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This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. We are two weeks out from Thanksgiving, the day of Thanksgiving that we have here in the United States.
The um Thursday after next, is we're beginning to prepare and we're beginning to think about those people coming in and all sorts of interesting things. But are we. Have we began the idea of But Literally. How are we going to do Thanksgiving, as far as giving thanks to God this year. Like, what is that?
exactly look like. How am I going to? What am I truly? you know, thankful for. And so you might guess that I have Dr.
Dave the word Carson, who's all about the date of Thanksgiving, and I can assure you he's got it dialed in with a verse, with a verse. But I'm very curious. And I'm really anxious to hear how it is that you prepare, right? yourself in your quiet time, et cetera, to to really make the most out of what our forefathers You know, laid down for us, even out of the book of Leviticus. You know, and you couldn't get more biblical than the idea of Thanksgiving.
866-348-7884, 866-348-7884. And I shared with Dr. Date the word right before we went on the air that a very fun fact that I love. Is it? the word thanksgiving, which first is is brought out in the thanksgiving offerings in Leviticus.
To say that in Hebrew is really fun because you know, for those of us who grew up in the sixties and seventies, this whole idea of Ta-da, like something cool happened, and you used to go, ta-da, right? And so, when you say Thanksgiving, you know, which is really kind of fun to just say it with God, like ta-da! Like, man, you did it. And maybe you're like me, I'm looking out the window right now. I see these gorgeous leaves, and I know that when God Made that tree right there with the bright red leaves on it.
He was like, Robbie. Ta-da. And I know when he made Dr. Carson and he looked at him in the crib and he was saying, he did. He did.
He said, ta-da. 866-348-7884. How is this working out? Like, if you're a pastor, I know you're like me. You're thinking, you know, what am I going to preach on?
What does that feel like? And I know, Stu, oh, he gets, if anybody in my life I know gets fired up about Thanksgiving, it would be Stu Epperson. I believe it is his favorite holiday. And I know every time I see him for the next two weeks, he will be preaching Thanksgiving. And so, what is that like?
He's preaching Thanksgiving. Yeah, that's his word. Thanksgiving. Thanksliving. Yeah.
and us getting ready for Thanksgiving. Uh we use the old football coach's analogy, failure to plan is planning to fail. And so two weeks out What's it gonna look like? I mean now we've got the government reopened Hallelujah. Hopefully, flights now will not be as scary.
I did fly the other day, and we had a 10-minute delay on the tarmac. That's all I had to deal with out of flying from Charlotte to Sarasota, from Orlando back to Charlotte. We were blessed, but I know a lot of people had lots of anxiety. And we were sitting in the airport, Robbie, and sitting beside me were a couple of pilots. I said, I hope you guys are here from my plane.
They said, No, we have had air flight canceled. I go, Not you guys. Yep, they themselves.
So all this to say, time is is now coming where people are preparing. Where they're going to spend Thanksgiving. But today's show, we want to talk and hear from our listeners on what you're doing to prepare to lead your family. in giving thanks. How do you do that?
Yeah, I think it Clearly starts with you. Right. I mean, the first thing is how do I, like, individually prepare and interestingly, I I I do have the absolute joy of uh doing uh devotions at a different couple different nursing homes. And I have a a story that I share a lot of Thanksgivings. It it's called the the uh The offering of the thorns, or the have you read it before?
Oh, yes, the thanksgiving of the thorns. And so it's about this florist shop. Mm-hmm. And this poor girl comes in having lost her child in an automobile accident. that um she was pregnant.
and the airbag apparently deployed, causing her to lose her baby. And she was bemoaning that and and she says that she honestly was angry with God. Right. And and people had been praying for that she would see that God would comfort her, and then she'd be able to comfort others with the comfort that she had been comforted with. And when she meets this lady, all these people are coming in to get these long stem roses.
With all the thorns, but she's cut the flowers off the top. Because she says. I've always given God thanks for all the wonderful things in my life. But I've never thought about giving God thanks for the thorns. When I take the word thankful or even thanksgiving, but thankful, especially, I've used it.
