Thanksgiving: True Compassion
and Gratitude by Kelly Durant 11-19-12
I John
3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren.17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have
need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love
of God in him?18 My
little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
How many of you have ever seen beggars? I mean
hungry ones with very sad faces? There are a lot of them in South America and
each day I had to have a few pesos ready to give out. If you don’t help you are
going to feel very bad thinking about how you did not help someone in need! Right?
But you can always observe hundreds that do not care at all and just walk on by!
The first Pilgrim Colonists in 1621 in this country
were literally dying of hunger after arriving to this land from England. They
arrived in the summer and did not have time to plant for the harvest and they
had no provisions for the winter. Immigrants seem to always have a hard time no
matter where they move to! Right?
A Cuban I shared a coffee with one time told me he
was so poor when he got here to Miami that he would catch pigeons on the beach
in order to be able to eat! Sometimes we are unaware of how poor some people
around us actually are! Never judge, appearances deceive!
We can be thankful for Thanksgiving Day because it
has shaped Americans as a culture to remember to be grateful to God and to be
compassionate! Americans have historically been one of the most generous
helping people on earth giving over 240 billion to individuals or charity each
year! Half of that goes to churches! This is one reason why Satan has been
working so hard to divide and destroy our faith and this country! “Tolerance”
the past few years seems to apply for every type of religion and all types of evil
but “tolerance” is not offered to Christians the ones helping ministries with
120 billion a year! But Satan controls his multi-trillions!
The Native American Indians, and historically most
cultures in the world, have a tradition of celebrating the fall harvests which
sustains them through winter. Even pagan European cultures knew there was a God
that provided and they had festivals as well. It was Pres. Abraham Lincoln that
made Thanksgiving Day an official holiday in 1863 to, as in his words, “remember
Almighty God”. But it had been celebrated for over 150 years prior to that!
It is amazing how the Indians showed compassion on
these new strange white immigrants. Everyone today should celebrate this act of
compassion and gratitude to God and and express gratitude to our remaining
noble Natives! Thanksgiving Day should be a day in which we recognize God’s
mercy through others and this should prompt us to show compassion on someone less
fortunate in
our society.
The irony of being a Christian is that we are
supposed to live out compassion and gratitude in our every action, but often we
may meet others that know and practice it innately because they are spiritual.
All people still have a God consciousness (as mentioned in Romans 1) and God sees
all. How much more Christians must do it!
The scripture of today, of showing compassion, was in
its essence being practiced by a people that at that time were considered
savages. Interesting God’s humor in how He used so called “savages” to save the
Christians from hunger by throwing a big party and feast! But that set the
stage for how every immigrant should be compassionate ever since that day!
This nation, founded by Christians, now lives with
this standard and tradition of compassion and it is established as an example
for all generations so that we too must keep the tradition and always be
compassionate and feed and care for others. I would like to suggest that when we
show the less fortunate compassion that we not forget that this includes
the widows, the homeless, and the immigrants.
But for the cold hearted and compassionless, hear this
warning: Proverbs
21:13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry
of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
These Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe gave an
example of how all people can without any discrimination of race and class
appreciate one another, love and share, and thank God that He is keeping them
alive!
Think about this, God feels deep pain when he spares
someone’s life and then later these same people become proud and greedy and
forget Him! In other words God gets angry and judges severely people who are
non-compassionate and unthankful!
Where do we find evidence of this? In the O.T.,
Moses freed 6 million Jews from the slavery of Egypt and how did these people
respond? Did they praise Him every day? No! They complained constantly against
God, they built idols to worship any god except the One who had saved them!
Their punishment was to wander lost 40 years in the desert and never reach the
promised land!
God has a way of judging and destroying the nations
that are unthankful to Him! All the world’s super powers of the past, Egypt,
Persia(Iran), Greece, and Rome, look at them today! They are still bankrupt, in
turmoil, and divided! They have been cursed for several thousand years now
because their people became aggressors to steal, enslave, and exploit instead
of being people who were loving and giving, compassionate worshipping God!
Many Native tribes were peaceful and loving and
spiritual, but others were war-like and they would invade and kill everyone in the
peaceful tribes. This was the same scenario as in Europe where the white tribes
of peaceful people were invaded by Vandals, Vikings, and other barbarous war
like people. Today the aggressor’s identities have disappeared. And why is that? Because it was prophesized by Jesus in Matthew
5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. But there are still not enough meek ones yet! The
evidence is there, God humbles or He exalts!
Are we becoming a nation that is more overrun by
greedy deceitful aggressors that will scam and rob and even kill old ladies to
steal? Are we as a nation losing our protection and blessings from God because
too many people have stopped being compassionate people who thank God for their
lives? How have Christians gone wrong to be deceived to follow false doctrines? Psalm 9:17 The wicked
shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
I propose to you that as many as half of today’s so
called Christians are no longer reading and following Biblical principles but
rather they are following men and teachings that are filling them with
bitternesses and destruction. Many so
called churches are now accepting false ideas and politics and the erroneous
liberation theologies. They want justice, but in their own revengeful way and
it is painful.
We believe that the despairing needs of others is
solved by obeying Jesus example, and that is having a heart to God and a hand
to man! We help as in I John 3:16!
Yet the modern trend is to believe that social
justice, or caring for the poor, should be by force and carried out by imposing
on the prosperous steep penalties, taxes and laws that permits the shifting of
the wealth to themselves taking from others what they covet. This is a sign of
the times. Listen to what the anti-christ will do.
Daniel 11:24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the
fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not
done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and
spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong
holds, even for a time.
What it amounts to is Satan has always wanted to
prove He is as good as God. Satan wants to appear compassionate! God’s way is
the sacrificial way, the laying down of your life for others, the giving of
your time, talent, and treasure to others giving them the gospel of salvation
in compassion due to your gratitude to God. True Christians willingly share with those in
need!
But Satan’s imitation of compassion is the way of
the warlike aggressors. Historically between Russia, China, and the rest 40
million or more have died under atheist Communism. Jesus exposed Satan in John
10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am
come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
God’s compassion is not bound by a race, religion,
or place. Jesus example of the Good Samaritan points this out! Compassion must be put into practice by those
that know God or otherwise the world’s (or Satan’s) idea of compassion becomes
a method of oppression and destruction!
The world can be divided into 2 types of people, the
Satanic self-righteous condemning greedy destructive and imposing types who
want to take from you or the sharing spirit –filled caring and loving type that
thanks God for everything Which type are you?
In the end, you are either practicing compassion
from God or you are not! If not, then you are comparable to the soon to
disappear war-like selfish people of the past that forcibly took what they
coveted to consume and destroy.
Only Jesus love can change hearts that are hell bent
on stealing, invading, killing, and disrespecting other races and cultures!
These atrocities still continue on today in the world in our metropolis mega cities,
and in all countries everywhere.
Let us pray for a return to a thankfulness to God
and a practice of real compassion! Thanksgiving today is needed more than ever!
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