November 21, 2009

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever." Psalm 136:1-4

Have you ever thought to be thankful to God for being thankful?

Think about it.

We are not born into this world as thankful people. By nature we are pretty demanding. If you have forgotten that hang around an infant for awhile.

If left you are left to yourself you will form your world around yourself as the center of your universe. You will value people based on their value to you and how they fit into your universe. You will relate to God in the same way. That's just how it is. It is called the sinful nature. You have one, I have one, all God's children have one - no thanks to Adam.

Due to the nature of your nature, you are not thankful because you tend to believe you deserve the good things you get, don't deserve the hard things and secretly believe you should be treated better than you are.

So, when the Psalmist writes these words he is reflecting a change of nature:

"Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever" - when you come to know God as the God of gods, life changes. When you experience His unconditional love, you are never the same.

"Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever." - coming to know God not just as your God but as your Lord REALLY changes things! That's releases His nature to operate within you in place of your nature. His love reigns in your life and rules your attitudes and actions.

"to Him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever." - once He has done a wonderful thing within you He can then begin to do wonders through you. And one of those wonderful things is making you thankful.

Are you thankful?

Are you thankful for being thankful?

It's a good thing! It's a God thing!

November 20, 2009

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" II Corinthians 5:16-21

One of the things that humbles me the most and gives me the greatest cause for thanksgiving is when God works through me to touch another person. There is nothing more exciting that to see God transform a life through me.


Here's a great story of how God used a Christian to reach a Muslim:

In 1993, Lt. Col. Gary Morsch joined the Army Reserves as a doctor to care not only for U.S. soldiers, but also for wounded civilians and prisoners of war. In 2005, as a part of the war in Iraq, he was called up to serve as the field doctor for a battalion near the Iranian border. In an article for Today's Christian, he shares a story of something that happened on the last day of his tour of duty:

The Saturday before I left Iraq was one of the most amazing days of my life. I was scheduled to see patients and make rounds at the POW camp, and I asked the chaplain to join me. I wanted to say goodbye to the prisoners. Many of these Muslims had become Christians, and they had been asking for a baptismal service.

The chaplain suddenly decided to conduct a simple service. The POWs gathered their water bottles, and we pulled a cot out of one of the tents, setting it in the middle of the compound. One by one, the POWs sat on the cot and leaned back while we poured water over their heads and baptized them in the name of Christ. We baptized about a dozen that day.

During the baptisms, we asked each man if he wished to take a Christian name. One man asked me to write down each of the apostles' names so he could choose one. Another prisoner, named Afshin, asked me to suggest a name. I suggested James, the brother of Jesus, and told him that my father and brother are named James. Since my family name was on my uniform, Afshin asked about Morsch as well.

The chaplain asked me to baptize Afshin. I asked my friend what name he wished to take. He said, "I wish to take the name James Afshin Morsch." With tears in my eyes, I poured water onto his head, baptizing my Muslim friend into the fellowship of Christ. After our baptismal service, James pulled me aside and told me it was an Iraqi tradition to give a good friend a gift. He slowly slipped a ring off his hand.

"This is my wedding ring," he said. "I haven't seen my wife in many years, and I probably will never see her again. I'd like to give it to you."

I was stunned.

"No, James, you must keep it," I eventually said. "Someday you will see your wife again."

"No, I want you to have it," he said, as he pressed the ring into my hand.

We hugged and said a tearful goodbye, and then I walked out of the POW compound. It was time to return home.

I left on a plane full of wounded soldiers. The airstrip was under attack even as we taxied for takeoff. But I was at peace. God had brought me to Iraq to serve soldiers, civilians, and the enemy. But I saw that those categories are meaningless before God. He loves them all, and calls us to serve them all.

I am an ambassador for Jesus in an alien world. You are too. What a joy! What a blessing! Thank you, Master for choosing us to represent you in this world! Manifest yourself through us in a spirit of thanksgiving!

November 19, 2009

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:15-17

The Apostle Paul gives us another great insight into being thankful. Thanksgiving is "thanks- living". He makes that clear in these verses. What you give when you give thanks is - you!

THE SURRENDER, V. 15

"Let the peace of God rule in your hearts......."