I'm going to give God thanks for the trials. I'm going to give him thanks for, and I use that, Robbie, the thorns. Those thorns were part of making that rose what it is. And the trials are what make us who we are. And can I pause and say thank you?
And I remember the first time I ever read that story was after my mom had died. Terrific. And. And it it really hit me uh on thinking about because um As I read the story, the the The people were coming into the store, and do you have my bouquet of thorns ready? Right.
That's thorns. Yeah, we got Mike Zwick calling. He's a virtual Wikipedia, I always say.
So we're dying to know what is this. What's this Wikipedia have to say about Thanksgiving, my friend?
Well, and and I wanted to make sure I understood the question. Is it how do you lead your family in praise? Is that right? No, in giving thanks.
Well, it's actually more along the lines of how are you preparing to To Okay. For Thanksgiving, whether it's your family or yourself as an individual or whatever it is that you might be preparing for Thanksgiving. How does that work out in your life? You know, that's kind of between you and God to some extent. But what do you think, Mike?
Well, I know my wife's mother passed away of brain cancer when she was about 60 or 61 years old. And she said that every morning when they would wake up in the morning, mother would tell the kids, This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice. and be glad in it. And I want to tell you something.
We do the same in our household. And when we start the day out that way, it changes the atmosphere. Yeah. Really? No.
And so you And you have such a beautiful family, Mike. You really do. And it's so fun for those who don't know that almost every time I see Mike come into the studio or wherever he is, it would be a rare occasion when he doesn't have one of his children, his wife, somebody with him that that's there they all share in the adventures. Right? And it's just an absolutely beautiful thing.
And so, go ahead.
Well, and right now, for our listeners, as we talk with Mike, there's a couple things we know. It's all about the fours right now. He's 44, his wife's 44, and his daughter's four. And we're talking about rejoicing.
So, what you need, Mike, is Philippians 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say unto you: rejoice. Oh, praise God thing, you do pay attention to these books.
So how's that for date the word right there?
Well, you know, and I tell you this I tell you this too, and this is something that I know for a fact. If I want to be negative or if I want to point out everything that's going wrong in the world, I don't really have to work on that. That's exactly right. That just kind of comes natural. But what I've learned is that when I praise the Lord, it's something that I have to work on.
Thank you for calling in, Mike. That's spectacular. And. You know, you can go home and say four score. There you go.
44, 4, 4, 4. Thank you, Mike. How about you? Give us a call, 866-348-7884. How are you preparing?
True of the big Thanksgiving. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. Today we are talking about. the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and how?
Are you actually preparing You know, for that thankfulness, that thankful heart, that idea that. Obviously, once you have it, you can sh you can clearly Begin to lead those around you, your family, etc. But You know, as you think about what you're actually preparing for intentionally, trying to make this happen, that you could have the most amazing time. Giving thanks because You know, it says the Lord inhabits right the praises of his people. And so in his presence is fullness of joy.
If you could really get all that going on, you know, it's it's an amazing thing, like Mike said, to Rejoice in the Lord. I got to give him the number 866. You got to call us. We are dying to hear from you. You.
866-348-7884866. Three, four, eight, seven, eight, eight, four. And there's liable to be a whole cornucopia. Cornucopia. I hope our listeners know what that is.
And if you're in North Carolina, You better know what it is because a cornucopia makes up part of the state seal. And it speaks of the abundance of the prosperity of how God blesses as part of the DNA of North Carolinians. to recognize the blessings of God. And here I'm from Virginia and I'm loving living in North Carolina because of that. Absolutely.
And and I had never really spent that much time Until Dr. Carson brought it to my attention that there was a cornucopia in the Great Seal of North Carolina. Um and as I as I looked upon it, I realized that there was a lady there that was with this cornucopia, and from what I understand, it is Lady Plenty. That and just, and there's also Lady Liberty that's standing across from her. She has the torch the whole thing.
