Jehovah Shalom: Abiding “In” Christ

Tags

abide in Christ, Abiding in Christ, Being grafted in, Betsy ten Boom, Christian vacations, Corrie ten Boom, John 15, Philippians 4, resting, sabbath rest, security in Christ, Security in Jesus, The Hiding Place, vacations for Christians

Jehovah Shalom, the LORD of peace has been our topic over the last two lessons. With the help of Gideon and Peter we found that the peace Jesus gives us does not rely on our circumstances but rather relies on God in spite of all circumstances. Gideon faced a massive army compared to locusts both in number and violence, yet with 300 men achieved victory. Peter faced a fierce wind and a thrashing sea, yet walked upon it.

Then, with the aid of the testimony of Paul and Silas we have seen that this peace is beyond our understanding and is a guard of our hearts and minds. It is a peace that boggles the mind and defends the mind and is like Roman soldiers who served as gate monitors to the city and who would let nothing and no one in that was not supposed to be there. This peace not only is otherworldly and defies our mind’s ability to understand, but it is incredibly powerful.

The Enemy

It’s odd. When I hear the word peace, I think of softness, stillness and gentleness. But, in reality, the peace of God is a force to be reckoned with that overwhelms and overcomes the wind and the waves, even the violence and intricate tactics of an enemy seeking to destroy us. God’s Word says that the enemy roams about like a lion, zealously seeking whom he may devour – which literally means to “drink down, swallow up” (1 Peter 5:8). He desires to stealthily steal us, sacrificially kill us on his altar and to violently and completely annihilate us, as if we never had existed (John 10:10). We are essentially born spiritually blind on a battlefield. We cannot see the battlefield much less the enemy waiting to pounce upon us. And how he attacks most effectively, even since our childhood, is in our minds.

This is where God’s peace comes in to play. Our Jehovah Shalom, the LORD of peace, the Prince of Peace has given us peace that is our protection against Satan’s extermination, battle plan in our minds. Satan comes against us with selfish pride, anxiety and fear based on very real circumstances, but God’s peace is greater if we “abide.”

“In” Christ

There is an often overlooked word in the passage of Philippians 4:7. Actually, it is an overlooked word throughout the New Testament. It is a word that I just read over time and time and time again. It’s a simple, two lettered word. A preposition actually. Do any of you remember what a preposition is? Well, in Greek “The original or core meaning of…prepositions often indicates DIRECTION.” (“Prepositions and Prefixes,” https://ancientgreek.pressbooks.com/chapter/13/) In other words, is the person moving away from something, into something, under something?

In Philippians 4:7, the overlooked preposition is the word “in”. In some translations the word is translated as “through.” Although, when I studied the Greek this past weekend I cannot figure out where the translators got the word “through.” For, the Greek word does not mean to go “through” something, but rather that you are “in” something. After all, the Greek word means “in”. It carries with it “…the primary idea of rest…[of] remaining in place.” (pg 579). This preposition “in” is also found in the well-known passage of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things [in] Christ who strengthens me.”

This little word is vitally important, for without it, we would not have this peace. It is only when we are “in” Christ that we are empowered to do “all”. It is only when we are “in” Christ that we are powerfully protected by the peace of God that boggles the mind. For it is only when we are “in” that we are at rest, that we are at home.

“I Want To Go Home”

As an former employee of a health care center, I had to watch certain training videos online every month. They are called Relias training. In one of those training videos, the narrator asked a question concerning what the phrase “I want to go home” means to different people. When someone says “I want to go home” it can mean a variety of different things.

What does it mean to you? When you think about going home, what does it look like to you? What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “home”?

Some who say this may be referring to feelings like security or safety or acceptance, others may think of home as a certain place, like where they grew up or where they raised their children, others may think of it as a place where their things are, like their favorite chair or a fireplace, and still others may think of it as a person.

Grafting

John 15:1-11

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

To “abide” means just that, “to abide, to dwell, to remain, or live.” When in relation to a person, it means to remain with that person, to be united with them, to be “one with him in heart, mind, and will,” (pg 959).

Jesus in this passage uses an agricultural word picture when He states that He is the vine, and God the Father is the husbandman/gardener. In Israel a lot of pruning, cutting and grafting was done to olive trees, but also other fruit trees. There were branches that were not producing, so they would be cut away. Others simply needed pruning to encourage production. Still others required grafting. In the book of Romans, Paul even talks about how the Gentiles were “grafted in” to the vine of Christ. Since this word picture is so important, I did a little reading on the grafting of trees.

