Giving Thanks For God’s Bountiful Blessings.

       One night I was chatting with an experienced mother about how she had changed from the first child of five to the last.  She told me she had mellowed a lot over the years:   "When my oldest (a girl) coughed or sneezed, I called the ambulance.   When my youngest (a boy) swallowed a dime, I just told him it was coming out of his allowance.”   We worry about a lot of things.  It is in our nature.   Every time an angel appears the first words from his mouth are “Fear not…” or “Do not be afraid.”  

    Since God is concerned for each of us as His redeemed children, the Apostle Paul assures us this concern certainly extends to our basic daily needs (but not our greed). The Apostle wrote, (Phil. 4:19) “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus”. This promise was made in connection with the financial support the Philippians had sent to Paul for his missionary ministry. He was assuring them that their giving would never be their lack. God would supply their needs, and the reason for His supply, was nothing less than “His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”     Governing God’s provision is nothing short of the wealth of what God has done for us in Christ. Again, Rom. 8:32 comes to mind.

    The Lord Jesus gave us His teaching against anxiety regarding our daily needs. He focused on the fact of God’s personal care for our basic needs in Matthew 6:25-34. Three times He tells us “do not be anxious” (6:25, 31 and 34). Five times questions are asked that are designed to show the foolishness of anxiety.

     Why is anxiety foolish? It is foolish because it is futile in view of the Father’s loving care and knowledge of our needs. He teaches us such worry is the product of being people of “little faith.” Worry is the product of failing to reflect on the fatherly care God must have for us as His people since He shows such wonderful care for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Finally, He shows that due to God’s loving care and the temporary and evil nature of this world, our greatest priority and concern must be the spiritual.

  Of all of God’s gifts, the greatest one He has given is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus paid our sin debt, so a holy and just Judge could forgive us our sins and give us eternal life as a free gift. This gift is available to those who will call on Christ to save them from their sin in simple but sincere faith (John 3:16; Rom. 3:19-26; 6:23; 10:13; Eph. 2:8-10). For this gift of His Son, the gift which meets our greatest need, the Apostle Paul says, (2 Cor. 9:15) "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!".

    We, like the Pilgrims, have a choice. In life there will always be those things that we can complain about (the Pilgrims had lost many loved ones), but there will also be much to be thankful for. As our society becomes increasingly secular, the actual “giving of thanks to God” during our annual Thanksgiving holiday is being overlooked, leaving only the feasting. May God grant that He may find us grateful every day for all of His gifts, spiritual and material. God is good, and every good gift comes from Him (James 1:17). For those who know Christ, God also works everything together for good, even events we would not necessarily consider good.

Giving Thanks For My Church Family.

Alfred Ackley

     We’ve all heard the complaints about “organized religion.”  First of all, I haven’t seen all that many churches that I would call organized (ha).  One of the principle complaints I hear is “I don’t want to go down there where all those hypocrites are.”  To which I usually respond, “Come on down. We’ll make room for one more.  Moreover, the ones who gather regularly at the church are at least working on their hypocrisy problem.”

     Maybe the real tragedy is that we’ve allowed the modern church to be like a museum where fine saints are put on display like wax figures.  Instead we should be functioning as Jesus designed his church to be in action.  As we join together on mission to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ known to all the nations something wonderful is shown to an otherwise cynical world.  We show them we serve a risen Savior

      In 1933 a young Jewish man asked evangelist and musician Alfred Ackley, "Why should I worship a dead Jew?" To which Ackley emphatically, “He lives! Mr. Ackley's forthright, emphatic answer, together with his subsequent triumphant effort to win the man for Christ, flowered forth into song and crystallized into a convincing sermon on "He lives!" . . . The scriptural evidence, his own heart, and the testimony of history matched the glorious experience of an innumerable cloud of witnesses of that "He lives," so he sat down at the piano and voiced that conclusion in song.

