“I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all your marvelous works. 2. I will be glad and rejoice in you: I will sing praise to your name, O thou most high.”
We occasionally need to ask ourselves how much we appreciate the Lord. It is good manners to offer appreciation for what people do for us, how much more should we appreciate the Lord? It is not that God needs our appreciation; rather we need to appreciate Him. The Lord doesn’t need anything from us, but He knows that we need to give to Him. This includes our appreciation as much as it does, for example, our tithes. These two verses from Psalm 92 show us how to show appreciation to the Lord. First, we show our appreciation to the Lord by giving Him wholehearted praise. David wrote: “I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart.” We seem to think that praise and noise are related. Some people seem to think the Louder the noise, the greater the praise. That’s not to say that loud praise is wrong, it is to say that real praise does not come from the mouth, but from the heart. David wrote that He would praise God with His whole heart. Heartfelt praise can be loud or silent. On the other hand, there are people who seem to equate praise with deadness. There is a great difference between silent praise and just plain silence. Silence can sometimes mean boredom. I think that is often what we have in churches. What we need to do is to look into our hearts and be honest about whether or not we are really praising God from there instead of just for show. Second, we show our appreciation to the Lord by “showing forth (His) marvelous works.” We should not keep what the Lord has done for us to ourselves. I know that I enjoy it when someone shows their appreciation to me for something I might have done for them. I also want to be careful to offer appreciation to people who do things for me. The Lord has certainly done great things for us. The Lord gives His great love to us. Throughout the Bible, we are reminded of the love that God has for us. Some people who do not believe think that the Bible shows a terrible God, but those of us who have experienced Him personally know better. John wrote: “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) John also wrote in 1 John 4:10:“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “Propitiation” means that, out of love for us, God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus for us. I certainly can’t explain why that had to be, but I know that it is biblical. I don’t know what “marvelous works” the Lord has done in your life, but if you believe in Him, I know that He has done marvelous things for you. I can’t even begin to enumerate all of the “marvelous works” God has done for me, let alone what He has done for you. The point is that the Lord wants us to tell others about what He has done for us. Out of appreciation for Him, we should do it. Third, we show our appreciation to the Lord by being glad for who and what the Lord is, rejoicing in Him and singing praise to His name. We need to pause each day and think about the greatness of the Lord. We need to ask ourselves whether or not we are really glad that the Lord is in our lives, and that our lives are better because He is in our lives. Some people refuse to believe because they are afraid that God will take something away from them. Believe me; whatever He takes away will be replaced by something much better. Because of the gladness in our hearts, and because of all of the “marvelous works” that God has done in our lives, we sing praises to Him. Does this describe your appreciation for the Lord? Bro. Joe
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“Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
I want to use the letters in the word “thanks” to show some things for which we should give thanks to God. T – Truth – In John 8:32 Jesus said: “And you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.” Jesus said about Himself in John 14:6: “I am the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me.” Let’s be thankful that through Jesus Christ, we can be saved and made free. Our salvation is built on the foundation the truth of God in Jesus Christ. H – Hope – Life can seem hopeless at times, but when we lean upon the Lord we know that life is never hopeless. He is the God of all hope. Joel 3:16 illustrates the truth of this: “The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem: and the heavens and earth shall shake: But the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” A – Almighty – Our Lord is all powerful. There are many things that He will not do, but there is nothing that He cannot do. Throughout the Bible, we see God’s power at work for the benefit of His people. Even in the seeming defeat of the cross, we see His power at work on our behalf. N – New life – One of the main themes of the Bible is that because of the love that the Lord has for us, we can have newness of life. “Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:14 K – Knowledge – The greatest statement of God’s knowledge is in Habakkuk 2:14: “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” As the Lord is all-powerful, He is also all-knowing. He knows the beginning and the end, a He knows everything in between. S – Surety – We can always be sure that God is all-knowing, that He all-powerful and that above He is all-loving. We can be sure that God wants the best for us and wants us to want the best for ourselves and for the people in our lives. We can be sure that even His discipline will for our best. I trust that this acronym spoke to your heart and assured you that you need to give thanks to God today. Amen Bro. Joe (The old Couch Potato is on vacation in Nashville, Tenn., visiting with my Grandson Chad and His wife Erika. Have a happy Thanksgiving, and I will be back on with a new article next Friday.)