It is amazing how one can take a small twig of one fruit tree and make it part of another tree. Basically, one whittles down the end of the twig into a point, and a cut is made in the bark of the trunk of another fruit tree. It is into this cut that the little sharpened twig is wedged and then wrapped up tight with plastic tape. Within a short period of time the little twig becomes an actual part of the fruit tree. It’s incredible how through grafting, there can even be three different types of apples growing from one tree. So long as the fruit is from the same family, grafting can be accomplished. One can even have apricots, peaches and almonds grafted together into one tree because they are all a part of the same family. And thus, the one tree becomes the “abiding” place or the abode of the different fruits. It is now their home.

Whether the original branches or the grafted branches, they are to abide in the tree, to find their strength in its life, their sustenance in its sap, their stability in its roots, their home in its soil. Even so, we are to find our home “in” Christ. So that no matter where we are, who we are with, what financial status we are in, or what location in which we reside, whether a five-star hotel, a straw hut, a mansion, a cockroach infested hovel, a war torn landscape, a prison, the Poor House, the White House, or a care center, we will be secure, we will be at home, because our home is in Christ.

Conclusion

We conclude today with a quote from the book Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten Boom. Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch woman of God, who, along with her family helped many Jews to escape from Holland after the Nazis invaded during WWII. She and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp, and all of her family died in concentration camps except for Corrie who went on to become a traveling evangelist and author of The Hiding Place. In the sequel to The Hiding Place called Tramp for the Lord, Corrie ten Boom drives home the point that Christ is our home no matter where we are, when she writes,

“Betsie and I walked to the square where roll call was being held in the concentration camp. It was still early, before dawn. The head of our barracks was so cruel that she had sent us out into the very cold outdoors a full hour too early. Betsie’s hand was in mine. We went to the square by a different way from the rest of our barracks-mates. We were three as we walked with the Lord and talked with Him. Betsie spoke. Then I talked. Then the Lord spoke. How? I do not know. But both of us understood…The brilliant early morning stars were our only light. The cold winter air was so clear. We could faintly see the outlines of the barracks, the crematorium, the gas chamber, and the towers where the guards were standing with loaded machine guns.“Isn’t this a bit of heaven!” Betsie had said. “And, Lord, this is a small foretaste. One day we will see You face-to-face, but thank You that even now You are giving us the joy of walking and talking with You.”Heaven in the midst of hell. Light in the midst of darkness. What security!” (Tramp for the Lord, pg 30)

No matter what we in America or the world or the Church may be facing right now at the end of days, no matter what personal or familial or physical problem or issue we may be enduring, not one thing of it compares to Christ. If we think the issue too big, then we’ve made our God too small. If we’ve got our eyes on the problem, then we are not seeing God’s handiwork. If we are focused on the storm, the unknown, the insanity of it all, then how can we possibly be focused on God as well? Truly, the more we focus on anything other than Christ, the more we will fear, worry, fret, get angry and make bad decision and do stupid things, and on top of it all, we will always want a vacation. We will want to get away.

After years of studying Scripture, I have come to notice something. No one took vacations. Well, once someone did (David) and it led to adultery and then murder and then lying and then the death of a child. In other words, God did not create us to go on vacations. But, He did create us with a need for a Sabbath rest (once a week), and most importantly, to learn the vital nature of learning to rest completely and totally in Him at all times. When He is our abode, our dwelling place, our hiding place at all times then we will find that He is all the vacation we need…and oh! what security we’ll have when Christ is our home!

Other Jehovah Shalom Articles:

Part 1:

“Jehovah Shalom: What is Our Focus?” https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/11/19/jehovah-shalom-what-is-our-focus/

Part 2:

“Jehovah Shalom: Peace in Spite of Our Circumstances,” https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/11/23/jehovah-shalom-peace-in-spite-of-our-circumstances/

Part 3:

“Jehovah Shalom: Do Not Be Anxious,” (Puzzle Piece #1) https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/11/25/jehovah-shalom-do-not-be-anxious/

Part 4:

“Jehovah Shalom: Abiding in Christ,” https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/12/10/jehovah-shalom-abiding-in-christ/

Part 5:

