Thanks living

Psalm 100 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

Gratitude is worship, not just a feeling. It is not just something to do because it is good to do. When you give thanks to the LORD, that is a matter of worship.

Someone said to me Sunday Night Pastor not a lot of people gave testimonys when you gave us opportunity to give thanks. Implying that the people were apathetic. She apologized for not saying anything, I suggested to her that is not the way I see it. I know that my wife will not speak in public but she has a heart of gratefulness. I believe that the heart of gratefulness can be unspoken, but it is also a spiritual discipline to confess with your mouth.

Think about Christmas and thanksgiving for the Christ child.

Mary pondered her gratitude quietly.

Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds shouted their gratefulness.

Luke 2:20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

There is a time to be quiet and a time to shout. I can’t tell you which you should do. So if no one were to give a message of gratitude tonight, but we paused and reflected and that’s what the LORD told you to do! GREAT!!!!

If you give testimony of gratitude for the next hour and I don’t speak another word. That’s great too, that is why it is important to be sensitive to the Spirit!

The Bible says that we are to not display our fasting from the corner of the village, but it also says that we are to shout the message of the gospel from the roof tops. This is where you need to be sensitive to the Spirit. God should I speak or not. He will let you know! People who aren’t sensitive to the Spirit instead are focused on their self should stop listening to the devil some should shut up others should shout out. That’s the negative, but the positive is to be like Mary when appropriate and to be like the shepherds when appropriate.

Be thankful even when it is difficult.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

One of the things I am going to being up soon is that joy is resilent through through trials, the same can be said concerning gratitude. Here is an extreme case. Imagine you are being persecuted for your faith. Like the kind that gets someone sent to a prison camp in Korea. Could you be thankful in the middle of that situation? It should make us pause and think because I know that when things are good it is easy to be grateful but when things aren’t going so well we tend to complain. What are some ways that we can be grateful through hardships? When is it hard to grateful! For me the most difficult time is when I fail and I get discouraged and I feel anxious. I need to check my attitude at the door and chose gratefulness.

Be grateful for the prodigal. Be grateful for that aweful boss. Be grateful for the good days and the bad. Be grateful for the toilet that is always broken.

Let me tell you about my toilet woes. I didn’t ignore it, but PRAISE GOD I finally fixed it! Today God may test my patience and gratitude on that one.

Gratitude should be the priority of prayer.

Philippians 4:6–7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

In everything… there is that phrase again. I believe that we have had some people in this church who have had a difficult year. They lost a family member that’s the kind of problem that you can’t fix with money. They say real problems are the kind you can’t fix with money. I don’t know if I can completely agree with that but the biggest problems are the kind you can’t fix with money.

But when we pray. Thanksgiving should be a big part of it. We need to make sure that every time we approach the Father not only do we lay our requests at His feet but also thank him for the countless blessings. Thank Him before you ask Him.… Within reason… If your about to get in a car accident. I don’t think we are looking for a “God I thank you for this car and for the breaks that just gave out, BUT HELP!!!!!” Now should we thank God for breaks. I probably never gave thanks to God for breaks when they work, but I have prayed that God will help me as I do the job of going to replace them.

Did Jesus ever give thanks?

Pause for response......

He gave thanks for the miracle of food.

John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

So Jesus set the precedent of giving thanks for the food. He also gave thanks before God multiplied the food. It reminds me of the LORDS prayer. Give us this day our daily bread when he does, miraculously or otherwise we should give thanks because really every meal is a miracle, why? On other planets are they growing salads.

Thank God for heavenly wisdom.

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.”

Don’t think yourself too smart, that is when you will play the fool. THANK GOD for every wise decision you make for helping you through the difficult times. Thank Him.

Jesus thanked God for listening to His requests.

John 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”

Before He even performed or made the request He thanked God for listening. People often thank me for listening. That’s my job. It’s what I am supposed to do. Not so with God. He listens to you because He loves you. He is not obligated to listen, but we are adopted into His family and He graciously allows us to get up on His knee and share.

Jesus gave thanks for suffering.

Luke 22:17–19 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Remember the Bible’s statement, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. The question, here is the theological debate. This is just something to chew on and meditate on not to debate tonight and I really don’t have an answer because I am still chewing on it. Is every storm in your life directly from God or God’s will. I think that this is where we can’t be absolutely correct and we simply have to let God be sovereign, If you say yes everything is from God God places trials into our life to grow us and God placed the cross in Jesus life to save us. But what about when Christ stopped the storm on the waters of Galilee. If God’s will was to send the storm, when Christ calmed the storm was Jesus opposing the will of God?

That is what I call a straw man argument and I am sure if Jesus were here in the flesh he would give the perfect answer and if you pray in your heart, that still small voice will give you a satisfactory answer.

My point is Praise and Thank God even through the trials and storms you face wether HAHA that’s puny it is Him leading you into the storm or the devil trying to destroy you through the storm and God saves you from the storm the point is still the same THANK HIM FOR THE STORM remember Jesus who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. Face trials with Joy and Thanksgiving. You don’t have to like the trial but you can thank him through it. I come back to that prodigal child. you despise the situation but thank God for the prayers you can send and for giving you that child.

Express thanksgiving through thanks living.

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

You gratitude is best seen when you live for Jesus. You don’t just say thank you, you live thank you! Did Jesus express His thankfulness through prayer. YES He thanked God for food, for answering prayers, and for wisdom. But finally in that lord’s supper. When Jesus gave us the bread and the cup and GAVE THANKS! The thanks began their in word it continued in deed on the cross. Jesus expressed His gratitude to the Father best on the cross. You can be thankful in words. Someone opens the door for you, THANK YOU! But that gratitude is best seen when you do! When you live for Jesus! Two of our deacons volunteered to help with Thanksgiving baskets, that is an attitude of gratitude. Some of you help others where and when you can that is an attitude of gratitude. You can’t do it all. I will tell you, I don’t get involved in operation Christmas Child box packing. That doesn’t mean I don’t like OCC! I think it’s great. But I can’t and you can’t be a part of everything. You can’t do it all, but my question is what are you doing? Nursing home ministry, prison ministry, children’s ministry, delivering charity basksets, serving in a soup kitchen, OCC or holiday hamper. Especially during the holidays, but all year around, let you thanksgiving, be shown through thanks living!