“But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ…” Our text reminds us that we need to be thankful for all that Jesus has done for us. Following are some things that I thought of that we should thank God during this season of Thanksgiving, and all other times. We need to be thankful about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke to his death in John 10:17-18: “Therefore, doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of the Father.” Jesus voluntarily laid down His life on the cross as the substitute for us. He took our sins upon Himself on the cross, and He took the wrath that should be ours upon Himself. When we trust Him as Savior, this is true for us. We should be thankful for it. We need to be thankful about the empty tomb. Jesus said about His death that he laid down His life “that I might take it again.” Further He said: “I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” Three days after Jesus died, He arose from the grave. We have not accepted a dead Jesus, nor do we serve a dead savior. He is alive! Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:19: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” No truer words were never written. The old hymn reminds us: “He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with along the narrow way….You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.” He either is, or can be, alive in your life. We need to be thankful about the mercy of Jesus. The point is that Jesus did not have to do all of this for us. He died and rose for us because of His mercy. He knew that every person is subject to God’s wrath. The Bible reminds us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Out of His love and mercy for us, Christ gave Himself in order for us to be saved from our sins. Romans 8:34 reminds us of this: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us…” His mercy is for you! We need to be thankful for the leadership that Jesus has given us through the leadership of the Holy Spirit. John 16:12-13: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot not bear them now. 13. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth…” The leadership of the Holy Spirit is available to all who have faith in Jesus Christ. Be thankful for it, or claim it! I think you will agree that these are four things for which we should be eternally thankful. Bro. Joe “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name.”
Thankfulness is an underrated, and often unused, power in our lives. Many of our personal, family and church problems could be instantly solved by a healthy dose of thankfulness. Thankfulness can be a powerful asset in our lives and can make a lot of difference in the quality of our lives. As you read this post, ask yourself if you are a thankful person? Thankfulness has the power to affect our attitudes. For one thing, thankful people are not embittered by life. Thankful people are able to meet life’s hard and bitter moments without bitterness overtaking their lives. Bitter people are not happy people and they are not fun to be around. I read about a “taste berry” in Africa that coats the taste buds, causing everything eaten afterward to taste sweet. Thankfulness is to our souls what the “taste berry” would be to our taste buds. In the same vein, thankful people are not mean-spirited. All of us know people who are difficult to love, and who are always ready for an argument over anything. What these people need is a good dose of thankfulness to calm their souls and sweeten their spirits. Thankfulness has the power to instigate real worship. As a general rule, thankful people really want to worship God, because He is the source of their thankfulness. Thankful people have the spirit of David, who wrote: “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1) Thankless people begrudge time spent in worship. A worshipful spirit does not dwell in thankless people. Worship is not easy for them because they do not realize the depth of God’s love for them, nor do they know the difference that God can make in their lives. I think that worship comes naturally to thankful people. They do not have to force themselves to praise and worship God, for the worship of God just bubbles up within them. This is true of private and public worship. This spirit is characterized in Ephesians 5:19-20: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making merry in your heart to the Lord. 20. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thankfulness has the power to make us want to serve God. Psalm 100:2 encourages us to “serve the Lord with gladness.” Thankful people serve the Lord gladly. A thankful heart frees one to serve freely. Can you imagine an unthankful person serving the Lord with a glad heart? It is difficult to imagine an unthankful person being glad to do anything that does not ultimately serve his, or her, own purpose. Thankful people willingly serve and do not begrudge the time that they spend serving the Lord. It is also true that thankful people serve the Lord effectively. Effective Christian service does not depend on mood swings. To effectively serve the Lord, we must serve Him regardless of how we feel. Thankfulness is the catalyst for this kind of service. Again, can you imagine an unthankful person serving God regardless of feelings and circumstances? Are you a thankful person based on the topics discussed above? I hope and trust that you are a thankful person and that you personally realize its power in your life. If not, pray and ask Jesus to give you a thankful spirit and see what a difference it will make in your life. Bro. Joe “And above all things put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.”