“Jehovah Shalom: Thankful Prayer,” (puzzle piece #2), https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/jehovah-shalom-thankful-prayer/

Part 6:

“Jehovah Shalom: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/jehovah-shalom-turn-your-eyes-upon-jesus/

Part 7:

“Jehovah Shalom: Think on These Things,” (puzzle piece #3), https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2021/01/07/jehovah-shalom-think-on-these-things/

Part 8: (puzzle piece #4)

https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2021/01/12/jehovah-shalom-the-secret-ingredient/

Other Possible Articles of Interest:

“The Time Is At Hand: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/07/15/the-time-is-at-hand-turn-your-eyes-upon-jesus/

“At Home In Christ,” https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/at-home-in-christ/

At Home “In” Christ

Tags

1 Peter 5:8, abide, abide in Christ, Betsy ten Boom, Civilla D. Martin, Corrie ten Boom, grafted in, His Eye Is On The Sparrow, In Christ, Jesus is the vine, John 15, peace of God, Philippians 4, Philippians 4:6-7, Satan is a roaring lion, Seeking whom he may devour, that our joy might be full, The Hiding Place, Tramp for the Lord, true peace, Under His Wings, We are the branches, What does it mean to abide, William Cushing

Painting by artist Randy Van Beek

When you hear the word peace, of what do you think? When I hear the word peace, I think of softness, stillness and gentleness, like a warm summer breeze that tousles the branches in the trees and spreads the fragrance of freshly cut hay. When you hear the word home, what do you picture in your mind? Is it the place where you grew up? Is it a person? Is it your comfy chair, a crackling fire and a warm drink? Is is ocean surf at your feet, warm sandy beaches, and a frosty glass with something yummy in it?

In reality, both peace and home are something a bit different. To begin with, the peace of God is not all that soft, but rather, is a force to be reckoned with, that overwhelms and overcomes the wind and the waves, even the violence and intricate tactics of an enemy seeking to destroy us. God’s Word says that the enemy roams about like a lion, zealously seeking whom he may devour – which literally means to “drink down, swallow up” (1 Peter 5:8). He desires to stealthily steal us, sacrificially kill us on his altar and to violently and completely annihilate us, as if we never had existed (John 10:10). We are essentially born spiritually blind on a battlefield, and babies on battlefields don’t mix so well. We cannot see the battlefield much less the enemy waiting to pounce upon us. And how he attacks most effectively, even since our childhood, is in our minds.

This is where God’s peace comes in to play. Our Jehovah Shalom, the LORD of peace, the Prince of Peace has given us peace that is our protection against Satan’s battle plan of extermination in our minds. Satan comes against us with selfish pride, anxiety and fear based on very real circumstances, but God’s peace is greater if we “abide.” And where we abide is our safe place, our secure place, our soft place to fall….our home.

“In” Christ

There is an often overlooked word in the passage of Philippians 4:7. Actually, it is an overlooked word throughout the New Testament. It is a word that I just read over time and time and time again. It’s a simple, two lettered word. A preposition actually. Do any of you remember what a preposition is? Well, in Greek “The original or core meaning of…prepositions often indicates DIRECTION.” (“Prepositions and Prefixes,” https://ancientgreek.pressbooks.com/chapter/13/) In other words, a preposition determines if a person is moving away from something, toward something, into something, on top of something or under something.

In Philippians 4:7, the overlooked preposition is the word “in”. In some translations the word is translated as “through.” Although, when I studied the Greek this past weekend I cannot figure out where the translators got the word “through.” For, the Greek word does not mean to go “through” something, but rather that you are “in” something. After all, the Greek word means “in”. It carries with it “…the primary idea of rest…[of] remaining in place.” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, 579). This preposition “in” is also found in the well-known passage of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things [in] Christ who strengthens me.”

This little word is vitally important, for without it, we would not have this peace. It is only when we are “in” Christ that we are empowered to do “all”. It is only when we are “in” Christ that we are powerfully protected by the peace of God that boggles the mind. For it is only when we are “in” that we are at rest, that we are at home.

