MAJOR ELEMENTS OF THANKSGIVING!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY MAY 07, 2025.

SUBJECT : MAJOR ELEMENTS OF THANKSGIVING!

Memory verse: "Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgements of His mouth." (First Chronicles 16 vs 12.)

READ: First Chronicles 16 vs 8 - 9; 28 - 29:

16:8: Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the people! 

16:9: Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk about His wonderful works!" 

16:28: Give to the Lord, O families of the people, Give to the Lord glory and strength. 

16:29: Give to the Lord glory due to His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of His holiness.

 

INTIMATION:

There are four major elements of thanksgiving. These four elements are:-

1. To remember what God has done.

2. To tell others about what God has done.

3. To show God's glory to others.

4. To offer gifts of self, time, and resources.

The bases of praise, and thanksgiving is declaring God's character and attributes in the presence of others. When we recognize and affirm His goodness we are holding up His perfect moral nature for all to see. And this praise benefits us because it takes our minds off our problems and needs and focuses on God's power, mercy, majesty, and love. Genuine praise, and thanksgiving involves ascribing glory to God, noting that this is our worship, and that we give God all the glory. This means that we give credit where credit is due.

The elements of thanksgiving is clearly expressed in David’s psalm to thank the LORD in First Chronicles 16 vs 7 - 36. Thanksgiving should be an integral part of our praise to God, and this theme is woven throughout the psalms. Thanksgiving should be in all areas of life, and If you are truly thankful, your life will show it. As we praise and thank God for material, and spiritual blessings, we should also thank Him for answered prayers, remembering His answers to our quest for protection, strength, comfort, patience, love, or other special needs that He supplied. 

Beware of taking God's provisions and answered prayers for granted. Jesus healed ten lepers in Luke 17 vs 11 -19, but only one returned to thank Him, and consequently, he was made whole. Only the thankful man however, learned that his faith had played a role in his healing. It is possible to receive God's great gifts with an ungrateful spirit. This was the guilt of nine out of the ten lepers that Jesus healed. Remember that only grateful Christians grow in understanding of God's grace. God does not demand that we thank Him, but He is pleased when we do so and uses our responsiveness to teach us more about Himself; revealing Himself more to us for our benefits. 

Thanksgiving is one of the acts of 'giving,' and 'giving' is the nature of God. As His children, adopted in Christ in the new birth, that nature is imparted in us and is to be expressed in us. The Scripture, in Luke 6 vs 38, says; "Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." Therefore, giving is for your own benefit. You can only receive when you give, and in the like manner you give, you receive. 

Giving to God is a wonderful tool for receiving from Him, and receiving quite in excess of your gift. It is noteworthy that you cannot out-give God. Study Genesis 22 vs 15 - 18, on how Abraham was blessed by God when He obediently offered Isaac. Also, study First Kings 3 vs 4 - 14, on the blessings of God on King Solomon when he offered his astonishing sacrifice.

Prayer: Abba Father, what do I have that I have not received from You? Everything within me will continually thank You for Your goodness, faithfulness, loving-kindness, and mercy that endures forever. Endue me with the excellent spirit of gratitude to You everyday of my life, and in everything, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Truer Knowledge Brings Greater Joy

 Truer Knowledge Brings Greater Joy

And all the people went their way . . . to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. (Nehemiah 8:12)

The only joy that reflects the worth of God and overflows in God-glorifying love is rooted in the true knowledge of God. And to the degree that our knowledge is small or flawed, our joy will be a poor echo of God’s true excellence.

The experience of Israel in Nehemiah 8:12 is a paradigm of how God-glorifying joy happens in the heart. Ezra had read the word of God to them and the Levites had explained it. And then the people went away “to make great rejoicing.”

Their great rejoicing was because they had understood words — the true words of God. 

Most of us have tasted this experience of the heart burning with joy when the word of God was opened to us (Luke 24:32). Twice Jesus said that he taught his disciples for the sake of their joy.

John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

John 17:13, “These things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

And what we mainly see in the word is the Lord himself — God himself — offering himself to be known and enjoyed. “The Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord” (1 Samuel 3:21).

