GIVE THANKS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

Today, I want to take a pause from the scriptures in 1st Samuel to focus in on the Thanksgiving holiday and specifically, the matter of giving thanks.

Now we can (and do) give thanks for many things in life. We give thanks for life…for loved ones and friends…for our jobs and the money we make from working…for the food we eat for the nourishment of our bodies…and for the shelter we have as well as what we have within that shelter. Truly we could go on and on about all the things we should be thankful for but we could save ourselves a lot of time and space by just giving thanks to the One through which all things come from. In other words, our thanks, first and foremost, need to be directed toward the Lord.

God’s word has a lot to say on the matter of giving thanks to the Lord and I will use just a few of the many verses available to highlight just some of the reasons why we are to show Him our full gratitude and praise.

1. Give thanks to God for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

As we seek to associate with others in life, we want to make sure we affiliate with the right people…those who are good and trustworthy…loyal, faithful and loving. The problem is that it’s very difficult (and actually impossible) to find someone in this world who can be perfectly good and loving all the time. That’s why we need to turn our attention away from the world and to the One and only One who is perfect, not only in goodness and love, but in all things…not just today and tomorrow but forever. For this we are to give Him our thanks.

2. Give thanks to the God for His strength, His presence and for all the wonders and miracles He performs.

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.
Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.
Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.
Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced…
1 Chronicles 16:8-12

Paul summed things up when it comes to our reliance on the Lord’s strength saying, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) Left to our own strength and power, we are limited to what we can achieve and endure. But when we turn to the Lord in our lives, then we find the strength to do all things…to carry out His will…to handle any form of affliction or persecution…to deal with life’s difficult circumstances when they arise. And for this we give thanks.

We also give thanks because we serve a Lord who is ever in our midst. He is Emmanuel…God with us…though all of our life. And since He is always in our midst, He is always ready and willing to teach, guide, heal, correct and love in accordance with His perfect will for us. We need only seek His face always…asking, seeking, knocking and knowing He is there for us when we need Him.

This God who is ever present and all powerful is consistently performing great wonders and miracles. Indeed He is the Author of all miracles and wonders, having put them on full display when He created everything in just six days, beginning with the heavens and the earth. Think about that for just a minute and then ask yourself if there is any difficulty you will go through in life that God cannot work a wonder or miracle…in accordance with His will.

Friends, there is nothing beyond the power and work of God’s holy hands. Indeed, we should make known among the nations what He has done, telling all of His wonderful acts. Indeed, we should sing praise to Him. Indeed, we should glory and rejoice in His holy name. And in doing all this, we should ever and always give thanks to the Lord.

3. Give thanks to the Lord for He has given us the victory in Christ Jesus. His strength, His presence and for all the wonders and miracles He performs.

"Death has been swallowed up in victory."
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:54b-58

Just think that before Jesus, perfect fulfillment of the law was the requirement for salvation. Unfortunately, keeping the law perfectly was an impossibility that even the most devout Jewish believers, the Pharisees and Sadducees, couldn’t maintain even though they did try and make everyone believe they were perfectly righteous…a hypocritical attitude exposed by Jesus.

No, all mankind was doomed to sin with no sacrifice suitable enough to atone unless there were a perfect unblemished Lamb that could be slain to pay the price. God gave all of us that Lamb in the way of His only Son Jesus who suffered and died for you and I so that the sting of death might be taken away…so that death might be “swallowed up in victory”..a victory that not only Jesus enjoyed but we can as well if we believe and trust Him to be our Savior.

Indeed, thanks be to God, not just this Thanksgiving, but on every day that we are allowed to go forth and fully give ourselves to the work of the Lord. For in Christ Jesus, we are set free to do as He commanded, making disciples of all nations while knowing that our eternal future is sealed by the atoning blood He shed for us on Calvary’s cross.

Yes…let us give thanks to God and to His Son Jesus...now and forever.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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