Long before the Statue of Liberty came, here in North Carolina, we had, if you know, we were interested in your Ohio. State seal and all the other states that are listed in South Carolina, Virginia, but we're just. And so my natural question was is their first name good? Because for those of us good and plenty lovers out there, you know, we just thought a whole cornucopia of good and plenty. You know, it's just saying.
Just saying. But anyway. You were fixed it before we got into the whole cornucopia thing. You were sharing. More about the actual devotional idea.
Well, when we think about going into this Thanksgiving Day, which is something that has become part of our nation's DNA. We go back to 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared a day of thanksgiving during the Civil War. We go all the way back to George Washington. He's making proclamations for a day of thanksgiving. We go back to the pilgrims, 1621, day of thanksgiving.
But even to 1613 on the Berkeley plantation just outside of Jamestown, they had a day of thanksgiving. This nation has realized from the very beginning, even before we were a nation, we should recognize God and say thank you for his abundant blessings. And no nation is like us. But here's what can easily happen, Robbie.
So easily can happen. We'll get caught up on the food, the family, friends, football, all these things are going on. And and and I I try to ask the question of myself. How will my Thanksgiving look different than someone who is lost. who may not be at a place of recognizing God's indescribable gifts to them.
And Paul talked about how we give thanks for his indescribable gift. We ought to be giving thanks. And I just made a decision as I became a husband with my wife and then as a father with my children, Thanksgiving is going to be a day of giving thanks. We're going to do things intentionally to bring about making sure we are truly acknowledging God on this day that then bleeds into every day because, you know, every prayer needs to have thanksgiving in it. The right way to approach God is to approach him with thanksgiving.
As Mike talked about, this is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Well, you don't get to go into God's presence grumbling. That's not going to get you very far. And that's what be anxious for nothing. Philippians 4:6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. Wow, what a call.
But he does say with thanksgiving. Come before him with Thanksgiving. How does that really? How does that work in your family, in your life? You know, what might be a neat thing you guys do, like Mike talked about?
We would love to hear it. Plus, there could be a whole lot of people that are looking for ideas of ways to really get. The spirit, you know, going with that. 866-3486. 7884-866-3487884 and the back end of that word in English Thanksgiving.
The giving part of that's huge, right? Yes. Yeah. When you start thinking about. uh what God has given us.
And some of today's show is coming because of yesterday morning, I'm at a thing called Wednesday in the Word, and our founder, Stu Epperson, is leading this. And he started talking about out of 2 Peter chapter 1, how, as Peter just is giving an introduction, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus. And then he says this as His divine power has given All given to us, all things that pertain to life and godliness. He has given us Yeah. And then in verse 4 it says, by which has been given to us Exceedingly great and precious promise.
And so we focused for a few moments on what has God given us. And then I got home yesterday and I just got to thank Him more for Thanksgiving.
Now this way a good way To Lead my family, friends. on a thought about what do I give thanks for. And giving. What has God given? And that G, and I like to do the acrostics, the G would be.
His gifts. to just think about, first off, the gift. 2 Corinthians 9.15. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. How do you say thank you enough for Jesus?
And Jesus himself said when he did the Lord's Supper with his disciples in the upper room there, he said, with the bread and take and eat this, for this is my body which is Given. Given. He laid down his life willingly. They didn't take it from him. He laid it down, laid it down for us.
And when you begin to just explore that thought of how much God loved you. There has to be coming out of your spirit gratefulness. And gratitude, and that worship, praise.
So we start with the G and uh That would be one way of doing this. And so the second would be I? Second's going to be I. And I couldn't help but think on the component from yesterday. Again, we talked about how we have this life.
It's called imputed righteousness. And I love that Stu had us all say, impute it. Because what is imputed? It's something that is given to us that we don't deserve. We don't earn it.
We can't buy it. There's no way to do enough works.
Someone say, now you've got righteousness. He imputes his righteousness to us. The greatest exchange of all time is 2 Corinthians 5, 21. Christ takes our sin. The one who had no sin.
takes our sin and now he gives to us Righteousness. We who had no righteousness, now we get His righteousness. And talk about an exchange.
