Everyday is "Thanksgiving Day"
With all the talk lately, about the decisions of corporate America, to open on thanksgiving, Instead of the normal Black Friday push of the early am hours, only the diehard bargain hunters flock to.
There's a lot of hoopla, everything from that's disrespecting the holiday, to if they do that, it verges on being unchristian.
I can see both points of view, as a nation it's the only day all year, we set aside to observe together, thankfulness for all we have as a country and in our private lives as well.
The flip side of the coin is those companies, are fighting for there very survival, it's a dog eat dog world in business nowadays with all the regulations and internet shopping and all.
But this is the question that I wonder, is the 4th Thursday in November the only day all year, we can be thankful and have a good sale on?
What about the 364 other opportunities we have each year?
Or the 52 designated times God told us to set aside and remember the sabbath day,
the time each week we get together to renew and refresh our relationship with and to praise and worship The Lord.
Hebrews 10:25 MSG
22-25 So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
If King David who we all know and love to hear stories about, would have felt this way, would we have only had 40 Psalms?
David was only King 40 years and if he would have only taken, one day a year to celebrate and be thankful for, it would have probably only resulted in 40 Psalms.
Thank goodness he realized at a very early age, giving praise and being thankful to God was not only the right thing to do, but a way of life, the way everyone should live on a daily basis.
Everybody knows that good things were always happening to Him, it may have not been written yet in the bible...but David knew as well as anyone....
God is, was and has always been a rewarder of those who diligently seek after Him....no matter who you are!
Hear and listen David's words of wisdom, he had a no matter what attitude, when it came to giving praise and thanksgiving unto God!
Psalms 34:1-9 MSG
I bless God every chance I get;
my lungs expand with his praise.
2 I live and breathe God;
if things aren’t going well, hear this and be happy:
3 Join me in spreading the news;
together let’s get the word out.
4 God met me more than halfway,
he freed me from my anxious fears.
5 Look at him; give him your warmest smile.
Never hide your feelings from him.
6 When I was desperate, I called out,
and God got me out of a tight spot.
7 God’s angel sets up a circle
of protection around us while we pray.
8 Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.
9 Worship God if you want the best;
worship opens doors to all his goodness.
Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is...isn't that great advice?
God is not.... a that was then and this is now kind of God...
now granted David had an awful lot to be thankful for, but so do we church.....so do we!!
This isn't a burdensome life God has called us to live, and if your feeling burdened down by life, then your depending to much on yourself and not enough on God!
But you don't know about....I don't have to know....what I do know is this, "His word says and declares...His burden is easy and His yoke is light" and His Blessings are always greater...then the accusers disappoints!
And if God has called you to Salvation, isn't it about time you started to take advantage of the love, His wonderful goodness, He has already chosen to give to you?
Colossians 3:12-17 MSG
12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
That means all through out the year, all through out your life, cultivating thankfulness!
And why not?? Why not be more thankful?
Whether we chose or not to participate in the abundant life God has given us and realize His generosity,
Doesn't negate the fact that we have the opportunity to....and we should be thankful For the opportunity!
Illus. Sometimes we probably feel like the man whose grandchildren played a practical joke on him. Each afternoon, Grandpa would lie down for a nap. One day, the kids decided to put limburger cheese in his moustache.
Quite soon afterward, he awoke sniffing. "This room stinks," he exclaimed as he got up and went out into the kitchen. He wasn't there long before he declared, "This kitchen stinks, too."
He decided to walk outdoors for a breath of fresh air. Much to Grandpa's surprise, the open air brought no relief, and he proclaimed, "The whole world stinks!"
The truth was it was Grandpa who stunk. The problem was right under his nose.
Sometimes the way we think, stinks too!
That's the way a lot of people feel, they have a hard time finding something to be thankful for, everywhere they look they see what they don't have, instead of the abundance of things they do have all around them, all them time!
They spend their whole life looking for bigger and better, and all the while the best has been there, and always continues to be right in front of them all along the way.
God will give you as many of His blessings that you can believe and trust Him for, there all yours, every single one of them....Jesus wrote your name on them at the cross!
Talk about a people that should have continual thanksgiving in their heart...
That would be us church...or at least that should be us....shouldn't it??
We have available to us in our relationship with God, through His Beloved Son, everything that His Beloved Son Jesus has available to Him.
It doesn't get any better than that...and
If that's not enough to be thankful for, I can't imagine what would be??
1 John 4:17 MSG
17 In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.
I know I read and have read that verse many times in the past, but I think no matter how many times we hear it...we still can't seem to grasp the vastness and get our hands around, what that statement really means and can do in our lives!!
as He is, so are we in this world...when we believe and receive this promise in our lives...it unlocks everything that He enjoys and has available to Him...for us to enjoy and have available to us!!
Can anybody say Happy Thanks For Giving Everyday JESUS!!!
Because that's exactly what God does, through His Son and has been doing and will continue to do throughout all of eternity....for those who will only believe!!
Ephesians 1:3-6 MSG
3-6How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
the celebration of his lavish gift-giving...that's right, His gift giving...it's all His anyways.
King David realized this...everyone should realize this...
TBS(the bible says)....Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Well I'll have you know, I worked hard for what I have!
