JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"Keep Giving Thanks to God"

1 Chronicles 16:7-12  "On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the LORD: Oh, give thanks to the LORD!  Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!  Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!  Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!  Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!  Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth."

Psalm 30:4  "Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name."

Psalm 140:13  "Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name;
The upright shall dwell in Your presence."

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

James 1:17  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

Insight: We must always give thanks to God.  Every good and perfect gift comes from Him!  When you receive earthly blessings, remember who gave them to you and give Him thanks.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for being good and holy.  There is no other like You!  Thank you for giving us so much.  Help us always to recognize that You are the giver of these gifts.  Help us to continually give you thanks!  Praise You for your awesome mercy and grace.  We love You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

William Llyod Garrison (1805-1879), was a famous abolitionist leader and the publisher of The Liberator, an anti-slavery paper in Boston. He founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833 and suffered hundreds of threats upon his life for his politically incorrect stand that a human being was not property. In the face of pro-slavery government, laws, court decisions, public opinion, and even pseudo “scientific theories” that Negroes were “biologically inferior” and therefore denied the right to life and freedom, William Lloyd Garrison printed the first issue of The Liberator of January 1, 1831:

“It is pretended, that I am retarding the cause of emancipation by the coarseness of my invective and the precipitancy of my measures. That charge is not true. On this question my influence, -- humble as it is, -- is felt as this moment to a considerable extent, and shall be felt in coming years -- not perniciously, but beneficially -- not as a curse, but as a blessing; and posterity will bear testimony that I was right. I desire to thank God, that he enables me to disregard “the fear of man which bringeth a snare,” and to speak his truth in its simplicity and power. And here I close with this fresh dedication:

‘… I swear, while life-blood warms my throbbing veins,
Still to oppose and thwart, with heart and hand,
Thy brutalizing sway – till Afric’s chains
Are burst, and Freedom rules the rescued land,
Trampling Oppression and his iron rod:
Such is the vow I take – SO HELP ME GOD!’ ”

In his writings, W.P. and F.J.T. Garrison, published 1885-1889, William Lloyd Garrison explained:

“Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion.”

If you'd like to have the citations for the footnotes above, please email us.  If you'd like to see more quotes from those who framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Dr. Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and gives over 4,000 answers to alleged Bible errors, regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.  There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

If you'd like to read more quotes, we have thousands in our archive!  Visit http://quotes.jcsm.org.