I saw three things in this text today that I had not noticed before. In preceding verses, Paul had called them to forgive each other, to kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and to “bear with one another.”( Verses 12-13) But along with these virtues, Paul called them to add love, to live in “the peace of Christ,” and to be thankful.(Verses 14-15) It is obvious that one could not live and practice the virtues of verses 12-13 without the practice of verses 14-15. We need all of these to be effective witnesses of Christ. Let’s look a little more closely to them. Love – This is the translation of our old friend, the Greek word “agahpay.” This describes the kind of love that Christ had for us when He went to the cross, e.g., it is compassionate and sacrificial. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul did not suggest that they love, but actually commanded them to love – which Christ also commanded in John 15:12. Which makes loving each other ultimately important. This is one virtue that is sorely needed in our churches and Christian work today. Think about it: Do you love the people that you go to church with each week? This does not mean that they have to act lovingly for us to love them- just love them. Well think about it? Do you love people period? Well,,,,,,,,do you? Peace of Christ – Just as we are to love like Christ, we are to have His peace. The “peace of Christ” is given in John 16:33: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation (trouble). But be of good cheer – take heart – I have overcome the world.” This is the peace of heart and mind given to Christians as a gift from Christ. We need to ask at least two questions about this peace: Do we live in peace, and at peace, in our own hearts? Do we live at peace with our fellowman? I must confess that I approached this question in fear and trembling. This peace is so important that we cannot ignore it… . Thankfulness – Along with love and peace, thankfulness is an important Christian virtue. The Greek word translated “thankful” is “eucharistos.” “Eucharist” is one name for the Lord’s Supper. In light of this, we are to be thankful for all that Christ did for us on the cross, and for all that He does for our lives. We should also live thankful lives as a witness of Christ’s presence in our lives. Are you a thankful person? Take some time today and think of love, peace and thankfulness in your own life. Do it! Bro. Joe “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name.”
Thankfulness is an underrated, and often unused, power in our lives. Many of our personal, family and church problems could be instantly solved by a healthy dose of thankfulness. Thankfulness can be a powerful asset in our lives and can make a lot of difference in the quality of our lives. As you read this post, ask yourself if you are a thankful person? Thankfulness has the power to affect our attitudes. For one thing, thankful people are not embittered by life. Thankful people are able to meet life’s hard and bitter moments without bitterness overtaking their lives. Bitter people are not happy people and they are not fun to be around. I read about a “taste berry” in Africa that coats the taste buds, causing everything eaten afterward to taste sweet. Thankfulness is to our souls what the “taste berry” would be to our taste buds. In the same vein, thankful people are not mean-spirited. All of us know people who are difficult to love, and who are always ready for an argument over anything. What these people need is a good dose of thankfulness to calm their souls and sweeten their spirits. Thankfulness has the power to instigate real worship. As a general rule, thankful people really want to worship God, because He is the source of their thankfulness. Thankful people have the spirit of David, who wrote: “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1) Thankless people begrudge time spent in worship. A worshipful spirit does not dwell in thankless people. Worship is not easy for them because they do not realize the depth of God’s love for them, nor do they know the difference that God can make in their lives. I think that worship comes naturally to thankful people. They do not have to force themselves to praise and worship God, for the worship of God just bubbles up within them. This is true of private and public worship. This spirit is characterized in Ephesians 5:19-20: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making merry in your heart to the Lord. 20. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thankfulness has the power to make us want to serve God. Psalm 100:2 encourages us to “serve the Lord with gladness.” Thankful people serve the Lord gladly. A thankful heart frees one to serve freely. Can you imagine an unthankful person serving the Lord with a glad heart? It is difficult to imagine an unthankful person being glad to do anything that does not ultimately serve his, or her, own purpose. Thankful people willingly serve and do not begrudge the time that they spend serving the Lord. It is also true that thankful people serve the Lord effectively. Effective Christian service does not depend on mood swings. To effectively serve the Lord, we must serve Him regardless of how we feel. Thankfulness is the catalyst for this kind of service. Again, can you imagine an unthankful person serving God regardless of feelings and circumstances? Are you a thankful person based on the topics discussed above? I hope and trust that you are a thankful person and that you personally realize its power in your life. If not, pray and ask Jesus to give you a thankful spirit and see what a difference it will make in your life. Bro. Joe “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
