THANKSLIVING
How do we live thankful/thankfilled lives?
Alice and I frequent Toys ‘R’ Us this time of year. It is always the same! Crowded doesn’t begin to describe it. You cannot navigate your cart- literally. As I entered the store this year, I was reminded of another time that a friend of mine entered the store. That morning at Toys ‘R’ us I watched the most ridiculous scene unfold. There were a lot of people in line that morning. I was near the front of the line as I waited in the cold just to get in and I was behind at least 100 people. The store had encouraged people to make a line that wrapped like a coil all the way through the store. Several people had grown weary of waiting in the very long line and had started forming their own line much to the dismay of one particular man. The man and a couple of other people in the line pointed out to the manager that people were forming their own line. They did so in the kindest manner possible, I assure you! When they felt that their complaint was not being addressed with as much zeal as it required the man made it very clear how he felt about the slow to action store manager. With his fist clinched high in the air he said, “You’re stupid!” The store manager apologized to the unhappy patron of Toys ‘R’ us and the man again said in the same tone and again with his fist held high, “You’re stupid!” Another patron spoke up and assured the store manager that he was doing a good job. This displeased the man and he once again told the store manager what kind of job he thought the manager was doing. As all of this was going on I was standing just a few feet away waiting to check out enjoying the spectacle of it all. The woman standing between the man and myself said – very loudly – “maybe some of us have forgotten why we are here at the toy store this morning!” The good news is that it all ended quietly and nothing serious occurred. But the words of the woman standing in line behind me have reverberated my thinking for the past couple of weeks – “Have we forgotten why we are here?” Have we traded the genuine meaning of the coming into this world of this tiny infant who would one day reveal himself as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? Have we been so inundated with the love of material things that we have actually been infected with the love of this world?
So here’s the question: How do we live thankful lives? How do we maintain thank filled lives?
1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Ps. 100 NKJV
PRAY
How do we enter into His gates with thanksgiving vs 4 before, during, or after a situation like the above?
There was a man whose wife was ill. He had to get medicine. The closest place was across the frozen lake. He was terrified to cross the lake. He crawled inch by inch. Then he heard this ferocious sound. He thought the ice was breaking. He became terrified to the point that he literally could not move. As the sound drew closer to him he looked and saw a man driving a team of horses across the ice. The horses were pulling a carriage full of boxes. The man got up, started walking, then running. His fear turned into confidence! This man learned that if the ice could hold a team of horses it could hold him! If you want to be more confident in God, then hang out with someone who’s riding with God! 1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.1 Cor. 11:1
1. SHOUT! (1)
Tell your neighbor, “JUST SHOUT IT!” I have this megaphone today to remind us that we have something to shout about! How many of you were shouting at the KY basketball game Wed. night? How many of you shouted at the BCHS football game Friday night? HOW MANY SHOUTED AT THE UT VS. UK FOOTBALL GAME SATURDAY? Those are appropriate times to shout. I want you to know that God enjoys you getting excited about Him as well! I want to remind you that God enjoys a good shout. When we are singing, you don’t have to sound good. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO BE JOY FILLED THOUGH!
Let me put it to you this way. One day Jesus walked upon two men. He asked them, “What do you want from Me?” If he asked you this what would you say? Seriously. I bet you wouldn’t ask what they asked. They wanted their sight. You don’t. You have yours. But what if someday you have a car accident. In that car accident you lost your sight. You might say, “Lord, I want to see my spouse, or kids.” And when you received it do you think you would shout?
How about your house? Do you shout when you enter in? What if you were one of the people who lost theirs or doesn’t have a house? What if you had to endure the weather? Or if you needed it to protect your family from predators? Would you shout? MOVE THAT BUS!!! You bet you would.
How about your job?
How many of you have excused yourself from asking God to bless the food and said, “Well, He knows my heart. He knows that I am thankful.”
How about your spouse? Lady who didn’t have to work, lived in a 2200 sq ft home, with two kids. She was complaining because her husband watched a golf tournament all weekend. When compared to a single mother, she realized how good she had it.
Spiritually it isn’t any different. Other religions don’t experience what we have.
Our church! I am so glad that our church is not dead. It’s a pleasure to look out into the congregation and see smiling faces, hands raised, people openly worshipping! We don’t serve a dead God! Therefore our church should reflect the same! And our corporate worship should be filled with life! Which leads me to the next point:
2. SERVE! (2)
SERVICE- Serving God is like being a waiter. (Tony Evans Book of Illust. P. 349-350)
24 Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 1 Sam 12:24; Ps. 150
It is a matter of the heart. How you serve depends on your heart.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
This reminds me of worship. Service and worship are synonyms in the Kingdom of God!
Worship is like home court advantage! (Tony Evans Book of Illust. P.349)
Energy and strength are coming from the stands!
4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. 6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Ps 34:4-7
One word describes what was happening here. Worship. He worshipped God by seeking Him; God heard him; delivered Him; and changed him. Verse 7.
This is why it is so important that we worship together on Sunday and through the week.
25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Heb. 10:25
3. FAITH! (3)
Start with the story of blind girl in an apartment building that is on fire. She’s 10 stories up and hears a fireman say jump. She will not jump because she is afraid. But when she hears her daddy then she is still scared but she jumps.
30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and[c] worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” Mt 14:30-33
“3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”
End with the story of the town needing rain. All the religious folk met together to pray. They brought all of their religious symbols. No rain. The next day a little boy came to the same place saying the same words. As he prayed the clouds formed, the thunder rolled, and rain drops fell. Why did God answer his prayer? He brought an umbrella! (Tony Evans Book of Illust. P. 98)
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26
4. SING! (4)
How many of you love scary movies? Why? You like to be scared. You know the monster is not real, but it scares you anyway. You know that it is just a movie but you say in your mind, “It could happen.” So you still feel the emotions of fear. Emotions have no rationality. They are what they are. And most of the time they are wrong! In life you may not know if it real or not, but because you feel afraid then it must be real! FEELINGS HAVE NO INTELLECT! All they can do is react. The way you feel, your thoughts, and emotions are like a roller coaster. The go up and down. You cannot rely on them. Faith is looking at life and saying, I BELIEVE IN JESUS!
7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 2 Cor. 5:7
So sing! Don’t just sing in the shower, but sing as you are walking down the street!
Sing at work; at the ballgame; at the funeral; in the bank; in the rain!
My singing is my outward expression of my worship, or faith in God.
Listen to King David, 1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. Ps. 34
WHY? If you know the Lord then remember and recognize what He has done, is doing, and will continue to do for us! We see what He is doing presently. And we will expect more in the future!
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Be the person who is crawling along the ice and sees the horse drawn carriage filled with boxes. The man got up, started walking, then running. His fear turned into confidence! This man learned that if the ice could hold a team of horses it could hold him! If you want to be more confident in God, then hang out with someone who’s riding with God! 1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.1 Cor. 11:1
So how is your Thanksliving? Do you appreciate what God has provided? Are you filled with joy? Are you willing to shout?
How is your worship? Worship shows the heart?
Do you live by faith? Faith reveals your genuineness.
How loud are you singing?