The point is that if our joy is going to reflect the glory of God, then it must flow from true knowledge of how God is glorious. If we are going to enjoy God duly, we must know him truly.

Seven Sources of Joy

 Seven Sources of Joy

In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. (2 Corinthians 7:4)

What is extraordinary about Paul is how unbelievably durable his joy was when things weren’t going well.

Where did this come from? 

First of all it was taught by Jesus: “Blessed are you when people hate you. . . . Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven” (Luke 6:22–23). Troubles for Jesus compound your interest in heaven — which lasts a lot longer than earth.

Second, it comes from the Holy Spirit, not our own efforts or imagination or family upbringing. “The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy” (Galatians 5:22). “You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

Third, it comes from belonging to the kingdom of God. “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

Fourth, it comes through faith, that is, from believing God. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13). “I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith” (Philippians 1:25).

Fifth, it comes from seeing and knowing Jesus as Lord. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).

Sixth, it comes from fellow believers who work hard to help us focus on these sources of joy, rather than deceitful circumstances. “We work with you for your joy” (2 Corinthians 1:24).

Seventh, it comes from the sanctifying effects of tribulations. “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4).

If we are not yet like Paul when he says, “I am overflowing with joy,” he calls us to be. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). And for most of us this is a call to earnest prayer. Because a life of joy in the Holy Spirit is a supernatural life.

HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY MAY 05, 2025.

SUBJECT : HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE!

Memory verse: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (First Thessalonians 5 vs 18.)

READ: Luke 17 vs 12 - 19:

17:12: Then as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off.

17:13: And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

17:14: So when He saw them, He said unto them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

17:15: And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,

17:16: and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

17:17: So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?”

17:18: Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God, except this stranger?”

17:19: And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

INTIMATION:

We have learned that every good thing that comes to us in this life comes by the grace of God. And until we recognize that truth, we will never be the kind of thankful, grateful people God desires us to be. God's attitude is that if His people really believe Him, then no matter what happens in life they will know that He is big enough to handle it and to make it work out for their good, if they continue to have faith in Him. God desires a thankful people, not a murmuring, grumbling, fault-finding, complaining people. Joy and peace are found in believing, not in murmuring, grumbling, fault-finding, or complaining.

It is God’s Will that we should give Him thanks in everything. Since we have been graciously adopted as children of God, and since we have been born of the Will of God, we should rest assured of His presence in our lives at all times. Therefore, in everything that happens to us, we should be thankful for God's presence, and for the good that He will accomplish through the happening in our lives. The Scripture says, "All things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8 vs 28). 

God works in 'all things,' not just in isolated incidents, for the good of His children. This does not mean that all that happens to them is good. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for the long-range good of His own. God does not demand that we thank Him, but He is pleased when we do so and uses our responsiveness to teach us more about Himself, revealing Himself more to us for our benefits. 

In the passage we read today, only one of the ten lepers had an attitude of gratitude and returned to give thanks to Jesus. And Jesus recognized this, and asked, “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God, except this stranger?” (Luke 17 vs 17 - 18.) Jesus then turned to the thankful man, noted his faith, and pronounced his wholeness or wellness—not just his being cured of leprosy. It is possible to receive God's great gifts with an ungrateful spirit. Nine out of the ten lepers did that. However, only grateful Christians grow in understanding of God's grace. 

The bases of gratitude or thankfulness is declaring God's character and attributes in the presence of others. When we recognize and affirm His goodness we are holding up His perfect moral nature for all to see. And this benefits us because it takes our minds off our problems and needs and focuses on God's power, mercy, majesty, and love, giving glory to God as our worship.

As human beings we are subject to selfishness and ingratitude. We can pray and believe God for something, and even be very thankful and grateful for it when we receive it. But it doesn't take us very long and we are no longer thankful and grateful for them. We quickly and easily can fall prey to an ungrateful attitude. For instance, we can believe God for a life partner, and even be thankful and grateful when we are married. Then within a matter of months, we are grumbling, murmuring, and complaining that God gave us a partner that is always "nagging."

