Grateful: The Person of God

Intro - Why give thanks to God? I mean really…have you seen this world lately? Some of us can barely make it. We’re stressed out, dealing with overwhelming circumstances, and yet we are called to give thanks! Thanks for what? If you are the center of your world than this is madness! Biblical ideas are ridiculous. How can a people that are suffering, broken, always failing at fighting sin, trying to live holy while they’re mistreated, broken people dealing with broken people, how can they be thankful?!?!?!?....notice that the Psalmist here points to one thing at that outset....be thankful because God....is....good...

God is Good

The essence of gratefulness is the ability to understand things from a different vantage point

One day as I was setting up my office at the church I was given the option of having different paintings hung up or items on my desk. After much thought I picked a bnuch of pictures and drawings that my kids and wife made me throughout the years. Every now and then I’ll get someone in the office that’ll look curiously at some of the childish artwork and I just smirk. To them they see no beauty but to me it is more beautiful than any famous piece of art because of who made it.

One of the reasons that we can be grateful in a way that the world cannot understand is because we have an understanding of who God is. We can perceive that God is the very definition of beauty and He is for us!

The world’s thankfulness is based on a certain situation that is ever changing. Our gratefulness is based on the a reality that is set.

Now there are different levels of understanding of God. There is the knowledge of something and there also is the experience of it.

I can say that I love my children and wife. I can define what means and what it should look like. I can tell them every day that I love them BUT there is nothing like taking the time to just give them a hug, to play with them, or to take an interest in them.

One of the primary realities about God that gives us reason to be grateful is because our God is good!

People serve many things in life and yet very few of them are “good”

In God there is no maliciousness, deceit or ill-intent. God has no alterior motives, no desire to punish unjustly. cf. , there is no variance with God.

This means that when He operates His actions are from a nature of goodness.

The author here in states from the beginning give thanks to God…why? Because He is good!

This means that God when he operates on your behalf it’s unlike anything or anyone else in your life. While people can do good things their nature is not purely good.

It has been tainted by sin. Although their motive by be good now if you put them in a different situation it would change.

If you were given all of the power in the world, to shape it as you saw fit, what would you do with it?

Many would use it to stop evil by punishing wrong doers, maybe feed those starving, etc. all noble things. How many of you wouldn’t use it at all for the sake of waiting patiently to save those who hate you?

There is a saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely…however that’s not true. Power is corrupted by those who are absolutely corrupt....unfortunately that’s all of us....but not God.

Yet God, no matter how He is tempted, provoked or motivated to act in His own self interest He instead operates in our interest.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28–30 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

That interest isn’t to give us what we want but instead to take us through situations to be molded into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

There was a time when I told Malachi, my oldest son, to make sure that his sister had her seatbelt on before we drove off. His sister didn’t understand why she needed to wear it so Malachi told her it was because I didn’t want them to get up and play while I was driving. Many times we too reason like a child when God restrains us or places us in uncomfortable situations not realizing that Him denying us comes from a nature of goodness and therefore is meant to protect us, preserve us and grow us to a state of holiness.

Steadfast Love

That’s why part of the expression of God’s goodness is his steadfast love

This is not the love that is wavering, that changes based on the circumstances.

The reality that God loves you should produce a well spring of gratefulness. Although our love comes with conditions, clauses, and expectations that are centered around our well being.

There are many marriages that have ended because their love was conditional. It was dependent on the love being returned to them. They loved because they needed love back and when that stopped, they stopped.

God doesn’t love out of necessity unlike us. Many times we’ll love out of a need for intimacy, someone to share our ideas with, etc. however God loves in a unique way.

God loves without the need of someone returning it. Need is a uniquely human condition. God has no need.

Instead God loves purely out of a desire to and that desire is unchanging because it is an expression of His nature which is unchanging.

This means that when God loves you, and He does love you with an intense love, there is NOTHING you can do to change it. There is no amount of sin that you can do to dissuade Him, to push Him away or get Him to leave you!

His love is STEADFAST, because it is based on His nature of goodness, which is void of need and therefore absent of change.

He loves you because He wants to love you and it pleases Him to do so. Yes! After all of our sin, failure, broken promises. In spite of how people have used us, taken advantage of us, made us feel too dirty to touch, broken our hearts or treated us as worthless. God looks at us and says....”I’m excited about loving them”

And that love endures forever!!!!!

Are you GRATEFUL FOR THAT?!?! Do you know who God is????

Be grateful not just because you’re loved....but you’re loved by a good God who never changes!!!!

Gratefulness....thankfulness....praise....all MUST come from place of knowing WHO God is. If your thankfulness changes when your circumstances change than that means the object of your worship has changed.

Your worship was centered on comfort and not on the God of scripture. Comfort was your god.

But comfort isn’t loyal. It won’t come find you when you’re in pain. It is temporary and whimsical. But God’s love endures....FOREVER....and not just to exist but it is directed to YOU!!!!

GOD IS GOOD!!!