We should “give thanks in everything” because “this is the will God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This text just sort of keys in on us and says “BE THANKFUL.” I have to admit that this is a challenge, but I am really working on it because I want to do God’s will for my life, and according to this verse being thankful is part of that. Let’s grab hold of this truth and practice it. What does “everything” mean? It means a whole lot more than I can cover here, but let me share with you my thoughts on it. We should give thanks in the good times. Okay, I feel the “duh’s,” but think about it. Are you really thankful for all of the good times in your life? Do you feel the blessing of the good things from God? God is always blessing us and we need to recognize that and just say “thank you” God for blessing me. No joke! Try it! I just did and it felt good. We should give thanks in the bad times. The first reason for this is that it is “the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I want to clear something up here. Being thankful in bad times does not mean to enjoy the bad times. I have discovered that a time of suffering is not a party time. But it is these moments that try and exercise our faith. As the saying goes, “we will grow bitter, or we will grow better.” In times of suffering God is testing us. I know of a real proficient on suffering by the name of Job. Job did not enjoy all of the suffering that he encountered, but in the final chapters of the book God told him things that he needed to know, and he was better for it. Be thankful for what God can teach you in bad times. We should give thanks for the other Christians in our lives. Now, I have to tell you that every church member that I have been the pastor of has not “risen up and called me blessed.” And I have not risen up and called everyone that I was called t minister to blessed either. But looking back over fifty-seven years of working with churches and hardheaded Baptists – of which I am one – I am thankful for those who challenged me. Some enjoyed the challenge more than others, but thank God for them. Be thankful for all of your Christian friends and thank God for them. Well, I have revisited thankfulness and I hope that it blessed you. Bro. Joe “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Before we make a decision to do something we should ask if we are doing it for the glory of God. I do not know what “it” means for you. “It” can be to sing in the choir, teach a Sunday School class, do a good deed for a neighbor, or whatever. The point is that whatever “it” is it should be for the glory of God. There are at least three ways that we can determine whether or not something is done for God’s glory. First, if you do this thing will you be able to thank God for it. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us of the importance of this: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” You will know in your heart whether you are serving for the glory of God, and when it is done, you will be thankful for the opportunity of doing it. Psalm 100:2 tells us to “serve the Lord with gladness.” This means that God lets us serve Him, and when we do a service for Him, whatever it might be, we should gladly do it and we should thank Him for letting us serve Him. If you serve only to receive the praise of people, you are not doing it for the glory of God. This was a prevailing sin of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Jesus said that they prayed gave alms and tithes, etc. for the glory of people, not for the glory of God. Second, if you do this thing can you do it in Jesus’ name, or will you do it in Jesus’ name? Colossians 3:17 reminds us: “And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Notice that this verse also tells us to be thankful that we are allowed to serve God in some way. We need to ask ourselves, if we do this thing, will it be worthy of the name of Jesus. I don’t know if we would take this to the extent that if we water the flowers, we will do it in the name of Jesus and for His glory, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. We need to ask if a service that we are going to render is worthy of the name of Jesus. Third, if you do this thing will it ultimately bring glory to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31, our text written above, tells us to be mindful of this. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” If you do “good works” in order for people to say what a great person you are, you are not doing them for the glory of God. Again, this does not mean that we should not get a sense of satisfaction out of what we do. God would certainly not demand that of ys. But we should be careful that the focus is on God and not just on us. I will confess after preaching hundreds of sermons over the years that this motivation is not always easy, because we want to know that what we do is appreciated, but we should be careful anyway that God gets the glory. Are you doing "it" for the glory of God? Bro. Joe "And (David) appointed certain of Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God Israel. 5. Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemariamoth, and Jehiel, and Matithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals.”
