Happy Thanksgiving!
The day is finally upon us- it’s thanksgiving! A great day- a day that we can set aside for the LORD our God with thankfulness of heart! Indeed, most of all, thanksgiving is a condition of the heart.
Isaiah 29:13
Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote… (cf. Matthew 15:8ff)
Thanksgiving cannot be something that is learned by rote; we see it every year as many honor the holiday in words and gather around an empty table full of food, if the heart has been blind to the LORD’s grace then its thanksgiving will be empty and the heart will be found far from God. Every year we see homes filled with strife and stress over the smallest of things on a day that is supposed to be intended for thanksgiving!
Yet the Grace of God prevails still more:
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
If we observe His ordinances and walk in His statues, we know that it is because of the clean water poured upon us; we know that our heart has turned from our filthiness and idolatry and draw near to Him because He has put a new spirit within us and given us living hearts!
Matthew 11:29
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Through Jesus Christ we have found rest for our souls under the stronghold of the LORD our God!
Where is the weary? Where is the exhausted stranger? Where are the gentle and humble? The weak and distressed? Let all of them draw near to the Lord and take upon them His yoke- He will teach His ways to you and fill you with thanksgiving and joy! You will walk in grace all the days of your life!
Romans 6:17
But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,
According to the heart, the person is revealed. Whether disobedience, resulting in falling away (Hebrews 3:12), or obedience, resulting in freedom and life (Romans 6:17).
Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
1 Peter 1:22
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
Let us come before Him in full assurance of the blessings that He has made know: in awe and with great thanksgiving, let us draw near to the Alpha and the Omega with a sincere heart in the full assurance of faith, having been purified in obedience to the truth and filled with a sincere love which we fervently demonstrate towards one another!!!!
Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.
The LORD has made straight the path through His gates in Christ Jesus our Lord! He has straightened our ways by giving us a new spirit and a living heart of flesh. With thanksgiving and praise in His courts, we render to Him blessings because He has been so good to us!
Biblical Reasons 
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