“I Want To Go Home”

As an former employee of a health care facility, I had to watch certain training videos online every month called Relias training. In one of those training videos, the topic of residents being homesick was addressed. Often in nursing care facilities, residents will miss home and become depressed and sometimes even angry and desperate, especially those with dementia. But going home doesn’t necessarily mean what one might think it means. Sometimes, the resident with dementia thinks they are 17 years old again, and home to them is the large old house they grew up in on the farm. Other times, they are still 32 years old and married with small children living in a certain house in a little town. At other times, home to them is not a place but is a person like their husband or wife or their mother or children or even their pets or cows if they were a dairy farmer.

It was then that the narrator of the Relias video asked a question concerning what the phrase “I want to go home” means. When someone says “I want to go home” it can mean a variety of different things to different people as seen above.

What does home mean to you? When you think about going home, what does it look like to you? What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “home”?

Some who say this may be referring to feelings like security or safety or acceptance, others may think of home as a certain place, like where they grew up or where they raised their children, others may think of it as a place where their things are, like their favorite chair or a fireplace, and still others may think of it as a person.

Grafting

Regarding a place to call home, John 15:1-11 gives us a beautiful picture of a vine and branches.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

To “abide” means just that, “to abide, to dwell, to remain, or live.” When in relation to a person, it means to remain with that person, to be united with them, to be “one with him in heart, mind, and will.”

Jesus in this passage uses an agricultural word picture when He states that He is the vine, and God the Father is the husbandman/gardener. In Israel a lot of pruning, cutting and grafting was done to olive trees, but also other fruit trees. There were branches that were not producing, so they would be cut away. Others simply needed pruning to encourage production. Still others required grafting. In the book of Romans, Paul even talks about how the Gentiles were “grafted in” to the vine of Christ. Since this word picture is so important, I did a little reading on the grafting of trees.

It is amazing how one can take a small twig of one fruit tree and make it part of another tree. Basically, one whittles down the end of the twig into a point, and a cut is made in the bark of the trunk of another fruit tree. It is into this cut that the little sharpened twig is wedged and then wrapped up tight with plastic tape. Within a short period of time the little twig becomes an actual part of the fruit tree. It’s incredible how through grafting, there can even be three different types of apples growing from one tree. So long as the fruit is from the same family, grafting can be accomplished. One can even have apricots, peaches and almonds grafted together into one tree because they are all a part of the same family. And thus, the one tree becomes the “abiding” place or the abode of the different fruits. It is now their home.

Whether the original branches or the grafted branches, they are to abide in the tree, to find their strength in its life, their sustenance in its sap, their stability in its roots, their home in its soil. Even so, we are to find our home “in” Christ. So that no matter where we are, who we are with, what financial status we are in, or what location in which we reside, whether a five-star hotel, a straw hut, a mansion, a cockroach infested hovel, a war torn landscape, a prison, the Poor House, the White House, or a care center, we will be secure, we will be at home, because our home is in Christ.

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Pictures of grafting fruit trees from Ladyleeshome.com

Conclusion

We conclude today with a quote from the book Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten Boom. Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch woman, who, along with her family helped many Jews to escape from Holland after the Nazis invaded during WWII. She and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp because of this, and all of her family died in concentration camps except for Corrie who went on to become a traveling evangelist and author of The Hiding Place. In the sequel to The Hiding Place called Tramp for the Lord, Corrie ten Boom drives home the point that Christ is our home no matter where we are, when she writes,

“Betsie and I walked to the square where roll call was being held in the concentration camp. It was still early, before dawn. The head of our barracks was so cruel that she had sent us out into the very cold outdoors a full hour too early.

Betsie’s hand was in mine. We went to the square by a different way from the rest of our barracks-mates. We were three as we walked with the Lord and talked with Him. Betsie spoke. Then I talked. Then the Lord spoke. How? I do not know. But both of us understood…

The brilliant early morning stars were our only light. The cold winter air was so clear. We could faintly see the outlines of the barracks, the crematorium, the gas chamber, and the towers where the guards were standing with loaded machine guns.

“Isn’t this a bit of heaven!” Betsie had said. “And, Lord, this is a small foretaste. One day we will see You face-to-face, but thank You that even now You are giving us the joy of walking and talking with You.”

Heaven in the midst of hell. Light in the midst of darkness. What security!”

(Tramp for the Lord, pg 30)

Ah, what security we have in Christ when He is our home.