What is there in this text for us that is worth a few minutes of our time? What I saw here was that David appointed these men to do daily and continually what we should do. These musicians were sent to the tent where the Ark of the Covenant was housed to serve God. They were sent “to minister (serve) before that Ark of the Lord.” They were to use their musical gifts and talents to serve the Lord on a daily basis, just as God has given us gifts to serve Him daily. Jesus saved us and gifted us to serve Him in conjunction with our gifts. What does it mean they were to “record”? A study of the word translated “record” here can also mean to make “petition,” interestingly, however it can also be translated to "celebrate.” If there is one thing that the world needs from us today is to use our gifts to celebrate the Lord as a witness to the world. “Celebration” can many things. It can mean to really celebrate in our worship services. But, more importantly, it can also mean to live joyfully for Jesus before people in our daily lives. We should have attitudes of celebration. They were also to “thank…the Lord God of Israel.” We have also been called to use our Spiritual gifts in a spirit of thanksgiving. In order for us to do this we need to have thankful hearts. I remind myself of this often. Really and truly, when I count the blessings in my life, I have to be thankful. I remind myself of this when I get in a funk – come on you know what I mean – and have a difficult time praying. The old song is true: “Count your many blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." They were “to….praise the Lord God Israel.” I don’t know how these musicians sounded, or how their music praised the Lord, but I can imagine Asaph clanging those cymbals in a joyful praise of the God that he served. We don’t have cymbals to clang, at least that I know of, you might have cymbals in your church, but we do have hearts full of love and thanksgiving for the Savior who gave His life for our salvation. I hope that this message of thanksgiving has been a blessing to you and has prepared you for this special time of Thanksgiving. Bro. Joe “Come before (the Lord’s) presence with thanksgiving…”
How can we come into the presence of the Lord without being thankful? After all, the only reason that we have access to Him is because He allows it by grace. We have an understanding of being in the Lord’s presence that the psalmist did not have. The psalmist lived before the “veil of the temple was torn in two.” Because of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, we have in His presence at all times. Not only should we “come before His presence with thanksgiving;” we should live in His presence with thanksgiving. There are at least three areas of our lives that we should approach the Lord in thanksgiving: when we worship, when we work and when we witness. We should approach the Lord in thankful worship on a daily basis. Sunday worship will not suffice. Every Christian should set aside a time for Bible reading and prayer each day. It is safe to say that every great Christian, throughout Christian history, has disciplined himself, or herself, to have devotions every day. How else can we express our thankfulness to Him for all that He has done in our lives? If you do not have a devotional time in your daily routine, you need to start one now. Also, we should be aware of God’s presence every moment of every day and be thankful that He is with us. We should also approach the Lord in thankful worship, in corporate worship with our church. Sunday should be a day of worship and praise with our fellow Christians. Again, all great Christians took time for this. If we are truly thankful, why would we have to begged or manipulated into publicly worshipping God? Public worship identifies us with the people of God, and indentifies us with all of the great people of God – past and present. We should go about our work in our chosen professions in a spirit of thanksgiving. Work was ordained in the Garden of Eden. Even before they sinned, Adam and Eve were told to tend the Garden. Work was not punishment; it was a privilege. Work did not become burdensome until sin entered the picture. The original words for work and worship are almost indistinguishable. We are not to just be thankful on out knees, but we are to be thankful as we go about our daily work. After all, we work in God’s presence each day. We should do Christian work, church work and otherwise in a spirit of thanksgiving. We should not begrudge the time that we spend in serving the Lord. We should be thankful for this work because the Lord allows us to work for Him. We are not doing God any favors. He favors us by letting us serve Him. Remember this as you go about your work for Him in your church and community – and be thankful. Every Christian is a witness for Jesus. We should not be afraid of this. We should be thankful. Again, witnessing is not our burden, it is our privilege. Witnessing should be a natural overflow of thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us. How can we be aware that we live in His presence daily and not yearn to witness for Him in some way. The first witness that we have is our lives. If we live thankfully before Him each day, people will see our lives and, perhaps, want what we have. You have probably heard the hymn: “Living for Jesus, a life that is true, living for Jesus in all that I do. Living for Jesus as life that is free, this is the pathway of blessing for me…” All of the above gives us good reason for us to “come before (God’s) presence with thanksgiving.” This would be a good time of year to consider this for your own life. Bro. Joe |
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