An Attitude of Gratitude

History of Thanksgiving The Pilgrims first had Thanksgiving on November 29 th with the Indians in a three-day feast in 1621 the year after landing at Plymouth Rock in The Pilgrims left England and then Holland to escape religious persecution and to start anew in a land of religious freedom The Voyage on the Mayflower covered over 3,000 miles The Pilgrims received a land patent from the Virginia Land Company in England with hopes of establishing a colony where they can practice their own religion

History of Thanksgiving In 1620 the Pilgrim settlers formed an agreement between themselves and God in the Mayflower Compact – “Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia…”

History of Thanksgiving George Washington recommends a public day of Thanksgiving on Oct 3, 1789 “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me ‘to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.….’ ”

History of Thanksgiving On May 12, 1862 in the early stages of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday on the 4th Thursday of November

How Thanksgiving Can Change Our Attitude Mind - Intellect Emotions Will - Volition A thought enters the human mind that tells us to be ungrateful

The Human Soul Mind - Intellect Emotions Will - Volition Instead of sinning, “rather (focus on) giving of thanks” (Eph. 5:4); Giving thanks stops pride, envy, jealousy, etc. and pervades our soul, spirit and body! “All these evil things (mental attitude sins) come from within, and defile (make unclean and sinful) the man. (Mark 7:23)

An Attitude of Gratitude We are commanded to be thankful An attitude of gratitude will help you replace many of these mental attitude sins such as pride, envy, jealousy, etc. If you are thankful, then you don’t have time to worry about other things in your life that distract you from focusing on your relationship with Jesus Christ and your anointing from the Holy Spirit Thankfulness has two parts – having a thankful heart attitude and also telling people thank you We should take the time to send a thank you , to send a thank you card, and to be gracious with thankfulness to all people Satan will always try to get us to focus on being unthankful

An Attitude of Gratitude The Israelites were punished with 40 years in the wilderness because they continually complained, griped, and whined whereas they were probably about 8-10 days away Only Joshua (form of name of Jesus) and Caleb reached the Promised Land, and not even Moses reached it although he saw it from Mount Nebo Only Joshua and Caleb has an attitude of gratitude The manna stopped coming once they reached the Promised Land but it was given every day in the wilderness miraculously; however the freed slaves from Egypt even wanted to go back to Egypt and griped, moaned, and complained God punished them for their griping – he hears our griping as well and may put us into our own wilderness at times

Israel in the Wilderness

Thanksgiving Offering A thanksgiving offering was offered as part of the Peace Offering in the Law of Moses The food from the thanksgiving offering when it was as a sacrificed animal such as a lamb or a dove was to be eaten on the first day, or possibly on the second day if a vow or voluntary offering But the food was not to be eaten on the third day – looking forward to Christ as the “bread of life” who was raised up on the third day Flour and wine could also be offered as a sacrifice Communal sacrifices were offered up every day in the Temple Today, our thanksgiving offering is made to Jesus Christ who is our High Priest and our Pascal Lamb – we no longer sacrifice animals or offer grain to God

Scriptures on Thanksgiving Many Psalms verses command us to “Give thanks” We are to enter His Gates with Thanksgiving and His Courts with Praise Daniel prayed daily and also gave thanks right before being put in the Lion’s Den where angels sealed the lions’ mouths Jesus prayed and gave thanks for the 5 loaves and 2 fishes, after which another miracle happened. Paul often says that he gives thanks for other Christians and for individuals helping the churches Paul writes many letters encouraging others to give thanks for what God has done for us Song – “To God be the Glory” starts with “How can I say thanks for the things you have done for me…”

What to Do We are commanded to give thanks! Have a thankful instead of a griping attitude Always express your thanks to God Always express your gratitude to others Replace your negative attitudes with a positive thankful attitude Give of your time and talents with a grateful and joyful heart Remember that miracles happen when we keep a grateful heart Remember to make every day Thanksgiving Day!