Or we are believing God for the fruit of the womb, and thankful and grateful when we got pregnant and delivered to a baby. In a few years we are griping and complaining and questioning God for giving us  "a stubborn child." Or still, we can believe God for a bigger house, and even be thankful and grateful when we first received one. Then within a short period, we can find ourselves griping and complaining because now we have to clean that "big old house!"

You and I have multitudinous opportunities to complain on a regular basis. But all complaining do open the door for the enemy. It doesn't solve problems; it just creates a breeding ground for greater problems. We should be grateful and thankful to God always. In the event of our desiring something more, we then go to the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of grace and supplication—which is the power of God coming into our lives to help us solve every problem that we encounter, as well as helping us institute any changes we desire.

Let's learn to respond to the help we are already getting but don't deserve by developing an attitude of gratitude. This is not just an occasional word of thanks, but a continual lifestyle of thanksgiving. The person who has developed an "attitude of gratitude" is one who is thankful and grateful for every single thing that God is doing in his or her life day by day.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of gratitude in all things, at all times, and in all situations, knowing that You work in all things for my good because You love me and has demonstrated that love in paying the debt I owed in dying the death I ought to have died and gave me the free gift of salvation I didn’t deserve. I love You Oh Lord and desire to serve you all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

A Dangerous Motive

 A Dangerous Motive

“Who has given a gift to [God] that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. (Romans 11:35–36)

When it comes to obedience, gratitude is a dangerous motive. It tends to get expressed in debtor’s terms. For example, “Look how much God has done for you. Shouldn’t you, out of gratitude, do much for him?” Or, “You owe God everything that you are and have. What have you done for him in return?”

I have at least three problems with this kind of motivation. 

First, it is impossible to pay God back for all the grace he has given us. We can’t even begin to pay him back, because Romans 11:35–36 says, “‘Who has given a gift to [God] that he might be repaid?’ [Answer: Nobody!] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.” We can’t pay him back because he already owns all we have to give him — including all our efforts.

Secondly, even if we succeeded in paying him back for all his grace to us, we would only succeed in turning grace into a business transaction. If we can pay him back, it was not grace. If someone tries to show you a special favor of love by having you over for dinner, and you end the evening by saying that you will pay them back by having them over next week, you nullify their grace and turn it into a trade. God does not like to have his grace nullified. He likes to have it glorified (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14).

Thirdly, focusing on gratitude as a motive for obedience tends to overlook the crucial importance of having faith in God’s future grace. Gratitude looks back to grace received in the past and feels thankful. Faith looks forward to grace promised in the future — whether five minutes from now or five centuries from now — and feels hopeful. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1).

This faith in future grace is the motive for obedience that preserves the gracious quality of human obedience. Obedience does not consist in paying God back and thus turning grace into a trade. Obedience comes from trusting in God for more grace — future grace — and thus magnifying the infinite resources of God’s love and power. Faith looks to the promise, I will be “with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9), and ventures, in obedience, to tak

e the land.

LESSONS FROM OUR LORD’S PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY MAY 04, 2025.

SUBJECT : LESSONS FROM OUR LORD’S PRAYER!

Memory verse: "And the Lord will deliver me from the evil work and preserve me for heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!" (Second Timothy 4 vs 18.)

READ: Matthew 6 vs 9 - 13:

6:9: In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

6:10: Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

6:11: Give us this day our daily bread. 

6:12: And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

6:13: And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 

INTIMATION:

Jesus thought His disciples how to pray. This is often called the ‘Lord's Prayer’q because Jesus gave it to them as a model for them (and us) to keep in mind as we pray. Our prayers should be modeled in that pattern. Jesus provided a pattern to be imitated as well as duplicated. We should praise God, pray for His work in the world, pray for our daily needs, and pray for help in our daily struggles.

The phrase "Our Father in heaven" indicates that God is not only majestic and Holy, dwelling in His eternal place—heaven, but also personal and loving—our Father. The first line of the prayer is a statement of praise and a commitment to hallow, or honor God's Holy name. Praise is to be ascribed to God in respect of His glory; the exhibition of His character and operations. We honor God's name by being careful to use it respectfully. If we use God’s Name lightly, we aren’t remembering God’s holiness. 

