Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving to God is a celebration of praise for his Devine goodness. Therefor Psalm 100 says, 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, his steadfast love is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.
Our God is forever faithful to his word. Therefore Thessalonians says, Rejoice Evermore. Pray without ceasing, In everything give thanks. Keeping an attitude fo gratitude is to pray without ceasing and in everything to give thanks. We’re thankful not for who we are but because who he is. It’s not thankfulness for the blessings but for the Blessor. For he alone is worthy…
Sin springs from an ungrateful heart. According to Romans 1, there are two primary sins: First, even though they knew God they did not honor him. Honoring God is to obey him from a heart of love, bowing down in humble awe and adoration for his goodness, mercy, grace and love. For Everything we are and everything we have, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights in whom there is no darkness or shadow of turning. Second, neither were (they) thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Psalm 139 is a Psalm of awe and honor for who God is and for all he has done to bless us exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think. The ultimate blessing is in the Lord himself. Even in David’s affliction, he praised the Lord for his goodness. Afflictions, and tribulation are trials to prove us and reprove us to reveal his true character in us… so that we can learn his commandment. Through the refining fire of God’s crucible and his furnace, he will burn away the dross to reveal his true character within us. For tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
There is a civil war raging in every culture and in every human heart. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that I cannot do the things that I would. Who shall deliver me from this dead body? The answer is in Romans 8. For there is therefore now no comdemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death.
To put to death the nature of the flesh, this dead body we inherited from Adam, walk in the light as He is in the light and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The light of Christ is the disinfectant, the cleansing power, and the antiseptic to deliver us from the body of this death.
Success in the eyes of the Lord are the opposite of the world’s definition of success. Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn over sin and the nature of unrighteousness, those who are humble and meek to acknowledge that God only knows that which is good. Blessed are the downtrodden, the persecuted, and the slandered… Jesus said, blessed are they when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven.
The little book of Philemon is a letter of encouragement and joy. Philemon was a rich man who helped the church. He had many servants and bond slaves. One of his slaves Onisemus had run away and had fled to Rome. There he met Paul who discipled him as a brother in Christ. Paul wrote a letter to Philemon to receive him back as a fellow Christian brother. He wrote, I’m encouraged because I know you have refreshed the brothers in Christ.
As brothers within the body of Christ, our job is to refresh others… to edify, to comfort and to encourage one another in love…
The lyrics to the poem “Do It Now” by Berton Bradley are on-point:
If with pleasure you are viewing
any work a man is doing,
If you like him or you love him,
tell him now;
Don’t withhold your approbation
till the parson makes oration
And he lies with snowy lilies on his brow;
No matter how you shout it
he won’t really care about it;
He won’t know how many teardrops you have shed;
If you think some praise is due him
now’s the time to slip it to him,
For he cannot read his tombstone when he’s dead.
More than fame and more than money
is the comment kind and sunny
And the hearty, warm approval of a friend.
For it gives to life a savor,
and it makes you stronger, braver,
And it gives you heart and spirit to the end;
If he earns your praise – bestow it,
if you like him let him know it,
Let the words of true encouragement be said;
Do not wait till life is over
and he’s underneath the clover,
For he cannot read his tombstone when he’s dead.
A refreshing word of encouragement and thankfulness is a reflection of the love of God….
… that with a thankful heart, we may edify one another as members of the body of Christ to the praise of the glory of God’s grace..
Your brother in Christ,
Michael