This brings to mind the song, “His Eye Is On The Sparrow,” written by Civilla D. Martin in 1905/6. While she and her husband were ministering in New York, they developed a close friendship with a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle. Mrs. Doolittle was a bed-ridden invalid of 20 years, and Mr. Doolittle wheeled himself to and from work in his wheelchair. After observing the cheerful behavior and kindness expressed to everyone through this couple, Mr. Doolittle wondered aloud about what their secret was. To that the Doolittles responded, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Inspired by these words, Civilla Martin penned the words you are about to read. May the Lord greatly bless you with these timeless lyrics of contentment and security and absolute peace.

"Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? 
Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home, 
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He: 
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. 

"Let not your heart be troubled," His tender word I hear, 
and resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears; 
though by the path He leadeth but one step I may see: 
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. 

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise, 
when song gives place to sighing, when hope within me dies; 
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free: 
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." 

One more hymn of the same time period that my heart begins to sing as I think on abiding in Christ is one by the name of “Under His Wings,” written by William Cushing. William Cushing had been a pastor who permanently lost his voice when he was in his forties. In spite of this horrific set back, he continued praising the Lord and wrote over 300 hymns, which have blessed countless people, including me and now hopefully you.

Under His wings I am safely abiding;
  Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him, I know He will keep me;
  He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

Chorus: 
Under His wings, under His wings,
  Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
    Safely abide forever.

Under His wings—what a refuge in sorrow!
  How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
  There I find comfort, and there I am blest.

Under His wings—oh, what precious enjoyment!
  There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me;
  Resting in Jesus I’m safe evermore.

So, no matter what comes in this life, even in the next few months, please, in the words of Philippians 4:6-7, “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds [in] Christ Jesus.”

Jesus wants us to abide in Him. Why? That His joy might remain in us, and our joy might be full. Are you lacking joy today? Are you lacking peace? It’s time to abide. And if you don’t know how, ask Him. He’ll show you! And from now on, I sincerely pray, that if you are ever asked about who or what or where home is to you, that you’ll say Jesus.

Abiding in Christ,

Holy Light Ministries

Other Excellent Links:

https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/11/19/jehovah-shalom-what-is-our-focus/

https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2020/07/15/the-time-is-at-hand-turn-your-eyes-upon-jesus/

https://holylight4u.wordpress.com/2021/05/11/psalm-23-the-lord-is-my-shepherd/

No Worries: The Song of Creation

Word Study and Sources for the Article:

Studies of the word “In”

The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament

#1722 en “in”; means “In…by any place or thing, with the primary idea of rest…means remaining in place” (pg 579).

“Prepositions and Prefixes,” https://ancientgreek.pressbooks.com/chapter/13/

“Appendix 3: Prepositions,” https://www.motorera.com/greek/lessons/appendix3.html

Sources on the word “Abide”

The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament

#3306 meno, “Abide”; “To remain, abide, dwell or live” (pg 959).

“Of the relation in which one person or thing stands with another, chiefly in John’s writings; thus to remain in or with someone, i.e., to be and remain united with him, one with him in heart, mind, and will…” (pg 959).

John 15 “Abiding” and Philippians 4:7, 13 “In Christ”

“What It Means To Abide In Christ & How To Do It,” https://www.johnrothra.com/devotionalteaching/christian-living/what-it-means-to-abide-in-christ-how-to-do-it/

The grafting of the trees and the producing of fruit

“Grafting Fruit Trees,” https://ladyleeshome.com/grafting-fruit-trees/

“How Grafting Affects Olive Trees,” https://homeguides.sfgate.com/grafting-affects-olive-trees-56828.html

“Did You Know This About Olive Trees?” https://godinthebeginning.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/did-you-know-this-about-olive-trees/

Psalm 91 word study

The Complete Words Study Dictionary: Old Testament

#3885 liyn or lun, “abide”; “It describes the secure, peaceful rest of one living close to the Lord…” (pg 546).

Thanking God for the Fleas

Tags

2 Chronicles 20, Abraham Lincoln, American Thanksgiving, Apostle Paul, Betsy ten Boom, Continental Congress, Corrie ten Boom, First Thanksgiving, Franklin Roosevelt, Giving Thanks, History of America's Thanksgiving, History of the American Thanksgiving, King Jehoshaphat, Pilgrims, Sarah Josepha Hale, Squanto, Thanksgiving, The Hiding Place

Thanksgiving is a time of the gathering together of family and friends, playing games, eating turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream, and some even boast of family football games. Though those are some things that we do on Thanksgiving, what does it really mean? Especially this year, the year 2020, what does Thanksgiving mean to us as Americans?

