THANKSGIVING – A RESPONSE TO GOD’S GRACE

      Thanksgiving is our response to God’s grace.  Through the prophet Hosea in the Old Testament God reminds the people of Israel of His grace to them:  “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.  But the more they were called, the more they went away from me.  They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.  It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.  I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.  To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them” (Hosea 11:1-4).

      The application to all believers in the Lord God is that He loves His people as His children.  He calls them, even though they tend to be disobedient and go the other way away from Him.  He teaches them.  He carries them.  He heals them.  He leads them with bonds of love.  He bends down to feed them.

      Take the time this Thanksgiving to respond to His grace to you. Thank Him for loving you as His child.  Thank Him for calling you to a purpose in life.  Thank Him for what He’s teaching you.  Thank Him for carrying you.  Thank Him for healing you.  Thank Him for leading you.  Thank Him for feeding you.

      With an attitude of thanksgiving listen to His calling and go in His direction.  Learn from what He teaches you.  Rest in His embrace.  As God matures and heals you, live it.  Stay enthralled with His love for you and follow His lead.  With humility and thankfulness be fed from God’s gracious hand.  Let His Word nourish you and satisfy you.  This is how we respond to God’s grace with thanksgiving.

SELFLESS SERVING

This being Veteran’s Day, what comes to my mind is selfless serving and the sacrifice many have made for our country and its freedoms that we still enjoy.  I thank God for our veterans and their families who have sacrificed much.

Jesus certainly made the ultimate sacrifice for us all.  By His sacrifice we have the opportunity to be free from eternal punishment for our wrongs, to be freed from the pain of our emotional wounds, and to be free to obey and trust Him with our lives.

The Apostle Paul highlights the significance of selfless serving.  In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul points out how others are promoting themselves as great apostles of God.  They come across with a superior attitude, as if they are closer to God, have more to offer than Paul, and claim their God-ordained status is the same as Paul’s.  Paul reveals their motives, that they are really all about serving themselves, not God.

Paul says, “I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things.   I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way” (2 Corinthians 11:5-6 NLT).  Paul explains that his motive is all about serving the Lord.  Instead of elevating himself he elevates Christ.  Instead of advancing himself he advances Christ.  And he does it all without feeling inferior to those who get all the notoriety for their super status.

Our society pushes us to try to become superstars.  But we must question our motives.  Why do we do what we do?  Why do we pursue what we pursue?  God wants us to promote the cross of Christ, not ourselves, and without feeling inferior to what we see and hear others doing.  Don’t buy in to what the world says is superior and what’s inferior.  They’ve got it backwards.  Instead buy in to what God says is superior and what’s inferior.  He says what’s superior is to serve sacrificially.  God will reward your serving.  And God’s rewards and compensation are far better than the world’s. 

Jesus said,  “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant … the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26, 28).

OUR CULTURE’S CREED

The following poem by Steve Turner captures the perspective of our culture today.

Creed

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin.

We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before during
and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy's OK
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything's getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated.
You can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in horoscopes,
UFO's and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha
Mohammed and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher although we think
his good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same,
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation sin heaven hell God and salvation.

We believe that after death comes The Nothing
because when you ask the dead what happens
they say Nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it's compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between
warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth
that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust. History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds. 

By Steve Turner

My thoughts:

The secularist view of the world is a world without God.  On the one hand we have the secularist  view, the world’s perspective of life, and on the other hand we have God’s view of life.  The two views are separate and cannot be combined because they oppose one another. 

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him (John 1:9-10).

We are enlightened, not by the world, for the world doesn’t give us true light.  We are enlightened by Christ Who came from outside the world into our world.  He enlightens us to the truth. 

This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure (John 3:19-20 Mes).

Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46).

The secularist’s view of the world is a world without God.  God’s view of the world is a world without truth.  God’s view of the world is a world that is in the dark, without light.  But God loved the world so much that He has sent Truth and Light into it in the form of His Son Jesus Christ.  If we are to know reality we must know Jesus.  If we are to be enlightened we must believe in Him.  If we are to know truth we must believe what He says.

The tragedy of the world’s view is described by Jesus in Matthew 6:23:  “If the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is”! (Matthew 6:23 NLT).

The joy of God’s view is in Who Jesus is.  He said in John 14:6:  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The world’s view of life and God’s view of life are in direct contradiction to one another.  Never confuse the two.