So, so we get the eye is imputed and say it during the break three times fast. Imputed, imputed. And then, while you're doing that, be dialing 866-348-7884, 866-348-7884. How are you preparing? Have you got an acrostic for the doc that he may like better?
866-34-TROOTH. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Two weeks out. Thanksgiving is a coming. I'm wondering if two weeks from now, Robbie, if people are going to be taking a nap from having eaten so much turkey.
I can assure you, it will be on my mind. And, but, you know. That's one of the things I truly give God thanks for all the time. There's nothing like a good nap. Absolutely.
And God put me in the habit of that. I don't know. seven or eight years ago, that I could just be a whole lot more. productive in the afternoon if I would take a nap. Siesta.
And I had to train I mean, God had to show me that I didn't the world did not depend on me. And I could lay down and let it all go and just say, you know, God, I'm going to let you run the world for the next hour. I think we've got a future show. How biblical is an afternoon nap? Yeah, it's something to give thanks for.
Yes. But how are you doing that? We would love, oh, we would love to hear how you do that. 866-348. Not well, we'd love to hear how you take a nap too, but how you give thanks.
How are you preparing? How are you preparing? Your heart, your intentionality for your family. 866-348-7884. How is that done for you?
Uh It's really, really neat to hear. The different ideas, the different families have been shared, and we would love to hear yours. And so would everybody else, too. And so it takes courage unknown. It's not so easy to be on the radio, but if the Holy Spirit is calling you, I'm.
I think there's a verse, if I'm not sure, Dr. Carson says, right now, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart, something like that. Yes. Hebrews 3, 13. And so make the call.
and be an answer to prayer. And we'll tell you how you're an answer to prayer if you call in. Um We are talking today two weeks out. Two weeks out. Because If we're going to make something special, It does take intentionality.
And I would hope all of our listeners, Robbie, would be thinking, how will this Thanksgiving be different as we pause as a person? As a family, as a church, as a nation. To truly look at God's blessings. And I think. I I have I have found that Jesus does have a heart that can become grieved.
Hurt? Uh He healed ten lepers. Luke 17, great story there. He healed 10 lepers. One turned around.
and said thank you. And you know what Jesus said? Where are the other nine? And that tells us that his heart can be hurt. when there is a person who is acting like a spoiled Rotten brat.
And I think as Americans, especially, who've been blessed with so many wonderful things. Uh God should not be looking down at us and seeing a bunch of spoiled rotten brats. Thanksgiving Day gives us a chance to be grateful. And express to the one who truly is the provider. And that's that component of that North Carolina seal, the cornucopia.
That that Someone else had to make this happen. The blessings of rain and sun, seeds that would produce, and you realize the Creator. He deserves our gratitude. And so I was thinking You know, in the parable of the soils. The first Sower goes out to sow right and he throws the seed.
on the wayside, which is the path But more than that, it's a rut. Yeah. Yeah. It is a rut. That that is the path that we always go.
That's exactly how we've done it. And and the more times you do it that way, it the soil gets harder and harder. and harder And it gets more of a groove that it's hard to get them wheels out of that. And of course, next thing you know, Thanksgiving has escaped you. And you did it the way you always do it.
And you left a certain component out of Thanksgiving, and that would be. Thanksgiving. And believe me, the reason I say that is I have done that. And I know that it does take exactly what you're talking about, Dr. Carson, intentionality.
Because, you know, here comes the family. You know, here comes. You know, the stuff that you're getting asked to do and prepare and all these different things. That And we don't want the food to get cold. I've learned that.
So part of my intentionality is when are we going to talk about giving thanks and read some scriptures and pray some prayers because my wife does not want all of her hard work getting cold because now I want to do a Bible study on Thanksgiving.
So I've learned that. He can be taught. I can be taught. And that's something my wife is thankful for.
So.
Well, let me give out the number one more time because I'm really excited about the people that are thinking about calling. You're thinking about doing it. Come on, 866-348-0. 7884-866-348-668. Seven eight eight four so What has been The uh Carson Yeah.