This year has been insane. This year has made no sense. This year has been crazy. People have lost their job, their business, their marriage, their sanity, their church, and on and on and on….  And now, governors of various states are telling the residents of their states to not celebrate Thanksgiving, to not gather together, to not travel to relatives, etc. In the midst of all this madness, the question still hovers in the air, like fog on a misty Fall morning: what is Thanksgiving really all about?

Really, it’s name says it all! It’s about THANKSGIVING. But, not just thanksgiving to just anyone…no…it’s all about Thanksgiving to God. And it’s not just about being thankful for the good in our lives either. The truth of this can be found in Scripture as well as in the pages of American history. So, let’s begin our journey.

New Testament Testimony: The Command To Give Thanks

To begin with, in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 we read the Apostle Paul saying under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.”

Now the Apostle Paul did not have a posh life, but rather was afflicted, beaten, ship wrecked, stoned unto death, was swimming in the sea for a day and a night, harassed, and went hungry and thirsty. This same Paul also said in Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” And again in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 & 18 Paul states, “Rejoice evermore…In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Thus, we learn from Paul that rejoicing is to be done always and giving thanks is to be done in all situations.

Old Testament Testimony: 2 Chronicles 20

Even so, in the Old Testament we see a miraculous story of thanksgiving in 2 Chronicles 20 when the Israelites were up against 3 nations that had unjustly gathered against them. All was not good. All was not okay. And so, King Jehoshaphat called all Israelites to assemble, women and children included, and they fasted cried out to God. Then, after humbling themselves before God in repentance and desperation, God spoke to them through the prophet Jahaziel saying, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s…” (vs 15). And so, early the following the morning, the Israelites arose early, and stationed the Levites in front of them who lead not just in the march but in worship and praise unto God as they marched forward to the battle. And it says in 2 Chronicles 20:22 that “when they BEGAN to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against” the multitude of their enemies, so that the enemy turned upon themselves, slaughtering themselves before the Israelites ever reached them!!!!!

It states, when they “BEGAN” to sing and to praise, that God then went to battle for them. As they gave thanks in the overwhelming situation that they had no power in themselves to overcome, God heeded their thanksgiving and overwhelmed the enemy on their behalf.

WWII Testimony: The Hiding Place

In the book, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, Corrie relates her experience in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII. One such remembrance was that of her sister Betsy (who also was in the camp with her) who had Corrie look up and read I Thessalonians 5. As Corrie read from their precious hidden Bible (for Bible’s were forbidden in the concentration camp), she came came across verse 18 that says to give thanks in all things. That’s when Betsy encouraged them to begin right at that moment to give thanks to God in their situation. So, they got down on their knees and Betsy led in thanking God for His provision in the camp, their cramped quarters with too many people (for this meant more could hear the Gospel), and then Betsy dared to thank God for the fleas that infested their beds. Well, Corrie just could not repeat that nor agree at first, but with some prompting, she thanked God for the fleas. Later Corrie would come to realize that because of the fleas the Nazi soldiers stayed away from their barracks, and because of that, their Bibles were never found and confiscated (Excerpt from Hiding Place, pg 179).

And our own American story clearly communicates this type of thanksgiving as well, in spite of all odds, war, grief, death and pain.

American Testimony: Squanto and the Pilgrims

To begin with, in 1618, a young Indian man by the name of Squanto, had finally earned enough money as a stable boy in England to sail home to his tribal people in America. He had been stolen in 1612 by a trader and was then sold into slavery in Spain. It was there that Spanish monks bought him, treated him well, educated him, and made it possible for him to go to England where he attained a job as a stable boy. Thus, in 1618, he set sail for his home. However, upon arriving, his came to the starkly painful realization that his entire tribe had been wiped out by disease. He was the ONLY one left.

Heartbroken and utterly alone, Squanto was adopted into a neighboring tribe called Wampanoag with friendly Massasoit as their chief.

