Psalm 100 Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 100
A Psalm of praise.
1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness:
come before his presence with singing.
3 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.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Just a few small, exceedingly simple, uncomplicated commands …
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.
Serve the Lord with Gladness.
Come before His Presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord He is God.
Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving.
Enter into His Courts with Praise.
Be thankful unto Him.
Bless His Name.
WHY?
it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.
Do we need anymore a better reason to ….
Not just today because it is Thanksgiving and we get to get together with our families and friends, with our church communities; go into the streets, into the homeless shelters serve those who have little to nothing in God’s Kingdom with an abundance of food, clothing, shelter, donated from our own abundance, to sit with them, eat with them, drink with them, talk with them, share a feast of plenty GOD fit for egregious sinners like us, perhaps even watch some football or some other favorite sport, or plan for a calm wild black Friday shopping blitz.
To just read and share the Word of God …
To have some time of personal and group reflection … why do I say “Thanks be to God” anyway? followed by a blessed opportunity to pray with high gratitude!
To sing with whatever great cacophony of noise our thankful hearts can muster;
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One;
give thanks, because he’s given
Jesus Christ, his Son.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One;
give thanks, because he’s given
Jesus Christ, his Son.
And now let the weak say ‘I am strong’,
let the poor say ‘I am rich’,
because of what the Lord has done for us;
and now let the weak say ‘I am strong’,
let the poor say ‘I am rich’,
because of what the Lord has done for us.
Give thanks…
Author
Henry Smith *© Copyright 1978 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music
A Call to Thanksgiving
Psalm 100 Easy-to-Read Version
A song of thanks.
100 Earth, sing to the Lord!
2 Be happy as you serve the Lord!
Come before him with happy songs!
3 Know that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we belong to him.
We are his people, the sheep he takes care of.
4 Come through the gates to his Temple giving thanks to him.
Enter his courtyards with songs of praise.
Honor him and bless his name.
5 The Lord is good!
There is no end to his faithful love.
We can trust him forever and ever!
Find it from some place deep in your soul to Sing … Thanks Be to God …
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! … Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Leave ‘somber’ behind…place God at the center, the forefront of your thoughts.
What do we have to lose but … sadness, tears, grief, anger, misery, loneliness?
What do we have to gain?
1 Corinthians 13 Easy-to-Read Version
Let Love Be Your Guide
13 I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don’t have love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. 2 I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing. 3 I may give away everything I have to help others, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing by doing all this if I don’t have love.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6 Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.
8 Love will never end. But all those gifts will come to an end—even the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, and the gift of knowledge. 9 These will all end because this knowledge and these prophecies we have are not complete. 10 But when perfection comes, the things that are not complete will end.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, and I made plans like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. 12 It is the same with us. Now we see God as if we are looking at a reflection in a mirror. But then, in the future, we will see him right before our eyes. Now I know only a part, but at that time I will know fully, as God has known me. 13 So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.
Loving one another isn’t a simple one to five minute matter of warm, fuzzy feelings and weak knees and pounding hearts. It’s a matter of doing the right thing because that’s what Jesus would do and did. Sometimes it can even bring unpleasant results for us. Hardcore loving often calls for doing the unexpected.
As followers of Jesus, we know that love is not something we can just opt to do or not do. It’s a command from our Master, whose life showed us how to love.
If we’re ever asked why we are showing love, we can answer, “Because we’re disciples of someone who loves us. We do it for Jesus’ sake.”
What’s more, we can show love only by the power of Holy Spirit working in us.
Then we’re able, like the twelve apostles, to witness, testify to, we’re serving Christ by loving the people we interact with and serve (Matthew 14:13-21).
Loving “one another” is often challenging.
It may call us to love the strong-willed child or an aging parent or spouse angry with dementia.
At home or church it may involve loving someone who is always negative and critical.
At work it may be the coworker claiming to be indispensable while barely doing their job.
It may mean foregoing a new coat so that someone else can have one.
The “other” in our lives could be someone we don’t even know but who comes to love Jesus because of something we did.
To whom will you show gratitude and thankfulness of Jesus’ love today?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 16 Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 16
Michtam of David.
1 Preserve me, O God:
for in thee do I put my trust.
2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord,
Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;
3 but to the saints that are in the earth,
and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god:
their drink offerings of blood will I not offer,
nor take up their names into my lips.
5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:
thou maintainest my lot.
6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places;
yea, I have a goodly heritage.
7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel:
my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me:
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life:
in thy presence is fulness of joy;
at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 