A Song of Thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father! Count it ALL Joy! (Lyric Video)

Happy Thanksgiving from The Ignorant Fishermen Blog!

Beloved, Greetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Who is the TRUE source for ALL Heavenly blessings here on earth and in Heaven above (Eph. 1:3)!

As we celebrate this time of Thanksgiving we are very mindful of many things. We are thankful for our loved ones, a measure of health and a sound mind. We are thankful for the earthly blessings and liberties that we possess as Americans. We are thankful for those who have shed their blood on our nation's behalf which have preserved our freedoms and liberties. We are thankful for the vision and labor of our Founding Fathers which steadfast sought to provide its posterity with a nation and constitution that we may enjoy our unalienable rights as human beings. We are thankful to those who labor for the Lord on our behalf, who challenge us and encourage us in the ETERNAL truths and promises of Almighty God.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you! (1 Thess. 5:18).

But most of all we are thankful for Almighty God our Father for so loving us that He sent His only begotten Son on our behalf (John 3:16-17), that we may be redeemed, forgiven, received, adopted and made righteous in the Person and work of Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:4, 1 Cor. 1:30).

We are truly thankful that we are still able to worship Almighty God in spirit and truth here in America and that we still have a measure of time left to get out His saving message to a dying and condemned world. We rejoice that Christ is coming again very soon and that this fallen world is NOT our home. We have a glorious future forevermore with our Savior and Lord in perfect RIGHTEOUSNESS in Almighty God's ETERNAL day (1 Cor. 2:9, Rev. 22:5).

May this Thanksgiving be a great blessing to you all! We indeed have much to be thankful for (Phil. 4:4)!

Beloved, The Kingdom of Heaven is truly at hand!

The Ignorant Fishermen

Only One Said 'Thank You'

Only One Said 'Thank You'
By Dr. John C. Whitcomb

The Command
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God commands us to give Him thanks for everything He has done, is doing and will do for us.
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"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Phil. 4:6).

"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thess. 5:18).

"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men" (1 Tim. 2:1).

"Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:20).
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The Problem

But this is not the normal response of the sinful heart of man. Even in times of health and prosperity, do we genuinely thank God for what He has given us?
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One day, our Lord cleansed 10 lepers who cried out to Him, "'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' So when He saw them, He said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, 'Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?' And He said to him, 'Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well'" (Luke 17:13-19). As in the entire nation of Israel, many thousands were physically healed by the Lord Jesus, but relatively few really believed in Him as God and Savior.
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In fact, from the beginning of the world, even in the hearts of our first parents, Adam and Eve, "although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools" (Rom. 1:21, 22).
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Difficult Circumstances for Thankfulness

While inside the body of a gigantic fish deep in the Mediterranean Sea, with "weeds...wrapped around [his] head" (Jonah 2:5), the disobedient prophet Jonah cried out:
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"I will sacrifice to YouWith the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9).

In response to that amazing prayer, "the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land" (Jonah 2:10).

And what about the prophet Daniel? When threatened with death in a lions' den for offering a prayer to "any god or man" (Dan. 6:7) besides the king of Medo-Persia, Daniel "went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days" (Dan. 6: 10).
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Thus, in every conceivable circumstance, "by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Heb. 13:15).
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Why? Because "we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28).

In ETERNITY

What will believers be doing in heaven? We will be saying:
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"Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever" (Rev. 7:12).
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So let us ask God to help us today to thank Him for His infinite grace and love in sending His Son to pay in full the penalty for our sins which we could never pay. What a gift!

Yes, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Cor. 9:15).

Do you want to learn more about this topic?
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Listen to "Only One Said 'Thank You'" by Dr. Whitcomb on SermonAudio.com.

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Thanksgiving Street

Thanksgiving Street

I knew a man whose name was Horner

Who used to live in grumble corner;

Grumble corner in crosspatch town

And he never was seen without a frown.
He grumbled at this, and he grumbled at that,

He growled at the dog. He growled at the cat.

He grumbled at morning. He grumbled at night,

And to grumble and growl was his chief delight.
He grumbled so much at his wife that she

Began to grumble as well as he.

