SIGN OF THE TIMES: THE HISTORY OF THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY IN THE US

 

 

I thought this year we should all look again at the history of Thanksgiving in the US:

 

Throughout the 1700’s individual colonies evidently held periodic days or times of thanksgiving.  Thomas Jefferson did this while governor of Virginia.

 

In 1777 right in the middle of the Revolutionary War the Colonial Congress recommended a day of thanksgiving.

 

In 1789, the first year of the first presidency of the US under the new Constitution, George Washington issued a proclamation establishing a day of thanksgiving that year.  Here are a few of his words from the proclamation: 

 

• 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 favour…
• I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be…
• we may … unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions

Abraham Lincoln finally established legally the annual holiday we observe on the fourth Thursday of November each year.  Here are a few words from his proclamation:

 

I do …invite my fellow citizens …to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

 

May all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and offer thanks then – and everyday – just as these great past leaders of the nation led the nation in doing. 

 

 

November 2024

 

Copyright © 2024 by John Newlin

 

 

Please forward copies of this to whomever you would.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
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CARY, NC 27518
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email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
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* SIGN OF THE TIMES: THANKFUL

 

 

For this Thanksgiving, all believers should BE THANKFUL…

 

• That you know Jesus
• That Jesus knows you
• That you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus
• That you will be going with him when he returns to collect his believers
• That you will soon be getting that glorious new body
• That you will return to earth with Jesus at the end of the Tribulation as part of his holy ones
• That you will in some way be involved in the establishment and operation of the Kingdom of God government from Jerusalem after Armageddon

 

 

Be sure to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and to orchestrate all the discussions with family and friends!

 

  

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

 

  

 

November 2023

 

Copyright © 2023 by John Newlin

 

   

Please forward copies of this to whomever you would.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518
https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

 

* BEING THANKFUL

 As I write this I admit I wonder why should I or anyone have to write about being thankful on Thanksgiving.   Any living breathing human being should be able quickly to think of numerous reasons to be thankful to God.

What about just living, being created?  Having a safe place to live and food to eat.  Health?  Provision for daily life?  Family?  Friends?

 

How about Jesus?  Being thankful for all he has done. And the Holy Spirit?

 

Why not just read Psalm 100 and take it to heart.  Every word.

 

As the psalm says, know that the Lord is God.  It is he who has made us and we are his.  We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.  Give thanks to the Lord.   Praise his name.

 

And the psalm goes on to say that the Lord is good.  His steadfastness endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations.

 

That’s enough, isn’t it?

 

Or maybe you need to know that Jesus is holding this entire creation together.  Without him, it would just come apart, disintegrate, fly apart.  I know most don’t focus on that scripture, but it is there, over in Colossians 1:17.  Maybe we should thank him for that.  Or maybe for the fact that through him all things were made and without him nothing was made that has been made.

 

Maybe we should thank Father God for sending his son down here to create a way for us to him.  He didn’t have to do that.  Even when Jesus came, he didn’t have to go through it, the crucifixion, the taking upon himself of all our iniquities, all our sicknesses and diseases and pain, and overcoming all that and so much more – like death and the curses of the law and shame and regret.

 

I’m sure you can think of many more reasons to be thankful.  I just wanted to list a few possibilities.

 

God bless you all this Thanksgiving.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  He is the source of all real joy and hope.  He is your future.  Right now he has been in heaven at the right hand of God while accommodations have been being prepared for us.  He in fact said he was going there to prepare a place for us.  And he is coming so very soon to get us and take us with him.

 

One last thing.  Continue to ask the Father to draw all those you know who don’t know the Lord to a saving knowledge of Jesus and thank him for that.  Thank him.

 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving. To be truthful, a believer in the Lord Jesus doesn’t need one specific Thanksgiving Day.  Every day is Thanksgiving Day.  Every day is a day of praise and thanksgiving to Jesus and the Father.  Everyday.

 

God bless you all.

 

                                                              November 2022                                                                                                                  

 

                                                              Copyright © 2022 by John Newlin

 

 

 

 

 

Please forward copies of this to whomever you would.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518
https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org

Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin

Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

 

* HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

  

I thought at this time and in the current environment it might be good again to look at some of the history of this holiday in America. 

 

Throughout the 1700’s individual colonies held periodic days or times of thanksgiving.  Thomas Jefferson did this while governor of Virginia.

 

In 1777 right in the middle of the Revolutionary War the Colonial Congress recommended a day of thanksgiving.

