Thanks Giving & Thanks Living
Things to be thankful for
The freedom and liberty to worship God without government oppression.
The freedom to proclaim the gospel of Christ.
The forgiveness, mercy, and grace, that comes from God.
The love of God which reconciles me to him.
The transforming power of God which make all things new.
All the provision of life, that comes from God.
I’m thankful that wherever I go, my Lord is with me.
When my heart aches, Jesus understands.
The promises of forgiveness, and that he will never leave me.
All the abundant life that comes from Christ. Exp.: My health and spiritual wealth.
That I can sit down to a warm meal whenever I want to, and eat too much when millions around the world have gnawing pangs of hunger?
All the opportunities that this country affords me.
All my friends and family.
A safe comfortable home, with all the modern convinces we have.
I don’t have to ride a donkey or bicycle, I have reliable transportation.
The joy that passes understanding.
Do I deserve all that God has given me? No.
• Why me and not the other millions?
Why was I born in a land I didn’t build, in a prosperity that I didn’t create and enjoy a freedom that I didn’t establish?
We sit comfortably in our own living room when their are homeless without shelter.
We enjoy a choice of meals, and some go to sleep hungry with nothing to eat.
We enjoy entertainment, while other are just surviving with little quality of life.
We have everything and don’t thank God
1. It is so easy to find something, anything, to complain about.
2. Many take the credit instead of giving it to God.
3. All we have comes from the grace of God
4. The problem is that most of us have more than we need. We have overlooked our need to be grateful for everything both great and small.
It’s disheartening when children of God deliberately reject this privilege and wantonly absent themselves from the public assembly God has ordained for His glory and our good.
Ps 100:1
1. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Consider briefly the significance of Thanks Living:
It improves our perspective about our welfare
It encourages others in their spiritual development.
It shows the world where my priorities are.
It is one means of expressing my love for God.
It is an avenue God has provided by which I can praise His name.
It is the offering of spiritual sacrifices.
It is a way of showing my thanksgiving to God for all He has done for me.
It is a period of communion with God with the world shut out entirely.
Thanks Living comes from an unshakable confidence in God’s wisdom, power, and goodness no matter what our circumstances may be.
So little place for Thanks Living
Many have an impoverished and stunted spiritual life, because there is little place for gratitude.
Many prayers are self-centered seeking to gain, instead of thanking God because we have gained.
1 Thess 5:18 KJV
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Corrie Ten Boom
In her classic autobiography The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells of the time she and her sister were forced to take off all their clothes during Nazi inspections at a death camp.
Miss ten Boom stood in line feeling forsaken and defiled. Suddenly she remembered that Jesus hung naked on the cross. Struck with wonder and worship during that seemingly forsaken moment, ten Boom leaned forward and whispered to her sister, "Betsie, they took his clothes, too." Betsie gasped and said, "Oh, Corrie, and I never thanked him."
Thanks Living does not require bounty--just recognition of what our Savior has already done.
Thanks Living is active gratitude.
It is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly.
It is thanking God for your talents and abilities by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common good.
It is thanking God for all that men and women have done for you by doing things for others.
It is thanking God for happiness by striving to make others happy.
It is thanking God for beauty by helping to make the world more beautiful.
It is thanking God for inspiration by trying to be an inspiration to others.
Thanks Living sees the bright side.
Robert E. Bruce relates the following incident: "While walking along a busy street one day, I heard someone singing. His sweet voice was distinguishable even above the noise of the traffic. When I located him, I noticed that he had no legs and was pushing himself through the crowd in a wheelchair. Catching up with him, I said, ’I want you to know, friend, that to hear singing from a person in your condition gives everyone else a lift.’ He answered with a grateful smile, ’When I stopped looking at what I had lost and began concentrating on all I had left, I found much for which I could rejoice and be happy.’"
Thanks Living is giving thanks in every thing.........
....the taxes I pay
....because it means I’m employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too snug
....because it means I have enough to eat.
....my shadow who watches me work
....because it means I am out in the sunshine.
....a lawn that needs mowing, gutters that need fixing
....because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot
....because it means I am capable of walking.
....my huge heating bill
....because it means I am warm.
....all the complaining I hear about our government
....because it means we have freedom of speech.
....the rap music coming from the care in front of me.
....because it means that I can hear.
....the piles of laundry, dirty dishes, and cooking
....because it means I needed by my loved ones.
....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours
....because it means that I’m alive.
....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day
....because it means I have been productive.
Thanks Living comes from maturity, that realizes everything Good is from God
Some people are appreciative by nature, but some are not; and it is these latter people who especially need God’s power to express thanksgiving.
We should remember that every good gift comes from God and that He is (as the theologians put it ) "the Source, Support, and End of all things." The very breath in our mouths is the free gift of God.
Thankfulness is the opposite of selfishness. The selfish person says, "I deserve what comes to me! Other people ought to make me happy." But the mature Christian realizes that life is a gift from God, and that the blessings of life come only from His bountiful hand.
Is there someone in the course of your life you have forgotten to thank?
Twenty centuries ago, Jesus, the Son of God, was walking through the human experience. One day, close to Jerusalem, he meet ten lepers. The nationality of the entire group is unclear, but we know one of them was a despised Samaritan. Recognizing Jesus, perhaps only as a healer, they called to him, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" Jesus simply said, "Go show yourself to the priests." Miraculously, on their way, they were totally healed. But sadly, only the Samaritan returned: "He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him" (Luke 17:16 NIV).
Take this week and survey your life.
Ask God to bring instances to your mind when you completely forgot to thank some benefactor. Maybe it was a small favor.
Perhaps you were just one of a group to which the gift was given. Make an effort to thank at least one person you failed to thank earlier. That one will be surprised, delighted--and thankful.
Remember: Why don’t you be the "one" in ten who is always grateful.