Well we will eat the hot food. And then before dessert, I will usually have picked a word, thankful, thanksgiving. This year we're looking at giving given, and we're going to. Will go around and they'll have to say things they're thankful for. I give my kids assignments.
You know, read Psalms 100, read Psalms 103. Those verses that spur us on to To say thank you to God for some things. And then several will be told: I want you to pray about this. And we use the. The thorns.
I have thorns right there on the table. We don't have a bouquet of roses. We have a bouquet of thorns. And we talk about. The difficulties that developed us over the year.
And, um, Then we have dessert. But we do it between the hot food and the dessert. But um And when and I have to, I have to, Robbie. I have to turn the football game off. Because that's kind of how I always thought Thanksgiving was just so that you could watch football on Thursday on Thursday afternoon.
And that's it's a lot more than that. Yeah, I have heard the old joke that is do you think it's any coincidence is That after 12 hours of preparation, the average Thanksgiving dinner is consumed in 12 minutes. which, by the way, happens to be the length of half-time. Ha ha ha ha. That's kind of a scary thought, right?
And what a horrible situation that may be.
Well, well, we have Mike who's in Dayton, Ohio. We're anxious to hear, Mike, how is it that you... are preparing for your Thanksgiving, my friend.
Well Um, this year, the reason I didn't call right away is because I we usually have a a dinner over at my brother's house and he he fixes two turkeys and and we bring stuff. Everybody in the family brings stuff and It was it's been wonderful for the last four or five years. But this year they're My mom and and him and a couple other relatives are are going down south to to different relatives and w I can't go this year with them. And my brother, my son, he's going to on a vacation on a cruise. And my daughter is going over to her father's house and then after and I was praying about this this morning and I'm like You know, Lord, it's just me and my wife this year on Thanksgiving.
And I'm like... What what's you know, what's up with that? And so, how are you going to take care of me this year, Lord? And. And you know.
I started reading the Bible and I thought, you know, I came across that We were made in God's image. And I thought Wow, that's pretty cool that God made us in his image. And he loves us so much that he died for us, you know. And that's where my heart went to, and I was thanking God for. for the in everything his mar you know, his Unbelievable.
Creativity in the earth. It's just you. I was out walking and reading and sitting out on my porch and Just the creativity of watching the leaves fall off the trees. and and the sun coming up and And and God just is so miraculously great. And but he loves us so much that he died for us.
And I said, well, Okay, gotta go. Thank you for telling me all this, and I thank you. I'm praising you for it, and I thank you for that. But what about Thanksgiving? And God goes, Uh Hold on.
It's coming. And I went, okay, I'm gonna let what let what happen. I'm gonna let, you know, what's. I think God's going to use me this Thanksgiving. Maybe I'm going to cook some dinner to somebody that needs a dinner really, really bad.
Maybe I am, that's what's in my heart right now. Maybe I'm going to. Yeah, you remind me of a story. My family, it's a Dillmore legend, actually, at this point in time. You know, we had this.
You know, homeless gentleman. It was a wonderful guy that we wanted to invite for Thanksgiving. And so my wife got real busy as everybody's getting prepared for him joining us for Thanksgiving. And she said, Well, would you mind doing the pumpkin pies? And I was like, Sure, sure, just give me the recipe, I'll cook them.
Well, they all will fibero known as the sugar-free pumpkin pies.
Somebody, Mike, forgot to add the sugar. Oh no. And I'll never forget. As we you know, everybody loves my wife's I mean, my lot wife's pumpkin pies are just, you know, part and parcel of the, you know, what's supposed to be the Dilmore Fair. And so they all, you know, they don't know that I've made them and You know.
Of course, our guest of honor, he's got a mouthful of this poppy pie. And he goes, It's it's not quite as sweet. Anyway, Mike. Yeah, like you say, anyway, I just brought back that hil hilarious memory. to me that You know It's it was a thorn in the moment.
But forever is a very comical thing I remember, you know.
