We Gather Together…

by La Shawn on November 22, 2006

in Faith

ThanksgivingRejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4: 4-7)
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I am thankful that God quickened my heart to believe that his Son Jesus Christ died so that I could live. I’m sure of my salvation and hopeful that one day I will understand all things. I wait for his return, a joyous day for believers and a joyless one, to say the least, for unbelievers.

No one knows the day or hour of his return. The first time, he came to save. The second time, he’ll come to judge. Contrary to popular opinion, Christ’s judgment is righteous. Perfect justice requires that he punish sinners. I’m thankful every day that God is not fair. In all “fairness,” I should be condemned. But he is merciful. In his mercy, he sent Christ to die for the sins of those who would believe. For more information, see Answers for Seekers.

Are you ready?

Rest easy this Thanksgiving holiday, readers. :)

We Gather Together

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
Sing praises to his name: He forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side, All glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Amen

-Traditional Thanksgiving Hymn
(A translation by Theodore Baker: 1851-1934)

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bRight
11.23.06 at 8:02 am
Hot Air
11.23.06 at 1:19 pm
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11.25.06 at 9:03 pm

{ 23 comments }

Gayle Miller 11.22.06 at 10:51 am

God Bless you, dear La Shawn! Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Glamchild 11.22.06 at 10:59 am

I LOVE THIS POST !!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Randy 11.22.06 at 11:00 am

Happy Thanksgiving La Shawn!

benm 11.22.06 at 11:36 am

Amen, Happy Thanksgiving La Shawn and all of you. We do have a great reason to be thankful.

Chuck 11.22.06 at 12:16 pm

Happy Thanksgiving Lashawn and God Bless you. I know we be hearing from you as much, but I know that we all have to realign our priorities. I will pray for you. Your testimony of what God has done and continues to do in your life is inspiring. Thank you.

MikeM 11.22.06 at 1:11 pm

Have a blessed and rejoiceful Thanksgiving, dear sister in Christ.

Renee 11.22.06 at 1:29 pm

AMEN! (Let it be so)

Andy 11.22.06 at 2:07 pm

Happy Thanksgiving to all

BlueJeanPreachin 11.22.06 at 4:01 pm

Praise GOD from Whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him all creatures here below!
Praise Him above ye heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Doxology

Frank Zavisca 11.22.06 at 4:13 pm

La Shawn:

This week I thank God for a wonderful wife and 4 lovely children, and a great job.

I also thank God that I live in Shreveport, LA.
Following the shameful rejection of the ROTC by the San Francisco School Board.

Despite not having the greatest test scores, school children here know what is important.

Last week, children in school sent Christmas Cards to our troopsl

A young lady reservist was invited to the schools to tell the students about her time in Iraq.

Lauren 11.22.06 at 7:43 pm

Happy Thanksgiving :)

mamapajamas 11.22.06 at 8:02 pm

THANK YOU, LaShawn, for your wonderful uplifting message.

In the everyday scheme of things, even I tend to forget to be grateful for what I have, and such an uplifting statement can do wonders for those of us who tend to get mired in the unimportant everyday.

I have my life to be grateful for, as a “terminal” cancer patient who nevertheless survived based on the prayer, “Thy Will be done.” Apparently, our Lord has more work for me to do, much to the surprise of my befuddled oncologist ;) . He was treating me for “comfort”, keeping my tumors reduced to control pain. He finally admitted that “attitude” has much to do with a patient’s survival, and that “prayer” could be considered an “attitude”. I was pronounced cured a year ago, after my five years of remission. 1999-2000 were generally “snakebit” years for me, but the things I learned about God’s Will will stick with me forever.

Your message was a very timely reminder of that Pact that I have with the Lord.

Let’s see… now what kind of mischief can I do the secularists in God’s name? LOL!

Thanks again :) .

Mark La Roi 11.22.06 at 11:37 pm

Have a blessed Thanksgiving today, tomorrow and everyday LaShawn!

(Everybody else too!)

dianne 11.23.06 at 7:54 am

LaShawn, the hymn, “We Gather Together” was the first song I learned to play on my coronet. I learned it at a public school 40 some years ago. Can you imagine any public school in this country teaching the students a song that invokes the Lord’s blessing today?

Happy thanksgiving to you and everyone on this blog. We all have much to be thankful for.

mj 11.23.06 at 8:44 am

I’m ready. I am also thankful to God for being there through the tough times, and for forgiving us for our trespasses and for keeping us strong when we are weak.

Jeff C 11.23.06 at 8:55 am

Thank you, LaShawn, for reminding us what this day is all about. The Lord instructed us several years ago to focus more on thankfulness the other 364 days of the year as well. Praise Him for His bountiful provision, especially for the provision of His Son and His work on the cross!!

Ted Moore 11.23.06 at 9:05 am

For life and health, and the wealth of being able to live in these days. For the knowledge that Deity wants us to call him Father. For the gift of faith that allows me to know of Him and His ways. For the chance to experience mortal life myself and learn for myself how to ‘choose the right’. For the chance to see my brother reach out and take his life again. For the chance to experience love, and the chance to give and receive help. For more things than I know how to express, I give thanks.

For the knowledge that I will see my sister again, and family, and friends. For a job so I can give myself the illusion that I am supporting myself, even tho each breath I take is a gift. For those that are a help and inspiration in their desire to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

For the gift of knowing how much I have to be thankful for, I am grateful. Were it not so my life would be the less.

and yet . . .

Love is a little bit like Strawberry jam, its hard to spread it around without getting some on yourself. I am thankful to have been put into a world like that.

Ellen Kennedy 11.23.06 at 10:38 am

Thanks so much for posting this hymn! I sang it all the way through just now.

I love this song. I learned in Public High School in the early ’60’s. Our chorale sang it in Public! Sigh.

Vicki Small 11.23.06 at 3:27 pm

Amen! Chances are we will never meet in this life, but I’m finding more and more bloggers whom I will meet, one day. I’m thankful for “the fellowship of the blog.”

I’m thankful that my mother is still alive, although she would prefer to join her parents and most of her siblings in heaven, along with the two babies she lost in their infancy. I’m thankful I could talk to her this morning, on the phone.

I’m thankful for many more things, but I’m afraid I might be hijacking your blog, so . . . may you have a truly stupendous day of giving thanks with those you love!

Carol 11.23.06 at 3:57 pm

LaShawn, once again you’ve made my day with one of your posts.

A very happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!

Randy 11.23.06 at 9:02 pm

HAPPY THANKSGIVING La Shawn, and fellow bloggers.

1 John 4:7-8

Randy

Bob 11.24.06 at 7:45 am

Amen.

JMK 11.24.06 at 10:10 pm

I spent Thanksgiving in a firehouse in NYC, with my “other family.”

This is a great post.

Too often we forget the real meaning of such Holidays – this one especially and how important it is to give thanks for what we have. We’re too often focused on what we want, that it’s easy to forget to be thankful for what we do have.

Happy THANKSGIVING to all!

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