Called to be Thankful
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This week has been a week where you can see that Fall is setting in. The cooler temperatures, the beautifu colors and leaves falling on the ground. I love this time of year.
I believe it is no coincedence that we get all these reminders to cause us to take time to be thankful for what we have and all God has done for us.
This morning I want to encourage you to begin thinking on the character of God and spend time sharing about this as we look closer in scripture.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Pray a prayer of thankfulness and praise!
When you take time and look at the background of the story of Habakkuk you realize that it is a dark book.
Israel’s King Josiah (who is reform minded) has been killed and the nation of Israel falls back into its old ways of sin and rebellion. Habakkuk struggles with God’s silence and unwillingness to judge Israel.
In our text Hab. 3:17-18 Habukkuk recognizes potential hardships that will come with God’s judgement. Despite all of this he decides to take joy in God’s salvation.
When things get hard we tend to judge everything from our own limited perspective.
Unless we have what we believe we should, we see no reason to be thankful .
That’s not Habukkuk’s perspective.
This spoke to my heart this week and I wanted to share this today.
We need to show gratitude even if things are not working out the way we want or even if we don’t have what we want or need.
We need to prioritize what God is doing in a situation over our own wants and needs. We can learn from Habukkuk to rejoice even during troubling times.
Our ultimate source of thanksgiving should come from what God has revealed about himself in the Word and in the person of Jesus Christ:
God’s love
God’s love
But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave* his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
“God bestows love without discrimination. The followers of Jesus are children of God, and they should manifest the family likeness by doing good to all, even to those who deserve the opposite”
-F.F. Bruce
God’s Patience
God’s Patience
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
“Quite honestly, most people are quick to “write someone off”. But our God is a God os the second chance. Learn from O/ne who is patient with you, and you will learn to be patient with others”.
-Woodrow Kroll
His Salvation
His Salvation
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.* He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.
“Since no man is excluded from calling upon God the gate of salvation is open to all. There is nothing else to hinder us from entering, but our own unbelief”.
-John Calvin
His Sovereignty
His Sovereignty
And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.
Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
“What does it really mean to affirm God’s soverenity…? It means that God rules over all space and time and history. It means that He created the world for His glory and directs the cosmos to His purpose. It means that no one can truly thwart His plans or frustrate His determination. It means that we are secure in the knowledge that God’s sovereign purpose to redeem a people through the atonement accomplished by His Son will be full realized”
-Al Mohler
His Wisdom
His Wisdom
Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you.
Love her, and she will guard you.
Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!
And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.
“Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclinationto choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in its fullness only in God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariable wise””.
-J.I. Packer
His Mercy
His Mercy
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
“The mercy of God is an all-embracing mercy and it breaks down the barriers that man errects”.
-Allstair Begg
Mercy walked in
Everythin about God is great, vast, incomparable. He never forgets, never failes, never falters, never forfeits His word”.
In Hebrews we are told we are receiving an unshakable kingdom
When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.
Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.
What is it so firm? Because the author and finisher of this kingdom is Himself unshakable. This means we can look past our immediate situation towards the kingdom that we are inheriting - one we can trust is steadfast and tustworthy.
This should cause thanksgiving to constantoy well up within us.