Well, you know, some Thanksgivings in the past you were supposed to fast something at least, so you decided they were going to fast sugar. Yeah, that's not, you know. It kind of reminds me of that story or that movie. You remember the movie that the dogs came in and the guy was all salivating over the turkey? I don't remember what movie that was.
The Christmas Cleveland. Oh my gosh. And he's salivating over his turkey, and the dogs come in and mess it all up. And then they go to this Chinese restaurant. Yeah, right.
Yeah. And yeah, I hear the music. There it is.
Well, Mike, thank you again. We'll be praying for your Thanksgiving. God's going to use that. And we would love to hear from you. We know you got something.
And it's going to be awesome. 866-348-7884. 866-34 TRUTH. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.
Yes, it's coming. Two weeks from now, Thanksgiving is gonna happen. And what are we doing intentionally? to see that it actually is What it says it is. You know, it's a fascinating thing.
We're talking about the state seal of North Carolina. I know that you Ohians have one and Virginia has one. I would love to know the significance of your state seal. You're welcome to call in on that, too, 866-348-7884. But in the North Carolina state seal, and we may use our Randy Epperson here to give us the actual pronunciation of this Latin word.
Jump on here, Randy, and you can give it to us. But I know What, go ahead, Randy, lay it on him. It's a good word. The Latin is esse quite. Plomvideri.
There you go. To be rather than to seem.
So wouldn't we rather want it to be Thanksgiving rather than it to seem like Thanksgiving? Yeah. you know, right there in our seal. Great point. This North Carolina state is growing on me.
That's a virtual cornucopia of good and plenty.
Well, we can possibly stretch the basin in Dixon up to include his home. That's not that far. 866, please. We want to hear from you. 866, so that what do you do so that it would be rather than to seem?
866-3486. Seven eight eight four. Acrostic like given. Oh yeah, we hadn't finished. Wait a minute.
We got the I, we got the G.
So the G was to gratitude or giving, and then the I was gifts, and then for His imputed righteousness. I hope you got your imputed going on, man. And then there is another I that could be used. Another word would be increase, because we do think every year about the increase. Um but but the V, uh victory.
And you got a great verse for victory because it comes from 1 Corinthians 15, 57. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And you take time and just think about all the wonderful victories. How did God see you through in 2025? How is He seeing you through?
And then the E. I had to really work hard on coming up with the word for E. We'll be the judge of that. Here we go. It's a time to give thanks to God for.
Everything. That's cool. Because he says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And just having that mindset that no matter what's happening in your life, God is at work. And he could take any mess and make a masterpiece out of it.
And to be able to say thank you, Lord, for any and everything that's going on, but especially for every good gift. And I love Ephesians 1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. What a Saviour we have Been saved, we're adopted, we're part of the family of God, and now He just pours out spiritual blessings all over us.
So, if you could just end give with a B, it would be like give. And then you can have blessing on the right there. Yeah, yeah, but thinking you're thinking down for something shaking their heads. What is he thinking? Yeah, well, the N is for the new nature.
Given. Yeah, given. The new nature. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Therefore, fitted ones in Christ.
He is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And I find myself. Being reminded of an aunt.
Some people call them aunts. I call mine Aunt Beulah. Of course, because you're from Virginia. Yes, Aunt Beulah. And she taught us.
Thank you, Lord. for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and free. And um when I conducted her funeral, I led everyone in singing that song because she pointed us to Jesus.
And I said, I got to believe right now she's in heaven saying, Lord, thank you for giving to me your great salvation. And so on Thanksgiving, we ought to be singing some songs as well. And that would be one of the things to be preparing. And then get someone who can. Sing.
Sing. If you've heard Doctor Carson sing, as soon as he said that, I was like, Oh, please don't sing. Oh. Oh, I get asked to sing solo so often. More offers than you can believe.
So low that no one can hear me. Why, Robbie, why? I think it's called tone deaf.
Okay. I think that's what they're saying. You have diagnosed the problem correctly. But nonetheless, It is done with great cheer, yeah, and and great. I've seen you sing, and it's always with great joy.