And all the children, wherever they went,

Reflected their parents discontent.
If the sky was dark and betokened rain,

Then Mr. Horner was sure to complain.

And if there was not a cloud about,

He grumbled because of a threatened drought.
His meals were never to suit his taste,

He grumbled at having to eat in haste.

The bread was poor, or the meat was tough,

Or else he hadn't had half enough.
No matter how hard his wife would try

To please her husband, with scornful eye

He'd look around and then with a scowl

At something or other he'd begin to growl.
One day as I walked down the street,

My old acquaintance I chanced to meet;

Whose face was without the look of care

And the ugly frown that had drifted there.
"I may be mistaken" perhaps I said

As after saluting I turned my head!

"But it is, and it isn*t the Mr. Horner

Who used to live on grumble corner."
I met him next day and I met him again;

In melting weather and in pelting rain.

When stocks were up, and when stocks were down,

But a smile, somehow, had replaced the frown.
It puzzled me much, and so one day,

I seized his hand in a friendly way and said,

"Mr. Horner, I*d like to know

What can have happened to change you so?"
He laughed a laugh that was good to hear;

For it told of a conscience, calm and clear.

And he said with none of his old-time drawl,

"Why I've changed my residence, that is all.
"Yes," said Horner, "It wasn't healthy on grumble corner"

And so I've moved: twas a change complete,

"And you will find me now On

Thanksgiving Street."
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."Giving Thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:20).
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."In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thess. 5:18).

Governor Bradford's First Thanksgiving Proclamation!

Governor Bradford of Massachusetts made this first Thanksgiving Proclamation three years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth:

"Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.
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In everything give thanks; for this is the will of  God in Christ Jesus concerning you! 1 Thes. 5:18

Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the daytime, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings."

William Bradford
Ye Governor of Ye Colony

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

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 thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
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Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th 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; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then 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; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Go: Washington

Is Your Thanksgiving an ETERNAL Thanksgiving?

Dear friends, the absolute key to a thankful heart in whatever time period or season one lives in is ONLY found in Jesus Christ and in His RIGHTEOUSNESS (2 Cor. 9:15)! In Jesus is found ALL forgiveness, ALL pardon, All hope, All promises, ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS, and ALL ETERNAL LIFE for the child who has placed ALL their trusted in Him for ETERNAL SALVATION in RIGHTEOUSNESS (2 Cor. 1:20)! For ALL of us who are, the question to be asked is, are we truly thankful for Almighty God our Heavenly Father for so loving us that He sent His only begotten Son on our behalf (John 3:16-17), that we may be redeemed, forgiven, received, adopted, and made RIGHTEOUS in the Person and work of Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:4, 1 Cor. 1:30)?

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice!

Dear friends, are we truly thankful in light of the day in which we live to still be able to worship Almighty God in Spirit and TRUTH here in America, and that we still have a measure of time left to get out His ETERNAL saving Gospel message to this lost, dying, and condemned world? Beloved, are we truly rejoicing that the Lord Jesus is coming again very soon and that this fallen world is NOT our ETERNAL home? Beloved, we have such an ETERNAL glorious hope, such ETERNAL precious promises and such an ETERNAL fulfilled future with our ETERNAL Savior and Lord in perfect RIGHTEOUSNESS (1 Cor. 2:9, Rev. 22:5)! Beloved, that truly is the thankful fire that must burn in our hearts all year long! We need to possess that thanksgiving of heart that keeps us fresh and joyful as we walk this pilgrim journey (Phil. 4:4)! For indeed, this world is truly NOT our home, we are truly just a pass'n through! Beloved, see and possess your ETERNAL calling in Christ Jesus, be His thankful, faithful ambassador and light in such days, and ALWAYS give thanks to the ETERNAL LORD of life in ALL THINGS (Col. 3:1-4, 1 Thess. 5:16-18)! For this is indeed the Will of God!

Beloved, may this Thanksgiving season be a wonderful, thankful blessing to you all! We indeed have much to be ETERNALLY thankful for (Phil. 4:4)!

Beloved, The Kingdom of Heaven is truly at hand!

DJP I.F.