Thursday, November 28, 2019

Thanksgiving Proclamation by George Washington

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
I Corinthians 15:57 (KJV)


Today as I read the Thanksgiving Day proclamation made by President George Washington in 1789, my heart was saddened to think about how very far we, as a nation, have strayed from God and the vision of our founding fathers.  I am SO grateful to God for allowing our great country to be founded upon the the Word of God and by men who believed in Him and trusted in Him for guidance and wisdom, and it burdens my heart to see the disdain so many have for Him now. 

The United States of America absolutely was founded as a Christian nation, and no matter how much people try to rewrite history, the past can never be altered. 

I heard there are those who even want to change the name from Thanksgiving Day to some other title.  It seems to go against the cultural tide to even acknowledge that there is a God, let alone to show gratitude to Him and thank Him for all He has done.  No matter who turns their back on Him, He will always be God, and He will always be so worthy of our praise and gratitude.  How I praise Him today for the many blessings He has bestowed and continues to pour into my life! 

I hope each one of you have an abundantly blessed Thanksgiving Day, and I trust you will enjoy being reminded of how our very first President set aside and designated this special day as a day to praise our awesome Creator!

"By the President of the United States of America, a 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 signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

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 which we experienced 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 enabled 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 hath 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 shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, 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 third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789."

14 comments:

  1. Hello Cheryl!
    Happy post Thanksgiving Day! I hope that your day was blessed, beautiful and that your tummy was happy too. We spent the day we our youngest daughter, her husband and family in beautiful North Carolina. We soaked up the sunshine, feasted on homegrown collard greens and delectable turkey too. We are blessed and we thank God every day!
    Hugs and Blessings,
    Jemma

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    1. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, Jemma! Our day was wonderful, and it sounds like yours was, too. Reading the description of your yummy meal made me hungry! LOL! So thankful for your sweet visit and trust the Lord will continue to bless you richly, my friend!

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  2. Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you and yours had a blessed day and continued blessings.

    It is amazing how humanists try to spin the tale that our country wasn't formed by God Himself. A look at history shows that every nation that put God first has always been blessed... and those that don't put Him first fail. Period.

    May they open their hearts and eyes and brains! May we confess our sins so that He will heal our nation.

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    1. Thank you so much, brother. We had a wonderful day and are so very grateful for all of God's blessings. I hope you and your family had a special Thanksgiving Day, too! You are SO right in all you said. I say a hearty amen! God bless you abundantly.

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  3. Amen! Thank you for this timely reminder Cheryl. I agree wholehearted with all that you've written.

    I do hope that you, Kevin and Zach had a Thanksgiving to remember, full of love, laughter and yes, thanksgiving. We all do have so much to be grateful for.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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    1. We sure did, sweet friend. It was such a special day, and oh, I hope you are feeling so much better and were able to enjoy having your precious family gathered all around you, too. You are so right - we do have SO much to be thankful for. May the Lord richly bless you!

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  4. A radio talk show host I listen to often read this aloud on air this past Wednesday. How moving! And yes, an absolute affirmation that we were and are a nation under God.
    Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Cheryl!

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    1. Oh, that is so wonderful that he read this on the air! It is very moving, you are so right. Our day was very blessed and special, and I hope yours was, too, my friend. Many blessings to you!

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  5. What a beautifully written post, Cheryl, that you’ve shared for our “One Nation Under God”. I hope you had a most blessed Thanksgiving with your dear family.

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    1. Thank you so much, my friend. Ours was just wonderful, and I trust you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too! May the Lord bless your richly!

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  6. Hi Sweet Friend, We had a wonderful Thanksgiving even though it didn't turn out as expected, we were still blessed and surrounded by friends and family. I trust that you and your family had a blessed Thanksgiving as well. :-)

    My husband was just telling me last week about a movement to basically do away with Thanksgiving Day. I was so taken aback by that, but then again, I'm not sure why I was surprised...

    I don't think I had ever read George Washington's Proclamation for Thanksgiving. What a beautiful testimony of setting aside a day to recognize the Lord for all His benefits while giving praise and honor to Him. Indeed, how sad that we have come so very far from this.

    I like what you said though which reminded me of the cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. You can try to take away everything that you think represents Christmas or Thanksgiving, but the fact of the matter is, God will ALWAYS be on the thrown and He WILL be glorified.

    Thank you so much for sharing this.

    Sending you much love and gratitude dear friend.

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    1. We truly did have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving Day! God is SO good! I have never heard of such as what we are seeing going on in our nation right now. They even want to remove the name Thanksgiving because then I suppose they wouldn't feel they had to be grateful to any ONE or acknowledge that everything we are given comes from GOD above, and He is so worthy of our thanks! It is just a terribly dark and sickening time. I am very grateful that President Trump is not going to allow anyone to stop calling it Thanksgiving. God bless him. Thank you for your precious comments, sweet friend. They mean the world to me. I got your email and will answer soon, Lord willing. I love and appreciate you so much!

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