Dearly beloved in Christ,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ

We are entering in to a season of celebrations, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated throughout United State of America on the fourth Thursday in November, and the Mar Thoma Parishes in the diocese of North America & Europe celebrate Diaspora Sunday on the third Sunday in November to coincide with the Thanksgiving Day celebrations

In the words of George Washington “It is the duty of all the nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits and humbly to implore His protection & favor.”

Let’s look in the life of the people of Israel, they wandered in the wilderness, in a desolate way, they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty , their soul fainted in them, then they cried out to the Lord in their troubles and He delivered them from out of their distress, and He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for habitation, God rescued them. Then there is that refrain, “Oh that man would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men”. God has done this for you so thank Him.

It is dangerous to Christians to depend on comfortable circumstances. When God sees that we are depending on our circumstances and not on Him He will change those circumstances in a hurry. He turns the rivers in to wilderness and the water springs in to dry ground, a fruit full land in to barrenness, for the wickedness of those dwell in it. He turns wilderness into pool of water, and dry land in to water springs. Some people says we are blessed we have these wonderful rivers and springs we have all these fruit full lands. Let’s just eat, drink and be merry. But God says, “Wait a minute, are you enjoying the gifts and forgetting the giver? Are you looking at my hand and forgetting my heart? Are you enjoying my wealth but neglecting my will? That’s what often happens- we turn to idolatry we start living on substitutes. The rivers and springs and fruit full land become our God. So God stops the rivers, He shut off the water springs. Then we cry out and say, O God what shall we do? His answer is “start worshiping me instead of your blessings, don’t be idolaters, who live on substitutes, give thanks to me for all the good things I have given you, then we have experience the loving-kindness of the Lord. The Satan will do his best to get you to depend on the world’s substitutes. When he succeeds, you forget God and trust in your resources and wealth you become an idolater. Perhaps you enjoy comfortable circumstances, thank God for them, and continue to draw your strength from the spiritual resources He has provided

We are wanderers before the Lord saved us, – Lonely, solitary, hungry, thirsty, aimless and wandering where to go next. Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins, was buried, rose again on the third day and today is a living savior for all who call up on Him. So let us cry unto the Lord in our troubles, He will deliver us from our distress He will guide us , our family we are no longer hungry, no longer thirsty our Lord is the bread of life , He is the living water. We are a pilgrim on our way to the heavenly home

As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day and Diaspora Sundaywe have a lot to be thankful to our God who has brought us to this land and prospered  and guided us all these years. So let us be grateful to our Lord Almighty for His mercies and blessings in our lives. As Paul said, “Let us also be joyful always; pray continually give thanks to all   circumstances for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus”

May God Almighty Bless us all

Sajiachen