The word used for "rule" is the word "umpire". Finding peace with God is a result of allowing Him to be the umpire in your life. He makes the calls, especially the judgment calls. You surrender to His authority and His judgment. You play the game He makes the calls. That sounds like surrender to me!

THE SOURCE, V. 16

"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to God."

If you are going to allow God to be the umpire in your life on a permanent basis you will need to know the rules. That is where knowledge and understanding of the Word comes into play. It is impossible to know whether or not the umpire is making good calls if you don't know the rules. God's Word not only outlines the rules but it give detailed insights about the Umpire so you can know Who He is.

As this was being written the believers in the churches only had the Old Testament. The New Testament was still being written. These verses are part of that process. The stories about Jesus and the formative doctrines and teachings of the Apostles were memorized and passed on by word of mouth. That became the focus of their fellowship and worship. No wonder they had such exciting services!

THE SUBSTANCE, V. 17

Thankfulness ultimately must be lived out! How do I know you are thankful unless you show it with your attitudes and your actions? This is why I say thanksgiving is "thanks-living". According to this text, thanks-living is not something you do occasionally or once a year but it is a lifestyle. It is a mindset. It is a perspective. Everything you do and every decision you make is filtered through a thankful spirit.

Thanks-living is living out the transformed life for the glory of God. Thanks-living is the outward expression of an inward presence and power.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday. Thanks-living is the holy way!

November 18, 2009

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:12-13

Most people can be thankful for their freedom but who can be thankful while in prison?

The Apostle Paul was in prison chained to prison guards while he wrote these words about contentment. How do you do that? Not sure I could.

Are contentment and thankfulness the same thing? Can you be thankful and not be content? Can you be content and not be thankful?

What do we need to learn from this spiritual giant?

"I can do....."

The first thing is to decide to have a willing attitude. A willing attitude is a decision to do God's will. Paul discovered that contentment develops from accepting God's will and not from trying to convince God to do it his way. "I can" really means "I will".

"all things...."

That willing attitude is only as good as your willingness to live it out. It is one thing to say you are willing to accept God's will but it is quite another to stay committed to it when the shackles are applied and the cell door slams. I think sometimes "all things" really means "all my things". When Paul said "all things" he meant "anything God wills for me". Sometimes it meant abundance and sometimes it meant abuse, but Paul was committed to God's will in God's way.

"...through Him Who gives me strength."

Here's the key, when we have the will to do it His way then He gives us the strength to do it. I don't know about you but sometimes I have expected God to MAKE me willing and Give me strength BEFORE I commit to do His will. Paul shows us that it doesn't work that way. If I front load it with willingness and if I surrender to the circumstance, He will backload it with His strength!

Paul's contentment was a result of his relationship to his Christ not to his circumstances. THAT'S IT! That is the secret.

Most of us will never be shackled and thrown into a cell, but we have our prisons. Some of those prisons are prisons of discontent. For others, their discontent is the result of their prison. Either way, there is much to be learn from Paul's testimony of contentment.

You are only a couple of commitments away from contentment. The prison door is open.

November 17, 2009

"But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." Romans 6:17-18

The greatest freedom is the freedom of choice. If you can't choose you are not really free.

These great verses from the sixth chapter of Romans remind you that you are as free as you choose to be. Good choices lead to freedom and poor choices place you in bondage.

What is the choice that brings freedom? It is the freedom to choose your master. That sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? How can you be free if you have a master? I thought freedom was serving no one.

God is the only One Who has absolute freedom and yet He has placed some limits on His freedom in order to allow you freewill! When He created Adam, He made him free. Adam could enjoy fellowship with God and roam Paradise at will. There was only one prohibition - do not eat from the tree of good and evil. There was no freedom without a choice and God gave Adam and Eve one choice - and they chose wrong. When they chose to disobey God they chose to serve another master - sin. When sin is your master you are not free!

Because of the sin of Adam you are born into this world as a slave to sin. As a slave to sin you serve your sinful nature and go from bondage to greater bondage. Each sinful choice adds another link to the chains that bind you. What a miserable plight!

Is there no hope? Is freedom only a dream?

It was until Jesus came to set you free!

