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DAILY READING Psalm 100:4-5—Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. FIELD NOTES One Thanksgiving, when I was a boy, I asked my grandparents what they did when they were children on Thanksgiving Day. They said, “It was…

DAILY READING 1 Thessalonians 5:18— “. . . give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” FIELD NOTES In 1822, Sarah Hale was a young widow, mother of five children, and editor of a women’s magazine. During this time, she began a 40-year campaign for Thanksgiving to be a national holiday.…

DAILY READING James 1:2-4— “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” FIELD NOTES During one especially difficult day of struggle, trial, and tribulation, I…

DAILY READING Psalm 118:1—“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” FIELD NOTES As Pastor Joe was preparing for his Thanksgiving message, he called his mother and asked, “Mama, you lived through the Great Depression with seven of us kids. We had nothing. We were worse than poor. How did you make it…

DAILY READING Exodus 14:10-14 FIELD NOTES In this passage of Exodus, the people of Israel are terrified and they cry out to the Lord in anguish. They ask God, why “you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” (v. 11). They question God and lament the path to destruction that they feel that…

DAILY READING Psalm 4 FIELD NOTES When I am feeling overwhelmed or upset, the weight of things always seems to be heaviest at night. Perhaps because the world is silent and I can’t distract myself. Or perhaps it is because this is the time when I am able to be the most honest with myself…

DAILY READING Psalm 93 FIELD NOTES One of my favorite songs, Louisiana 1927, written by Randy Newman and later recorded by Aaron Neville, was about the historic flooding that devastated Louisiana and Mississippi. It describes the floods, but also the pain of feeling the flood waters rising – “Oh Louisiana, Louisiana/ They’re trying to wash us…

DAILY READING Psalm 13 FIELD NOTES This passage in Psalms offers a prayer for relief from despair. Here we see David expressing how important it is to continue to trust in God, and not despair, even when we do not understand our situation or feel an immediate answer from God.  It is important to point…

DAILY READING Hebrews 10:32-39 FIELD NOTES This section of Hebrews discusses an enduring faith in times of persecution. This is a challenging text to discuss because many of us have never experienced a situation that could be considered a “persecution” for our faith. While we do see situations like this happening in contemporary society, such…