Who gave you that ability to work hard?
Who gave you the strength to work hard?
Who gave you the desire to work hard?
Everything you think you have, don't have, or desire to have...came from and comes from God and is all His anyways
Well, you might say....it was easy for King David to be thankful...he was rich..he had everything...there was nothing he wanted for!
David's thankfulness started when all he had in his pocket...was a few smooth stones, yea when he had rocks in his pockets...that's when God started blessing him!
Even then, he had a keen awareness that those were Gods stones...and with Gods blessing on those stones... There wasn't anything he couldn't accomplish for The Lord! Amen?
In 1 chronicles 29 we read and this pretty much sums up what David's whole life was about..
1st Chronicles 29:1-19 MSG
29 1-5 Then David the king addressed the congregation: “My son Solomon was singled out and chosen by God to do this. But he’s young and untested and the work is huge—this is not just a place for people to meet each other, but a house for God to meet us. I’ve done my best to get everything together for building this house for my God, all the materials necessary: gold, silver, bronze, iron, lumber, precious and varicolored stones, and building stones—vast stockpiles. Furthermore, because my heart is in this, in addition to and beyond what I have gathered, I’m turning over my personal fortune of gold and silver for making this place of worship for my God: 3,000 talents (about 113 tons) of gold—all from Ophir, the best—and 7,000 talents (214 tons) of silver for covering the walls of the buildings, and for the gold and silver work by craftsmen and artisans.
“And now, how about you? Who among you is ready and willing to join in the giving?”
6-8 Ready and willing, the heads of families, leaders of the tribes of Israel, commanders and captains in the army, stewards of the king’s affairs, stepped forward and gave willingly. They gave 5,000 talents (188 tons) and 10,000 darics (185 pounds) of gold, 10,000 talents of silver (377 tons), 18,000 talents of bronze (679 tons), and 100,000 talents (3,775 tons) of iron. Anyone who had precious jewels put them in the treasury for the building of The Temple of God in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.
9 And the people were full of a sense of celebration—all that giving! And all given willingly, freely! King David was exuberant.
10-13 David blessed God in full view of the entire congregation:
Blessed are you, God of Israel, our father
from of old and forever.
To you, O God, belong the greatness and the might,
the glory, the victory, the majesty, the splendor;
Yes! Everything in heaven, everything on earth;
the kingdom all yours! You’ve raised yourself high over all.
Riches and glory come from you,
you’re ruler over all;
You hold strength and power in the palm of your hand
to build up and strengthen all.
And here we are, O God, our God, giving thanks to you,
praising your splendid Name.
14-19 “But me—who am I, and who are these my people, that we should presume to be giving something to you? Everything comes from you; all we’re doing is giving back what we’ve been given from your generous hand. As far as you’re concerned, we’re homeless, shiftless wanderers like our ancestors, our lives mere shadows, hardly anything to us. God, our God, all these materials—these piles of stuff for building a house of worship for you, honoring your Holy Name—it all came from you! It was all yours in the first place! I know, dear God, that you care nothing for the surface—you want us, our true selves—and so I have given from the heart, honestly and happily. And now see all these people doing the same, giving freely, willingly—what a joy! O God, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this generous spirit alive forever in these people always, keep their hearts set firmly in you. And give my son Solomon an uncluttered and focused heart so that he can obey what you command, live by your directions and counsel, and carry through with building The Temple for which I have provided.”
What a day of thanksgiving that truly was....is it any wonder why Gods people are blessed and that He wants to bless them?
Romans 8:15-16 NKJ
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Let me ask you...are you're a child of God this morning?...because if you are, those are your ancestors were talking about...that's part of you're heritage, that God wants you to lay hold of!!
Yea but who has that kind of treasure to give?
None of them did, when they started out their walk....the blessing came about "as a result of their walk" with The Lord!..... Amen??
Serving And giving unto The Lord starts where you're at... Not where you hope to be someday!
Because if you don't start where you're at, you'll never get to were you want to be! Amen?
Luke 21:1-4 MSG
1-4 Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, “The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all!”
Now it doesn't say she was blessed that day because of what she did...But I know she was, because she had more faith in Jesus, then in all that she possessed!
And how do I know...because Gods word never returns void...that's how!
Hebrews 11:6 NKJ
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
She had sought Him, more than all who were there that day....she decided it was thanksgiving day that day....she couldn't, wouldn't and didn't wait until the fourth Thursday in November!
And I know for that diligence....God blessed and blessed her good! Some two thousand years later were still talking about her faith and her decision to give all!
Illus. from Jesus Calling
A thankful attitude opens windows of heaven. Spiritual blessings fall freely onto you through those openings into eternity. Moreover, as you look up with a grateful heart, you get glimpses of Glory through those windows. You cannot yet live in heaven, but you can experience foretastes of your ultimate home. Such samples of heavenly fare revive your hope. Thankfulness opens you up to these experiences, which then provide further reasons to be grateful. Thus, your path becomes an upward spiral: ever increasing in gladness.
This week we celebrate thanksgiving as a nation, but what do you say we make a choice to celebrate it everyday?
Gods amazing blessing will be waiting for us each and everyday that we do!
Amen?
Let's pray!