YOUR SERVING MATTERS

Jesus said, “The greatest among you must be a servant.  But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12 NLT).  My thanks to all who served at Clay Community Church’s Fall Festival this past Saturday.  Excellently done!  Jesus says you’re great! 

Everyone who humbly serves for His Kingdom’s sake – Jesus says is great.  He says you will be rewarded and receive great honor.  Count on it.  God keeps His Word.  Though in the “here and now” you know something of His reward for serving, in the future there will be a big “pay day” for you.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Galatians 6:9-10).

KEEP YOUR FAITH ALIVE

James says, “Faith that does nothing is dead” (James 2:26 NCV).  Keep your faith living by doing.  Maybe your faith has waned in the last few months.  We all go through times of distress and questioning.  But it’s not the end.  Actually it’s the beginning.  It’s the beginning of another opportunity to believe God and to revive your faith in Him and in what He says.  As we move forward to obey and trust God, He will give us the will to keep going.

“Get the word out. Teach all these things... Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don’t be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation” (1 Timothy 4:11, 15-16 Mes).

We must pay close attention to ourselves, our everyday living, and what we say and do which teaches and influences those around us.  Persevere in the right things.  Get the word out about the good news of Christ.

It takes decisiveness to mature in our faith and grow in the character of Christ.  Your spiritual/emotional maturity is realized as you give relentless resolve to the teaching of God’s Word.  We’re in it for the salvation we have and the salvation others can have.  We’re into the last quarter of the year.  Finish the year strong for the cause of Christ with a living faith.

HUMBLE FAITH = CONFIDENT LIVING

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.  The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me (Psa. 116:5-6 NAS).  Often it’s in those times we are “low” and humbled that we see life in its simplest form.  And we realize that we’re responsible for some of its complications and some of our problems.  But it may be then that we are ready and willing to receive the Lord’s grace and compassion.  It’s when we’re low on answers, low on solutions, low on encouragement, low on strength – that we will look to the Lord to save us.  And He does.  Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you (Psa. 116:7 NAS).

I believed when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.”  I said in my alarm, “All men are liars” (Psa. 116:10-11 NAS).  Choosing to believe God through the good times and the bad is the issue.  Our troubles and pain do not define our faith.  They refine it.  The palmist is saying that he still believed God when he was “greatly afflicted.”  He still believed God though he felt alarmed at the lack of integrity of people.  Dishonest people don’t make God a liar.  And our emotional response to trouble and dishonest people doesn’t define our faith in God. 

What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the Lord’s name for saving me.  I will keep my promises to the Lord in the presence of all his people (Psa. 116:12-14 NLT).  How can we thank the Lord for His goodness and salvation?  The psalmist mentions three things we can do:

1) Offer the cup of salvation to others.  Invite others to take the salvation Jesus offers.  Hand the cup to someone you know.

2) Praise the Lord.  Give credit to Him.  Worship Him in your daily living.  Call upon Him for continued strength from Him.

3) Keep our commitments to the Lord.  We choose to be faithful to God.  We choose to keep the commitments we’ve made to obey, to serve, to give.  Yes God expects us to make commitments.  It’s called trust.  God expects us to be responsible with what He entrusts to us, and for us to be responsible we must commit ourselves to it.  

And we are to be responsible with our commitment to the Lord “in the presence of all His people.”  We need one another in order to stay responsible and strong in our commitments.  Accountability and grace and truth, shared with one another, strengthen our resolve.  As we trust God by keeping the commitments we’ve made, we say “thank You” to Him.

NOT GETTING EVERYTHING – BUT HAVING MORE

We’re not going to get everything we want or dream of.  But we can have what matters, and even more than we dreamed of. 

God tells us if we’ll live according to His instructions, He’ll produce through us a “good life.”  In Deuteronomy 5:33 the Scripture says, “Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.” 

The principle for us is that our opportunities for the “good life”, which is a life of trusting God, will extend beyond what they would ordinarily.  We don’t know how long the “ordinarily” would be except that it would be shorter.  God wants us to use the opportunities he has entrusted to us in this life for His purpose and direction.  When we steer our lives to His way of living, He responds to us by giving us what really matters.

Jesus said, “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. My Father will love those who love me; I too will love them and reveal myself to them” (John 14:21 GNT). 

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21).