The Bible tells us to give thanks
Charles Dickens said,, we should set aside one day a year to complain, and give thanks 364
Turn to 1 chronicles 16:7-12,,,,, key verse 8
why give thanks? Psalm 106:1
106 Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Jesus gave thanks , at the Lords supper.
Luke 22:17 17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves
and Luke 22:19 19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me
When we say thank you, we are admitting that we need someone more powerful than us.
We are admitting that what we are blessed to have, we didn't get on our own
(ills of Alex Haley, author of roots, has a picture of a turtle on a fence post,, Every time someone comes into his office and asked him about the picture, Alex says " he didn't get there by himself)
We need to be thankful daily.
We take our blessing for granted sometimes.
Just think about this,
We wonder what restaurant we will eat at, while there are millions who wonder where their next meal is coming from
We try to choose which dress, or suit, or clothes to wear, while millions only have the clothes on their back
WE gripe when we have to get up to go to work, while many don't have a job to get up to.
We gripe about our old jalopy of a car, while many have to walk everywhere they go.
It is not that hard to say,, thank you Lord for your blessings on me
Eph 5:20 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
Rudy Kipling lived from 1865 to 1936, he was English, he wrote poetry and is the author of many books like captain couragous,,, and many jungle books..
Kiplings writing no only made him famous, it brought him much money . A newspaper reporter came up to him one day and said, Mr. Kipling, I just read that somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings amounts to over one hundred dollars a word.
The reporter reached in his pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill, and said,,,, Now you give me one of those one hundred dollar words.........Rudy Kipling looked at the money,, and put it in his pocket, and said,, THANKS
What are you thankful for most this morning?
Your health,,,,, your job,,,,, family,,,, church family,,,,,, It could be a lot of things
Ills of little boy was asked to say blessings over thanksgiving meal.. he said thank you Lord for the turkey,, my mom and dad,, my tv,, loving us,, and oh yea Lord, be sure to take care of yourself,, because without you, we would all be sunk
Before Jesus came to earth, mankind was contaminated with sin,, but Jesus stepped in and gave His life in our place
Jesus died in agony, to save you and me,,,,,,, for this , we should be truly greatful,,,
Col.1:12-14 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
We truly should be grateful for the price Jesus paid,,,, but sadly, some don't take Jesus seriously
Ills of little boy hearing sermon on Jesus crucifixion, began to weep ,, his mother looked down at him, and said,,, shhhhuuu
don't take it so seriously
Too many people today don't take the cross of Christ seriously
The cross should cause us to be thankful.
The writer of Hebrews tells us in Heb. 9:26 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself
Christ removed our sin, by His sacrafice on the cross
Through His death , He made it possible for us to spend eternity in heaven.
This should cause us to appreciate what our suffering savior did for us.
Remember in Luke chapter 17, when Jesus cleansed the 10 lepers, they all left, and none of them said thank you
Then one came back to say thank you, and Jesus said,,,, Where are the other nine?
Sometimes I think that many times we are like the pig walking under the oak tree eating acorns, and never looking up to see where they are coming from,,,,,,, too many times, we enjoy all the blessings the Father gives us, and never acknowledge where they come from.
The Bible tells us, in James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Some people just don't want to show gratitude,, or say thank you
God expects our thanks to Him, but too many peoples just go on their way, never giving Jesus a second thougt
On a hot summer day in San Antonio' Texas, a 10 month old baby girl accidentally got locked in a car..... people were trying to unlock the car,, the little girls mother , had left the keys in the car,, people came by, saw the little girl turning blue,, and foaming at the mouth,, a man quickly ran and broke the window, and rescued the baby.
Was he called a hero,, did the mother thank him,, No , she was mad at him because he broke the back window.
Which was more important,, the back window, or the baby's life. Where was her gratitude?
In our own lives, we should be grateful, because Jesus forgave our sins,,, past, present, and future.
He cancelled out debt,, we owed a debt we could never repay
He tore up our list of sins,,, he forgave, and forgot,, If we confess our sins,, God says in Heb.8:12 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more
Thank God, for His mercy and for forgiving our sins.
Our sins were nailed to the cross, with Him,, We should say,,,,, Thank you Lord Jesus.......
There is power in the blood of Jesus
.Many years ago, in Moscow theater, one of the actors was converted while playing the role of Jesus, in a sacra religious play called,,,,,CHRIST IN A TUXEDO....HE was supposed to read 2 verses from the sermon on the mount, ,, remove his, gown, and cry our loud,,GIVE ME MY TUXED AND TOP HAT ,, But as he read those words, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for their is the kingdom of heave,,,, Blessed are they that mourn , for they shall be comforted,,, he began to trimble,, and weep, Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5, ignoring the coughs, and foot stamping of his fellow actors.
Finally recalling a verse he had learned in his childhood in a Russian orthodox church, he cried " Lord, remember me when Thou comest into thy kingdom. Before the curtain could be lowered, he had trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
We have so many things to be thankful for,,
THANKFUL THAT GOD CARES FOR MY FUTURE....Jer. 29:11 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you ,saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end
Sometimes we just need to thank Him,,,,,, like the song CALVARY IS THE REASON WHY
I was lost but You knew where to find me
I was hungry You were bread for my soul
I was thirsty and You gave living water
You were my shelter when I had no place to go
That's why sometimes I just want to praise You
Sometimes just to speak Your name
Sometimes I just want to thank You
Without asking You for a thing
Oh sometimes I lift my hands to You
And sometimes all I do is cry
Everything that I have I owe to You, Lord
And Calvary's the reason why
When I think of the love that You've given
Lord when I think of the price You paid for me
Then the trials on earth, they just seem like nothing
When they're compared to dark Calvary
Sometimes we just need to say,, Lord, I am not going to ask you for anything, I just want to thank you, for dying on the cross in my place..
How wide is Your love
That You would stretch Your arms
And go around the world
And why for me would a Savior's cry be heard
I don't know
Why You went where I was meant to go
I don't know
Why You love me so
Those were my nails
That was my crown
That pierced Your hands and Your brow
Those were my thorns
Those were my scorns
Those were my tears that fell down
And just as You said it would be
You did it all for me
After You counted the cost
You took my shame, my blame
On my cross
How deep is Your grace
That you could see my need
And chose to take my place
And then for me, these words I'd hear You say
Father no
Forgive them for they know not what they do
I will go
Because I love them so
--------------------------------------
Sometimes we need to thank Him for who He is.........when we accept Christ as our savior , we need to act like Christians, and not give Jesus a bad name...