And again, that is singing to the Lord, yeah, it's a joyful joy. It clearly is, and I think. I really do. That you know, in our family, my mother. Wherever we went, anytime we went anywhere, we were singing in the car.
It was a chorus time. And and You know I can sing all these songs that she taught us over the years, just like you have that one. And It brought so much fun that we were coming around the mountain or Daisy, just thousands of songs that she always sang in the car. And so. My dad would chime in, and he had, you know, and my sisters, and whatever, and that was just part of the thing.
Naturally, when we start to go places in the car, I love to get with my kids and sing. And, you know, that's just part of. What just Great memories. Yeah, and some of that now is being lost. I know with my kids, we started having videos that they could watch, and then we started putting, they could put headphones on, and they became isolated.
And there were times I had to say, all right. Take them all off because we are. I want you guys singing and. Especially on those drives for Christmas and stuff, Thanksgiving, singing those songs that. have meaning to them and then they become meaningful memories.
I can assure you that you know. It just brings back so many wonderful thoughts to me. And my granddaughter Lila, we took a trip to my mother's on an Easter, and the whole way there, I taught her how to sing the Good Ship Lollipop because she sounded just like Shirley. What was her name? Shirley Temple.
She looked and sounded just like Shirley Temple, and I had her the whole thing on the Good Ship Lollipop. And, you know, what a delight. Those are memories I will never ever. Right, and I am so thankful because it was a gift, and the gift of song is definitely a gift.
So, what do you do? We would love to hear it. 866. We got time for you: 866-3484.
Someone could be an answer to prayer, yes, 866-348-7884. Because I do think. that that holiday and singing go together. Mm-hmm. No.
It it just it is. I I don't know what your favorite Thanksgiving hymn would be, but great is their faithfulness. We gather together. We gather together. To ask the Lord's blessing.
He hastens and chastens. Right? Yeah. Yeah, I mean you got to ask, what does it mean he hastens? I do know what it means he chastens.
It means he doesn't delay. that he's going to be right there with you. It's a m amazing. opportunity that we have right to to to make it a special time. And God is all about a good in-gathering, right?
And and so, you know, the whole feast of Sukkot is is fraught with that. It's one of the most joyous celebrations on the Hebrew calendar and it's celebrated longer. I don't know if you know that, that it's celebrated for eight days. kind of a magic number. In Hebrew.
So we need eight days of Thanksgiving. Yeah, buddy. And they live in booze and all that, and it is a communion. And it really, really is. And for them, You know, they're looking forward to the rainy season.
That the rains start about the time of Sukkot, and it's the rain. If it doesn't come, they're not going to have a harvest next year. And they're trusting God for what? And so they've gathered in the crops. Literally, because you know, they got to dry in the fields during the summer, they have in gathering, they bring in the crops so when the rains come, they don't get wet.
Right. And now the land is getting ready to be replenished. And uh I just wrote some things from Date the Word about how God keeps his eye on. on the land Uh Deuteronomy 11, 12. And one of the things I brought out was that The promised land wasn't a land that they would have everything given to them.
No, it was a land that they would have to depend on the promises of God being kept. And so our lives are not to be a life of independence from God. But of dependence. And how do you stand on the promises of God?
Well, you stand on them because you are needing them. If you didn't need him, then why would you need his promises?
So God brought his people to the promised land so that they would trust and rely on him, seek him for those early rains and then the latter rains. And then that comes in the Thanksgiving part because you're realizing our God has provided for us. The world has its system that takes care of themselves. But God has a system where He takes care of us. and then he brings his rich blessings on us.
Two weeks out, we've got to be getting ready to make this a special day. Yeah, yeah, what an opportunity we have. We're so grateful here at the Truth Network that you are listening today to Truth Talk Live. It is your show, and we always love it when you call. You guys make it so wonderful.
And, of course, tomorrow, Mike Zwick called in early, but he'll be hosting Truth Talk Live. And so thank you all so much for listening, and have a blessed time preparing to give thanks.