Then, in 1620, the weary English Pilgrims had run out of options, and had petitioned the government of England to allow them passage to the Virginia Colony in America. Long had the Pilgrims been persecuted by English kings, including King James I, who had harassed, fined, imprisoned, and even unjustly killed many, like my anabaptist ancestor Edward Wightman (burned at the stake in 1612), just because they did not agree with the Anglican state church of England. The Pilgrims had even tried living in Holland. And though they found religious liberty in Holland, they also found a great deal of Catholic paganism there as well, and they worried for the future of their children. Because of this, the Pilgrims sought God for a miracle to their seemingly solutionless problem. And God provided the 66 day Mayflower voyage across the horrifically stormy waters of the autumn Atlantic ocean.

They aimed high for the fertile area of New York’s Hudson river, but because of the extreme storms, they found themselves in Massachusetts.

While there, many became quite ill from malnourishment, and for a while only 6 would be well enough to work at a time. Of the 102 Pilgrims only about 50 survived (30 of those were children), and only half the Mayflower crew that had accompanied them. Most of the mothers died because they gave their food (six kernels of corn a day) to their children.

With the Spring came the miracle of Squanto to help them and the hope of those who survived was renewed. Though much grief had overwhelmed both Squanto and the Pilgrims through the loss of their loved ones, God’s mercy and grace overwhelmed them still more. For indeed, the very land that Squanto’s people had cleared and tended and lived, was the very land that the Pilgrims finally settled upon. And, unbeknownst to the Pilgrims at the time, the land in New York that they had hoped to reach was inhabited by hostile Indians who would have had no trouble killing them. Not only this, but Squanto’s very life was a testimony of God’s goodness, not only for him that he might be saved spiritually by Jesus and physically from the plague that killed his people, but also was saved for the sake of God’s weary Pilgrims who would so need him in their new home. Indeed, miracle upon miracle was multiplied upon Squanto and the Pilgrims, because our sovereign God was in it! And all of them gave thanks in the Fall of 1621 for God’s bountiful blessings in spite of all the pain and death and suffering.

But the American story of Thanksgiving does not end there!

Another American Testimony: The War for Independence

In 1777, in the middle of our overwhelming war for Independence, the Continental Congress felt it imperative that the infant nation give thanks to God and to pray for his blessing and help in the war. The odds were stacked against the Continental Army. It was David and Goliath, and the outcome appeared dire. Nevertheless, our fledgling government called all to an official day of Thanksgiving and Repentance.

Here is part of their proclamation sent to the 13 states:

“It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE…” (http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/pdf/TG_First_National_Thanksgiving_Proclamation_1777.pdf)

But, America’s Thanksgiving did not stopped there.

Yet Another American Testimony: The Civil War

Another war again riddled our young nation in the form of the Civil War. For two bloody years, battle after battle left the United States in jeopardy of complete separation. Frayed and near destruction at the hands of the talented Southern Confederacy, the Union hung by a thread. Then, in 1863, a miraculous Union victory at Gettysburg, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War in which approximately 51,000 men perished, arrayed the North with great hope that all was not in vain. Now, Sarah Josepha Hale (writer of Mary Had a Little Lamb) had been petitioning every U.S. president since 1827 to instate an official day of national Thanksgiving. Thus, at that point in time, President Abraham Lincoln believed it fitting to do just that. He declared an official day of Thanksgiving be celebrated on the 4^th Thursday of November.

Though for years Thanksgiving had been celebrated loosely as the state’s saw fit, this for the first time in U.S. history made Thanksgiving a formal, national holiday with a set date.

Another War, Another Cause for Thanks

In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt trying to appease businessmen, tried to change the date of Thanksgiving so as to give more Christmas shopping weeks to businesses. However, this only caused confusion, for some celebrated on the new date while others kept it on the old date. So, Congress on December 26, 1941, only a few years after the Great Depression and only a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, felt it necessary that a set date for a day of Thanksgiving unto God be made. So, they enacted a law stating that the official Thanksgiving day would remain on the last Thursday of November. And so, again, our nation in a time of war and great distress, called for a day to give thanks unto our sovereign, awesome and unchanging God.

For, indeed, the giving of thanks is not just for the good times, but for the times when we see no way out, when we are overwhelmed by a flood of emotions, when war is raging, when our circumstances make no sense. No matter what we are going through this Thanksgiving, no matter what physical ailment, no matter what family problem, no matter what grief nor death, no matter what is happening in the world or America, no matter what our financial situation may be, let us give Thanks. Let’s remember that in EVERY situation God has called us to rejoice…not to understand…but to give thanks, even for the fleas in our lives, whatever those “fleas” for us may be!