Thanksgiving Eve Scriptures ...

 Here's what I hope will be a special treat for some of my readers who have been enjoying the Sunday Scripture posts and hated to see them end.  I've put some thought and prayer into this and decided that my last Sunday post for November will be based on a passage I worked through during a Thanksgiving study in 2013.  Then, in thinking a bit more, I decided to choose a second passage from the study and use it for a special Thanksgiving Eve post.

This Thanksgiving study is an older, two-week one from Good Morning Girls.  I did a little research but, sadly, it seems to be no longer available.  I keep getting a "Page Not Found" message.  I'm so thankful that I was able to find the notebook in which I recorded my study, so I can share it with you all.

Although I love working on more in-depth Bible studies, these simpler ones are also a blessing to do, and I was very encouraged by this special Thanksgiving study.  Even though I can't give you the link, I hope that you will be blessed by what is shared here.  Maybe you would even like to start with the same Scripture, or even choose another passage on thanksgiving or thankfulness and SOAP it for yourself.

 I enjoy this SOAP method of Bible study, and the GMG studies use a very similar method.  I find this method a real blessing whether I am studying shorter passages or longer ones, so I hope you'll give it a try if you haven't ever done so. Just a reminder that the S is for Scripture -- just write it out -- and the O is for Observation, the A is for Application and the P is for prayer -- concerning how you'll apply this verse or praise for what it means to you.

Today's study is from Psalm 100,  verses 4 and 5.  We were to read the whole psalm (easy enough since it's just 5 verses) but to focus on the last two verses.

S=  "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
"For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endureth to all generations."  (Psalm 100:4-5)

O= The psalm is titled "A psalm of praise."  The author is not named.  The psalm appears to be addressed to "all ye lands" (verse 1), but in reading on, it seems more as if it is addressing God's people (verse 3 -- "we are His people").  

I notice that verse 4 contains four commands:
* Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
* Enter His courts with praise
* Be thankful to Him
* Bless His name.

Then verse 5 alludes to three or perhaps four attributes of God:
* The LORD is good
* His mercy is everlasting
* His truth endures to all generations
(In the last one I see both His truth and His covenant-keeping faithfulness to His people.)

A=  I need to offer thanksgiving to God.  I am to praise Him, to be thankful to Him, and to speak well of His matchless name.

God is worthy of my praise for many reasons, but here I specifically see that I need to praise and thank Him because He is good, because His mercy is everlasting, because His truth is enduring and because His faithfulness is great.

P=  "Lord, my heart is overflowing with thanksgiving as I praise You for all that You are, and as I thank You for all that you have done in my life.
"Lord, You are good -- all the time -- and I praise You for Your goodness.  Your mercy is everlasting, and You have been abundantly merciful to me and to all of Your people.  Your truth is enduring and will never, ever change.
"Help me, Lord, to continue to encourage my friends to get to know You better.  And help my life to speak well of You and to live out thanksgiving daily, so that my friends who don't yet know You will see an accurate picture of You at work in my life. 
"Truly, You are worthy to be praised!  In Jesus' name, Amen."

There's our simple Thanksgiving study for today ... Look for another on Sunday.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!