Ep 84: Freedom From Want

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Has a Black Friday mindset
robbed us of an opportunity to

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be truly thankful?
We'll take a look at that in a

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bit.
Welcome to the show.

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I'm Daniel Dalp and this is for
your Sunday morning drive.

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The short podcast with the goal
of providing some motivation,

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Dr. and encouragement on your
way to worship and helping you

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recenter your mind on.
Spiritual things.

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On those hectic Sunday mornings,
this time of year can be really

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hard on a lot of people.
So if there's someone that you

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know of this week that is alone,
that is going to be by the

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themselves on Thanksgiving or
need somewhere to go.

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Why don't you invite them to sit
around your table, fill their

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belly with some good food and
take some time to be truly

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thankful.
Let's go ahead and get the show

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on the road today.
This is episode 84, freedom from

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want.
Let's go to church.

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Are we there yet?
Well, Thanksgiving approaches

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and I sure hope that you have a
joyous one, filled with family

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that truly cares and devoid of
any of those petty squabbles

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that seem to separate so many of
us.

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I hope you have abundant food.
Plenty of.

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Laughter.
Love.

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And great memories.
In fact, I hope that your

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Thanksgiving is nothing short of
Rockwellian.

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And if you've never heard that
term before, let me define it

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for you.
It means relating to or

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characteristic of the idealized
yes, but also sentimental and

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realistic American life depicted
in the artwork of Norman

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Rockwell.
Many times it describes scenes

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that are wholesome, everyday
moments that often evoke the

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nostalgia for a simpler time.
And I understand that my younger

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audience may have never heard of
Norman Rockwell.

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So you'll find the painting I'm
talking about LinkedIn, the show

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notes of today's episode.
The truly Rockwellian

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Thanksgiving is idealized in the
painting that you may or may not

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be familiar with called Freedom
from Want.

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And that really embodies what
Thanksgiving is all about,

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doesn't it?
That we are blessed that even

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with the meager things, we can
be satisfied that we have what

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we really need, so we are free
from the chains of want.

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It's a nice notion, but at least
in my experience, not always the

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case.
And that's a shame.

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Because, friends, God has
blessed us so, so richly.

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And I love Thanksgiving, but I'm
afflicted about the day after.

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Black Friday.
Because more and more, it seems,

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the want of Black Friday
encroaches on what is.

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Supposed to be.
This yearly day of contentment,

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satisfaction and gratitude.
And my worry is that this also.

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Deeply impacts.
Us spiritually, and I'll be the

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first to admit I've taken
advantage of a Black Friday

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sailor too.
And on the surface, I don't

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think there's anything wrong
with doing so.

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But on another level, there's
always something about its.

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Juxta.
Position right after

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Thanksgiving Day, that's always
felt.

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Gross or?
Unsettling, or maybe even

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hypocritical is.
The way to put it, I'll give you

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a personal example.
I have distinct memories of

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years gone by.
Where the?

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Turkey is still warm and the
table is still cluttered, and

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instead of just enjoying the
moment of being thankful, of

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being content, I remember myself
and other family members would

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just bust out those Black Friday
ads and start circling, looking

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for the deals, looking at the
new and being filled by the

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want.
And looking back on it, it seems

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pretty devoid of gratitude.
Not exactly.

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What is?
Depicted in Rockwell's Freedom

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from Want.
Especially when we.

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Realize the.
Spiritual impact that this could

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and probably is having on us.
In the well loved 23rd Psalm,

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David says the Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want.

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God provides us with the rest,
the guidance, the protection and

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sustenance that we really need.
And when we have His faithful

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care, what more could we
possibly ask for?

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But when we are ever seeking
that next thing, or God forbid,

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cannot take even a day's
breather to show him true

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Thanksgiving, what does that say
about our trust and our

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appreciation in Him?
I've always loved what Paul has

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to say to the brethren in
Thessalonica in First

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Thessalonians chapter 5 as he
instructs them in Christian

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conduct.
He says the following in verses

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16 through 18.
Rejoice always.

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Pray without ceasing in
everything.

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Give thanks, for this is God's
will for you in Christ Jesus.

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And many times we tend to focus
on this in terms that prayer

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should be continual, but Paul's
emphasis is much more about the

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mindset and the content of our
prayers then on the ACT itself.

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Pray continually, giving thanks.
Have a thankful heart

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continually.
Now I could very well be wrong,

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but this seems to imply more
than just a passing thanks God

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and the spiritual equivalent of
a high 5 on the way to seek out

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more or to indulge in
extravagant abundance.

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Right, Hebrews. 13 verse five
really drives this thought home.

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Make sure that your care is free
from the love of money, being

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content with what you have.
For he himself has said, I will

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never desert you, nor will I
ever forsake you.

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Don't seek after greed.
Be content.

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And what I love about this verse
is that it seems to have

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something to say about what we
should be content with.

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God's faithfulness.
That's where contentment flows

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from.
That's what should compel us to

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Thanksgiving.
And I think that's worth more

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than a day, a year, and a rushed
one at that.

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Now look.
I'm not saying that if you enjoy

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getting out on Black Friday.
Or that if you get.

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A rush from finding a good deal
and taking advantage of some.

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Lower prices.
That you are somehow in the

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wrong.
However, it is my plea that as

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we approach what has been a
centuries old tradition of

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contentment and gratitude that
we take the time to truly

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recognize how blessed we are by
the Almighty and say thanks.

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That we give thanks to the One
who truly makes us free from

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want.
Or at least help clear the table

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before breaking out those ads.
Because showing our thanks to

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God in an honest way.
It's not just this sanitized

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Rockwellian idealism, but it's
godly thanks given to a great

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God.
And that's worth the time it

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takes to do it right.
Well, those are my thoughts for

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your Sunday morning drive.
Now it's time to hear yours.

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Our discussion questions for
this week are, are we truly

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thankful for what God has given
us physically and spiritually?

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What steps can we take to be
true, truly content with what we

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have, And how can slowing down
and savoring the blessings of

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God help us to lead a more
thankful life?

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Hey, I hope you have an awesome
Thanksgiving.

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Spend it with some good friends
and family, enjoy it, be

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thankful and I'll see you
Sunday.