Thanks-Giving

Thanks-Giving

“But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving;

 I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.”  (Jonah 2:9)

    Like everyone else, I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving Day approaching.  Most years we set around the table and say what each of us is thankful for.  Typical thanks are for family, friends, loved ones, etc.  However this year I really have searched deeper into my heart on what Thanksgiving really means. 

What I found was amazing.  Almost everything I found about thanksgiving involved the last half of the word and that is Giving.  It includes sacrifice and generosity to God and to others.  The above scripture says it well; Jonah sacrificed to God with thanksgiving. 
 
We see in Psalm 50:14 that we should “Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.”

What this means is to give God thanksgiving and then give Him sacrifices and tithes.  This is called a ‘thank-offering sacrifice’ as is written in Leviticus 7:12.

We are told all through the Bible that God wants us to prosper. Why does he want us to prosper? So we can give and help others.  Now you may be thinking that God hasn’t prospered you and you don’t understand it.  Perhaps it’s because of the way we handle things.  This is how it works: first you give God thanksgiving, then you give from what you have and after that God will begin to prosper you.

2^nd Corinthians 9:11 explains it further, “Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.” How great is this?  When we give to others then they can also praise God with thanksgiving.

This is a true story.  A young couple and their two children who lived nearby our church were very poor and didn’t know where their next meal was coming from, came to our Food Pantry.  Soon they began attending church and gave their hearts to the Lord.  They had almost no money, but began receiving food stamps.  Out of their love of God, they began tithing from their food stamps.  They brought a portion and gave it back to the food pantry.  The father found a job and soon moved his family into a decent home and had a car given to them.  They prospered and continued to offer thanksgiving to God. 

After some time they chose to do other things and quit giving to God; not only their tithes, but their time and talents.  Within a very short time they lost their home, jobs, and car. It wasn’t long and they were back where they started.

I’m not saying God punished them by taking things away; they did that to themselves.  However, there is a plan that God shows to us in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”  

He also shows us that when we give him praise and thanksgiving, we can ask him for what we need.  Look at this in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Thanksgiving flows back and forth to God and from God.  So on this time that we celebrate with family and friends, let us “Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving” Psalm 147:7

Let us “Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20  

Don't Eat Yellow Snow

Don’t Eat Yellow Snow

“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”  Psalm 51:7 (NLT)

It never failed for my mother to caution me to never eat yellow snow.  The way she said it put fear in my heart than I would probably die if I ate yellow snow.  I don’t think she ever told me why, but I knew it was really bad!  So I never did eat it, thankfully.  I also never ate snow with little black things in it, which was soot from the coal furnaces.  However, white snow was clean and pure in those days and we all enjoyed it.

 
Sin reminds me of something I shouldn’t consume because it might kill me; like yellow snow.  The Bible tells us that “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 6:23] What does this have to do with snow?  The above scripture explains it all; if we ask God to forgive us, he does it immediately and purifies us by washing us clean and here’s the big TRUTH – He makes us “whiter than snow!”

Sin is dirty in the eyes of God and the only way to get rid of it is to ask God to forgive us and purify us.  You may think that God doesn’t hear your prayers because of the life you lived; not true. God is always waiting to hear from you.  In fact, in Isaiah 1:18 he calls you to him, “Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” 

How does God wash our sins away?  We are washed clean by the blood Jesus shed for us on the cross.  There is no other way; bleach will not take out the black sin of our life, not any kind of soap or detergent only the blood of Jesus can remove sin.  1 John 1:7 explains it simply, “…the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”  Now, if you have asked God, the Father to forgive you of your past sins and the Blood of Jesus Christ has washed you spiritually and made you white as snow, there is no way God can see your sin any longer.  In fact He says in Psalm 103:12, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”  And in Micah 7:19, “He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

Our past has been washed away and we are clean; we are forgiven and God has forgotten our sins, so what is holding you back from serving God with your whole heart?  If you are a parent you probably understand this better than many because if your child has done something wrong, you may have let them know they were naughty, but you still loved them and taught them right from wrong, and your love washed it all away and you didn’t keep bringing it up. 

That’s how our heavenly Father is and when he looks at us, we are white as snow.  Many years ago we used to sing this song that explains how God sees you:

I am covered over with the robe of righteousness that Jesus gives to me,  

I am covered over with the precious blood of Jesus and he lives in me.      

What a joy it is to know, my Heavenly Father loves me so, He gives to me my Jesus.  

When he looks at me, he sees not what I used to be, but he sees Jesus.   

                                                           

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                          

His Grace is Sufficient

His Grace is Sufficient

2 Corinthians 12:9
 “He said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

 I was reading a book the other day that had this scripture in it that said, “My grace is sufficient.”  Almost everyone has either read or quoted this many times and I wondered if I could find a study about it.  Most things I read were quite simple; “God’s grace is enough.”  It couldn’t get any plainer than that, but I felt there was much more to it and much deeper so I went to the Source – the Word!