The phrase "Your kingdom come" is a reference to God's spiritual reign to be heralded by the coming of Christ. God's kingdom was announced in the covenant with Abraham; “...in You all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12 vs 3). The kingdom  is present in Christ's reign in believers' hearts; “...For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17 vs 21), and will be complete when all evil is destroyed and God establishes the new heaven and earth (Revelation 21 vs 1). The kingdom of God begins with the work of God’s Spirit in people’s lives and in our relationships.

When we pray "Your will be done" we are not resigning ourselves to fate, but praying that God's perfect purpose will be accomplished in this world as well as the next. And how does God accomplish His purpose on earth? He does it largely through people willing to obey Him. This part of prayer allows us to offer ourselves as doers of God’s purposes or Will, asking Him to guide, lead, and give us the means to accomplish His purposes. Consequently, the lines of prayer hereafter are geared toward His means, guidance, and leading to accomplish His purposes.

When we pray "Give us this day our daily bread" we are acknowledging that God is our sustainer and provider. It is a misconception to think that we provide for our needs ourselves. We must trust God daily to provide what He knows we need, “...For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 5 vs 8), and promises to provide those needs to enable us serve His predetermined purposes.

God’s thoughts toward us is of peace, and not of evil (Jeremiah 29 vs 11). God doesn't lead us into temptations, but sometimes He allows us to be tested by them in preparing us for His predestined services. He knows the future, and His plans for us are good and full of hope. As disciples, we should pray to be delivered from these trying times and for deliverance from Satan, his deceit, and his cohorts.

All Christians struggle with temptation. Sometimes it is so subtle that we don't even realize what is happening to us. God has promised that He won't allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear; “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (First Corinthians 10 vs 13). 

We will always ask God to help us recognize temptation and to give us strength to overcome it and choose God's way instead. As long as God, who knows the future, provides our agenda, and goes with us as our Leader, to fulfill His mission, we can have boundless hope. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Loving Father, my Faithful Companion, and my Sacrificial Savior. Outside of You I am nothin, worthless, and can do nothing. Endue me with the excellent spirit of follower-ship and obedience to You in all things, all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

How to Ask Forgiveness

 How to Ask Forgiveness

He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. (1 John 1:9)

I recall hearing one of my professors in seminary say that one of the best tests of a person’s theology was the effect it has on our prayers. 

This struck me as true because of what was happening in my own life. Noël and I had just been married and we were making it our practice to pray together each evening. I noticed that during the biblical courses which were shaping my theology most profoundly, my prayers were changing dramatically. 

Probably the most significant change in those days was that I was learning to make my case before God on the ground of his glory. Beginning with “Hallowed be Thy name” and ending with “In Jesus’s name” meant that the glory of God’s name was the goal and the ground of everything I prayed. 

And what a strength came into my life when I learned that praying for forgiveness should be based not only on an appeal to God’s mercy, but also on an appeal to his justice in crediting the worth of his Son’s obedience. God is faithful and just and will forgive your sins (1 John 1:9).

In the New Testament, the basis of all forgiveness of sins is revealed more clearly than it was in the Old Testament, but the basis, namely, God’s commitment to his name, does not change. 

Paul teaches that the death of Christ demonstrated God’s righteousness in passing over sins, and vindicated God’s justice in justifying the ungodly who bank on Jesus and not themselves (Romans 3:25–26). 

In other words, Christ died once for all to clear the name of God in what looks like a gross miscarriage of justice — the acquittal of guilty sinners simply for Jesus’s sake. But Jesus died in such a way that forgiveness “for Jesus’s sake” is the same as forgiveness “for the sake of God’s name.” There is no miscarriage of justice. God’s name, his righteousness, his justice is vindicated in the very act of providing such a God-honoring sacrifice. 

As Jesus said as he faced that last hour, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27–28). That is exactly what he did — so that he might be both just and the justifier of those who trust in Jesus (Romans 3:26).