 

In 1789, the first year of the first presidency of the US under the new Constitution, George Washington issued a proclamation establishing a day of thanksgiving that year.  Here are a few of his words from the proclamation:

• 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 favour…
• I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be…
• we may … unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions

Abraham Lincoln finally established legally the annual holiday we observe on the fourth Thursday of November each year.  Here are a few words from his proclamation:

• I do …invite my fellow citizens …to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and others establishing such days in our history had no difficulty understanding who the thanksgiving is to.  It is to God.  We all know that too and we certainly give thanks to him daily.  But Thanksgiving Day is of course a special recognized day nationally for giving this thanks!

 

We wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

 

  

                                                                                           November 2021

 

                                                                                           Copyright © 2021 by John Newlin

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518
https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

* THANKSGIVING IN A MOST DIFFICULT TIME FOR ALL ON EARTH

Yes, 2020 has not been a good year.  So what is there to be thankful for beyond the obvious family, friends, home, and such?

 

What about this:

 

Above all things I am thankful for Jesus – that I know him and he knows me, that the Kingdom of God is in me, that I will be with him and the Father forever.

 

I am thankful for the Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit that guides us in all truth; he tells us of things yet to come.  He reminds us of all Jesus has said to us, testifies about Jesus, speaks only what he hears, teaches us all things.  Thank God for the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit like discernment, prophesy, healing, miraculous works, and so much more.  It is the Holy Spirit who guides us through this mess in which we find ourselves living on earth today.

 

I am also thankful for all that God has provided his believers in the way of direct protection.  I am thankful for the angels he has sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.  Obviously protection is part of that service.  And I am thankful for all the armor he has for us to live in and with, as Paul has described and I have written/spoken so much on. 

 

And I am thankful for all the authority that Jesus has given us that we can do the same things he did, even greater, that in his name we can cast out demons!!!

 

So I am surely thankful for all these in this terrible time.

 

And surely I am absolutely thankful that Jesus is coming very soon.  No, I don’t know the precise day and hour, but I do know it is soon.  Really soon. 

 

So the things we believers really have to be thankful about are these really big things of life.

 

They are real and they are wonderful.

 

The terrible coronavirus, all the confusion around it, all the unpleasant government actions, and the election confusion – all that is temporary.  Yes I know it is terrible but it is indeed temporary.  Temporary!

 

Jesus and our relationship with him is not temporary.  That is forever.

 

Thank God.

 

                                                                                               November 2020

 

                                                                                               Copyright © 2020 by John Newlin

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518

https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

* REAL THANKSGIVING: CAN YOU IMAGINE?

CAN YOU CONCEIVE HOW FRIGHTENING THE WORLD MUST BE TO A NONBELIEVER?

Now remember, that is what most people are – nonbelievers.

Imagine not knowing Jesus, not knowing there is a future for you, not knowing that there is a God and that that God forgives you and loves you.  Imagine not knowing that that God indeed has a plan for you.

Imagine not knowing any of the truths of life, like the truths about death and resurrection, about forgiveness, about the Kingdom of God, about divine healing.

Imagine not knowing that God is real, that Jesus is real, that the Holy Spirit is real, that the Bible is true, that angels are real, that the devil and demons are real too.

Imagine not knowing how to protect yourself using the armor of God or not having God’s angels around to serve you.

Imagine that every day is basically a random events day, a day where the significance of things that happen is just not understood, where everything is considered an accident or coincidence or perhaps something you in your own strength and abilities have planned and scheduled that has worked out or not.

Imagine just not knowing and sitting on a quiet night and wondering where you are, what existence is, what is going to happen to you.  Imagine thinking the grave is the end, the only end.

Imagine.

Thank God that you don’t have to!

Thank God that you know Jesus!  Praise God!  Thank Jesus for his incredible sacrifice!  We cannot say thanks enough.  There are no words or actions that suffice. 
                                                                                                       
                                                                                            (November 2019)
                                                                                            Copyright © 2019 by John Newlin

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!


JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518

https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

* BEING THANKFUL

Be thankful that you know the Lord.

That relationship is far greater in importance in your life than anything else – your family, your work, your home, your friends, your house, your car, any and every thing.

If you don’t know the Lord when you die, you will be lost forever.

If you don’t know the Lord when he soon returns to collect his church, you will not go with him.

If you don’t know the Lord when the tribulation begins, you will suffer unimaginably.

Never stop thanking and praising the Lord.  Yes, you can thank him for all the other blessings in your life too, but number one is that you truly know the Lord.

Thank the Lord for who he is and for all he has done and who you are in him.  If you don’t know who you are in him, click on this link http://johnnewlinministries.org/Who_We_Are_In_Jesus.htm

Thank him and praise him!  Remember, God lives in the praises of his people.

And have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

                                                                                                (November 2016)

                                                                                             Copyright © 2016 by John Newlin

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