer thoughts:  “Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your many blessings see what God has done.” (from “Count Your Blessings,” words by Johnson Oatman, Jr (1856-1922).  And in the words of a modern hymn written by Terry W. York for Genevox Music Group, “Thanksgiving/Thanks-living” we read:  “He gives us freedom from our fears; food, friends, and purpose thro’ the years.  All the words of our Thanksgiving fail to say what we can show by our Thanks-living.”  Lord, thank You. I want to live in gratitude!

“Yahwe Rohi”—The Lord My Shepherd

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” –Psalm 23:1.  “I am the good Shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me.  Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15 (ESV).

The great I am is the Shepherd of the sheep.  In John 10, Jesus uses an illustration the Jews were familiar with to show His relationship to people who heard His voice and followed Him.  He declared, in this context, “I am the good Shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me.”.The Lord as Shepherd is a common motif in Old Testament teachings.  The Jews who heard Jesus would be familiar with this designation of God the Father.  And in John 10 Jesus revealed that because of His special relationship with the Father, He, too, is the Good Shepherd who stands at the door of the sheepfold and knows his flock, accounting for each one.  In verses 16 and 17 of John 10, Jesus tells how He has sheep “not of this flock.”  To whom does He refer?  He indicates that the message of the Good Shepherd for all to come into the safety of the sheepfold is not just for the “regular” flock (which would mean the called, chosen nation of Israel), but  includes others “not of this fold”—or the Gentiles who would hear and respond to the gospel message and be drawn into the fold.  Jesus was including us—for we are “Gentiles,” and thankfully His flock because we have entered the fold by means of the Door who is Jesus Himself.

God as Shepherd is used in the Old Testament in other places other than in that great Shepherd hymn, Psalm 23.  In Genesis 48:15-16, Jacob (now called Israel) was in Egypt seeing Joseph, his son, and his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and blessing them.  He said:  “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth”  Other Psalms express the idea of God as shepherd.  Another, attributed to David as is Psalm 23, is Psalm 28.  The prayer in verses 8-9 reads:  “The Lord is the strength of His people; He is the saving refuge of His anointed.  Oh, save Your people and bless Your heritage!  Be their Shepherd and carry them forever.”  The song in Psalm 80 attributed to “Asaph” (perhaps a choirmaster in Temple worship) pleads:  “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock…stir up Your might and come to save us.  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!” (verses 1, 2b, 3).  And Psalm 95:7 declares:  “For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”Psalm 100:3 reinforces the belief of God as our shepherd:  “Know that the Lord, He is God!  It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”  The idea of the Lord as Shepherd culminates in that wonderful reward that awaits all the faithful in heaven as expressed in Revelation 7:17:  “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away ever tear from their eyes.”

Do you sometimes feel alone, perplexed, unsure of the way to go, troubled?  Just quietly go apart, or even as you lie sleepless on your bed at night, and quote to yourself the reassuring message of Psalm 23.  Know assuredly in your heart  that  “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

We Are His Sheep

“Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”-Psalm 100:3 (ESV). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” –Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) “To Him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him , for they know His voice.” –John 10:3-4 (ESV). "My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” –John 10: 27-28 (ESV).

Jesus called us His sheep. He told us He himself is the Shepherd of the sheep. How are we to understand and accept these concepts? First of all, we need to rid ourselves of some non-constructive ideas about sheep. We think of sheep as not having much intelligence, of being dumb animals. They can’t easily find their own food but must be led to green pastures by the shepherd. When lost, they cannot find their way home without help. They are subject to many predators and can hardly defend themselves. Overall, is it a compliment, then, to be called a sheep?

We must realize that some of the negative characteristics of sheep can also be turned to a positive as it relates to the symbolic relationship of the Christian and the Lord—or sheep and their Shepherd. Since sheep are helpless animals, they learn to depend on the shepherd for their needs. And a good shepherd will look to the needs of his flock, day and night. When we think about it, we are as lost sheep wandering in the wilderness of life. We are clueless and helpless without the Shepherd’s voice and guidance. “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me” so we learn in Psalm 23:4b.

When I was a child, I was around sheep and learned to know their nature. Each morning the weather was clement enough, my job was to take the sheep from the sheepfold where they were sheltered along the pathway out to the pasture where they were to graze during the daytime. I can still hear their bleats as they followed me. I didn’t drive them like I did the cows, that could find their pasture with my walking behind. But the sheep needed me to go ahead, to lead the way. Oftentimes during the day, when I was not in school, my task was to go check on the sheep to see if they had made it to water, and had found a greener spot to graze farther along. They were not good at finding their own sustenance, water or shade. When I went for them in the evenings, they seemed glad to see me and to follow me to their fold. Those sheep had a complete trust in me and other members of my household who took care of them. They depended on us and rallied when they heard our voice. Just such a trust is expected in the relationship Christ has with us. We can rely on Him for what we need. Because we go astray like sheep, the Lord rescues us. Because we hunger like sheep, the Lord feeds us from His Word. But the most important aspect of the relationship in Shepherd to sheep is that He knows each one of us by name and He provides a haven, a place of rest—both in this world and the next. We don’t have to worry about sheepfold, provision, or protection when we are under the Shepherd’s care. Take time to consider the beauty and solace of sheep/Shepherd relationship. Thank Him that you are His sheep safely in His pasture.