      When I get good news, I look around for those that I love to share the good news.  Sometimes I can’t wait to see my wife and I will call her or text her so that she gets the good news first.  Those moments of happiness, along with the times of pain and agony and every emotion between were meant to be shared in a faith community called the church.  So in each place that we’ve lived one of the first things we do is find a “spiritual family” where we can share and grow.

    Let me share with you reasons I’m thankful for my church family why you should have one that you are thankful for as well.  1. A church is Scriptural. When believers first assembled after Jesus’ resurrection, they were referred to as a church (Acts 1:42).  Simply people of all ages and all walks of life helping each other grow in the Lord.  2. A church provides fellowship (companionship + closeness) with each other. Hebrews 10:25 (HCSB) states “²⁵ not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

     3. A church provides an excellent opportunity for evangelism.  In most churches there are small groups where the Word is taught powerfully yet in a conversational style where questions can be answered.  During these times often people become very responsive as they understand Jesus’ love for them.  Invite someone to your Sunday School class or Small Group and watch what can happen.  4. A church provides an opportunity for service. Many churches challenge their people to take leaps of faith and use their abilities to bring God glory, for example in music, drama, Bible-teaching, puppets, mission trips, and much more.   5. A church is inspirational – not just focused on the needs of its members, but also working together to reach the world.  There is a dynamic that happens only when you are assembled with other believers doing something magnificent (Prov. 27:17; Eccl. 4:9-12; Matt. 18:20). 
  6. A church has a positive influence.  As the outside community sees a group of people each taking their unique abilities and completing something that is part of a greater body of believers working in harmony to accomplish monumental tasks, then it confirms God’s activity in the world.   7. A Church prepares people for their eternal home. In Rev. 7:9, John describes his vision of having as being represented by “…a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,” We might as well get used to being together as we will be celebrating in the presence of our Savior as a group for a long time.  8. The church body is incomplete with you.  Rom. 12 Paul looks at the variety and necessity of each part that you and I contribute to the church “³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

    The Lord has built into each of us and each church a need for each other so that we might bring Glory to His name in unprecedented ways.  I hope you have a church family for which you can be truly thankful…if not, let me encourage you to find one today. 

  

Thanks For My Situation: Good or Bad.

     Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison yet his tone is incredible positive and full of victory.  Phil. 4:6 “⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  

         Do you ever worry? Don’t look around and point your finger at someone else. Do you ever worry—even the least little bit? And yet the Bible so clearly tells us not to worry about anything but to pray about everything.

    There are really only two categories of things for which we should never waste an ounce of worry:   First, those things we cannot do anything about and second the things we CAN do something about. The best thing you can say about worry is that it is useless. The worst thing you can say about it is that it dishonors God.

      Worry is the opposite of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

     So what is the process by which we replace the naturally occurring worry with faith?  We study the character or nature of God.  God who is patiently waiting for people to come to know Him as Lord and Savior (2 Peter 3:9).  Becoming aware of the welcoming heavenly Father who is watching for “prodigals” to come home (Luke 15:11f).

     Sometimes we can get so shocked by the fiery furnace we find ourselves in that we forget the designer who never takes His eyes off of us (Ps. 121:4; 1 Peter 3:12).  2 Chronicles 16:9 says “⁹ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him”  You got a Loving Father who is keeping His eye on you.  I know there are those reading this who have lost a job, lost their health, or lost a loved one and they are wondering if God has forgotten them.  Isaiah brought a message to the Israelites when they felt alone and forgotten (Is. 49:14-16) “¹⁴ But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;     my Lord has forgotten me.”   ¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. ¹⁶ Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…”

  Winston Churchill, who led England to fight back against tyranny, knew a lot of worry in his day.  He wrote “When I look back on all the worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened.”

    God does have a plan for your life.  He loves you.  He is patient with you. For a follower of Jesus Christ every difficulty has a meaningful purpose to it as well (Rom. 8:28).   The real task is to begin thanking God in the midst of your situation whether it is bad or good and trusting in what you have come to know about His divine character.  As soon as continual praise becomes your habit, your anxiety will be replaced by peace and joy.