How can you claim that freedom? Choose a different master! That is the essence of the freedom Jesus came to give us - the freedom to choose a different master!

How?

By "wholeheartedly obeying the teachings". Freedom comes by way of truth. In this case it comes through spiritual truth - by obeying it, that is. Truth sets you free! That's because truth is more than a concept it is a Person - the Person of JESUS!

Serve sin or serve righteousness? It is your choice - thank God!

November 16, 2009

"Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." I Chronicles 29:13

One of the things we give thanks to God for is His provision for us. Here is a great story of how God provides.

There is a true story of an old man who visited an old broken pier every Friday on the eastern sea coast of Florida until his death in 1973 his name was Eddie Rickenbacker whilst at the pier he would feed the sea gulls with a bucket of shrimps. Many years before in 1942 Eddie was a captain on board a B-17, he was on a mission delivering important documents to General Douglas Mac Arthur. On route there was an unexpected detour which would hurl his crew into a most harrowing adventure. Somewhere over the south pacific they lost radio contact and the fuel ran dangerously low as a result they had to ditch the plane into the ocean. For nearly a month the crew of the flying fortress would fight the water, the weather, the scorching sun. They would spend sleepless nights as 10 ft sharks would ram into their 9 ft by-5ft rafts. But out of all their enemies’ one that proved formidable was starvation. Eight days into their dilemma all food and water was out. It would take a miracle to sustain them. A miracle took place. In Eddie's own words he said that “Cherry” who was the pilot read the service that afternoon and we finished with prayer and deliverance and hymn of praise. There was small talk but with the oppressive heat it tapered off with my hat pulled over my face, I dozed off. Now something landed on my head, I knew it was a seagull I don’t know how I knew, I just knew, everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on the faces of the men. They were staring at the gull because it meant food....If I could catch it.” And the rest as they say is history. Captain Eddie caught the gull the flesh was eaten and the intestines were used as bait for fishing. The men were sustained and their hope renewed because of a lone seagull hundreds of miles from land offered its life as a sacrifice. Of course you know that captain Eddie made it... and you also know that he never forgot that lone seagull that saved his life and his men that day. With his bucket filled with shrimp every Friday you would find him feeding the gulls – in remembrance of that lone gull who gave himself for them without a struggle... like manna in the wilderness. That reminds me friends that so often it is our encounters in the past that shape our futures, for many of us its the reason why were here today because of the past deliverance out of sin and death, through the Lord Jesus Christ, through his sacrifice we are rescued from sin – death and hell and are recipients of eternal life. Isn’t that a cause of real thankfulness?

God IS good! He WILL provide! Trust Him and be thankful!

November 15, 2009

"Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men." Psalm 107:15

God doesn't have to do anything to prove His love to me! He has already done everything He can. It is up to me to recognize it and receive it - and be thankful!

He doesn't have to demonstrate His wonderful deeds. He has already done far more than I deserve and it up to me to realize it and to be thankful.

BUT, He does! He continues to demonstrate His love for me and He continues to accomplish wonderful deeds! And I AM thankful!

Just this morning at worship service we were recognizing our military veterans when one of our couples mentioned that their son was being deployed to the Middle East on Tuesday - so we prayed for him.

Minutes later, as I was preparing to preach they interrupted me to say that they had just received a message via cell phone from him saying that his wife had gone into labor about six weeks early and her water had broken. They were having trouble getting a heartbeat from the baby. So, they came forward and the good people of our fellowship surrounded them and we prayed for them.

"Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men."

Not too long ago I received a phone call from that couple with a happy update! The doctors decided to take the baby via c-section. The little girl weighed a little over 3 pounds and is 16" long - and healthy! She is being moved to the neo-natal unit. Furthermore, when they did the c-section they discovered that the placenta had partially torn away from the uterus and had her water not broken and had they not taken the baby, the detachment would have become worse and potentially life-threatening for both. Wow! Thank you, Lord!

And, due to these circumstances the military is likely to postpone his deployment temporarily so he can remain with his wife and daughter! Thank you, Lord, for your unfailing love and your wonderful deeds to men!

I am thankful that even though God does not have to prove His love or His faithfulness for me to have faith in Him, He does! I guess He can't help it. It's Who He is!