I found that Mercy and Grace go hand in hand. His grace shows up when we can’t do something for ourselves; when we are weak in an area of our lives.  Grace comes when we let God take over. There are many Bible passages that show the weakness of mankind and the power of God’s grace to overcome that weakness.  Why does grace appear?  It’s because of God’s mercy which if given because of his compassion, kindness and love.

I think of Moses when he met God at the burning bush and God told him to go to Egypt and speak to the Pharaoh.  Moses argued with God and said he could not speak well and God told him that he would put the words in his mouth. God was angry with Moses, but in his mercy and grace, forgave him and provided for him.     [Exodus 4:10-12] When Moses was weak, then God’s power could work in him and looked what happened in Egypt.

There are times in all our lives that we feel weak and helpless; that is when God is able to work in us and through us.  I like the way the Living Bible reads in I Corinthians 12:9, “My power works best in weakness”. If you look back over time since you have been saved, you will find countless times that God’s mercy and grace were at work in your life. 

Grace is not a ‘corporate’ thing, but is a personal sign of love between you and God Almighty.  As a person I am not all-sufficient; every day I ask God to help me with issues I cannot control.  Here are a few things you may daily have to face.

1.      Lack of financial provision

2.      Conflict with family, friends or others

3.      When people have failed you

4.      When you have a need

5.      When you are weak in body or in spirit

6.      Uncertainty in the direction you need to go

7.      When you don’t want to surrender to God’s way

8.      When fear overtakes you

9.      When you are discontented

10.  When you feel trapped in a situation

I could go on and on about the need for God’s Grace and Mercy.  There is an old hymn that is titled. “I Need Thee Every Hour”; this is my heart’s cry.  God is there for you and in spite of your failures, he is waiting to fill you with his grace.  We tend to take credit for many things we may accomplish, but the truth is without His grace we are nothing.

God is truly all we need; His grace is sufficient.  The Lord told Paul, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” [2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT]) Any successes I have accomplished are because of God’s grace and I praise God for His mercy.  Give it all to God and sit back and watch His grace at work.

 

 

 

 

 

The Blessing of Adoption

The Blessing of Adoption

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 (NLT)

  When we are ‘born again’ we become sons and daughters of God and ‘joint heirs’ with Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  How does that work?  ‘Born again’ means that when we ask Jesus into our hearts we become a new person.  Our desires change; our attitudes change and love becomes stronger than hate and bitterness in our lives.   
                                                                                                                                                              We are no longer ‘slaves to sin’.  Slaves to sin run to every evil thing they can think of and at the same time fear what would happen to them if they were to die.  However, when we receive Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside your heart and your mind; God now calls us ‘His children’.  We have been adopted into the family of God.  The Jewish people are God’s special people that He considers his own children and in the Bible are referred to as ‘the olive tree.  Now we are grafted into the branch to become one with all his children.  Not all the Jewish people chose to follow God and were like branches broken off the tree.  “Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.” Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ.”  Romans 11:19-20 (NLT)

 Grafting is a process that is very powerful; tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two sets of tissues may join together.  That way both parts receive strength from the root to live and to grow. The root of the tree is symbolic for Jesus, Son of God.  In Romans 15:12, God tells us who this root is: "There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope."
                                                                                                                                                                          Now that we have been adopted and grafted in, we are actually God’s real children.  This has opened up the privilege for us to call God “Daddy”.  Where it says in the key scripture that now we can call him “Abba”, we find that in Old Testament times the word Abba was written in Aramaic and was the same as the word “Daddy”.  How often, as a child, did you call on your father, calling him ‘Daddy’?  There was a special relationship there and the same is true with God, the Father.  

 What a blessing to be able to go directly into the throne room of God and experience the intimacy of calling him ‘Daddy’?  The God that created this entire world and the uncountable stars in heaven is my ‘Daddy’; I stand in awe and wonder at such a blessing and this is just the beginning of blessings when you are a child of God.  
                                                                                                                                                                       Now we know that Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords is the son of God the Father.  If we are the sons and daughters of God, we are also brothers and sisters of Jesus and are called “Joint heirs with Jesus Christ.” Romans 8:17: “And if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”   We have inherited everything that Jesus has; the earth and the fullness within it. “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.”   2 Timothy 2:12

 Perhaps you have been poor in your life and never had much of anything, well just wait, my friend for someday you will inherit the riches of heaven and earth.  Perhaps you have lived a life lacking nothing; when you realize you will inherit the riches of heaven, you will realize, in comparison, you were really poor and needy.  The richest thing you can ever have in this life and in eternity, is the love of a heavenly Father who gave his only Son, at that time, to die a horrible death on the cross so you might have the blessings of adoption.  Those blessings are too numerous to count, but someday you will enjoy them fully.

 Give praise to God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son, for the privilege of living for Him today and forever.  Amen!