Thanksgiving, a matter of the Heart
Philippians 4:4-9 NKJ
4. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7. and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
9. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Thanksgiving is much more than a holiday celebration; it is a state of mind, a condition of the heart.
It is more than a celebration of food; it is the celebration of faith!
The accuser doesn’t want you to have a celebration of faith, any joy, or a happy heart,
The only thing he wants your heart under, is attack, stress and worry,
Don’t believe me? Have you seen the news lately?
We are inundated by his design with the strife and stress he inflicts on the world,
he tries to fill our lives with worry,
did you know that the English word for “worry” comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word which means “to strangle.”
That’s a pretty good description of what it does to a person, what is does is take a stranglehold, on our peace of mind. It would like nothing better than to compłetely choke it off.
That’s why TBS. to trust the Lord, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
And TBS. that God, when you put your trust in Him, never stops doing just that!
Psalms 121:1-8, MSG.
1-2. I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4. He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6. God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moon stroke.
7-8. God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.
Praise God for His everlasting faithfulness, Amen!
Here are some things to be thankful for if your finding it hard to find things to be thankful for today;
*That there aren’t twice as many politicians as there are doctors.
*That the leaves are almost done, both falling and blowing, to and from your neighbors yard.
*That snow will cover unraked leaves.
*That sooner or later, everything you own, will eventually come back in style.
*That your not the turkey on your table this year.
And the number one thing to be thankful for, is the fact that God is still on the throne and in control of it all.
As believers, thanksgiving should not be a once a year event,
or for that matter even a once a week event, but should be a continual state of mind,
The first thing we do in the morning, and the last thing we do at night
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
“rejoice always?” Really, Why?
Have you seen the news? Yes
Have you seen the economic outlook? Yes
Have you heard about what they say, is going to happen to medical care and the quality of it! Yes
Have you seen the fighting and tension in the middle east Lately? Yes
Here’s my question to you, Have you heard about, or read about, or ever experienced first hand,
what God is capable of Lately?
He will always be, bigger than anything the accuser is capable of throwing at any of us, or those around us! Praise God!
The word doesn’t say, rejoice in everything that’s happening to and around you, it says to Rejoice in the Lord, always.
Sometimes it may not seem like it, But God is always bigger than any circumstance!
So many people have lost hope and find it hard these days, to rejoice about life,
Here’s a poem that sums them up, its by Wade Hughes and its called, the pessimist creed;
Why rejoice in sunshine?
It will just turn to dark clouds and much rain!
Besides that, the sunshine can hurt your eyes,
More than that it can cause skin cancer!
Why should I smile?
A smile might send a wrong message to a friend?
A frown will burn more calories, we all know!
Smiles might wrinkle my face?
I don’t want to advertise for free for the dentist,
Because his fee was much too high!
If I smile everyone will wonder what I am thinking about?
Why should I give a friend a flower?
Flowers might cause an infection of my sinus glands?
Flowers cost so much, and you can’t eat them?
The beauty of the flower will soon fade!
A silk flower will but gather dust!
Besides all of that, I didn’t get a flower today?
Why should I whistle, hum or sing?
I don’t know the song!
That song is too slow,
And that song is way too fast!
How can we sing in a strange land?
I can’t sing, someone may think I am glad.
Why should I go to Sunday School and Church?
You know, I know more than that teacher,
he just reads out of the book!
The Preacher screams and wags his arms.
He preaches the everlasting Gospel.
That preacher, all he does is talk about money!
I gave two dollars three weeks ago,
Ain’t that enough?
All there are at that church are hypocrites!
Why should I encourage and say nice things to others?
If I brag on someone they will get a BIG HEAD!
And pride always goes before the fall.
it seems to me, that I remember something negative 22 years ago about them!
Want me to tell you?
It is always good to be realistic and pessimistic,
Because the optimist is wrong much of the time!
I find it much easier to murmur, grumble and complain.
Praise ain’t all it is cracked up to be.
I like this grumblers corner! In this corner we are all friends.
Can’t you see there is something wrong
With everybody but me! and them?
(whisper) to be quite honest, sometimes I worry about them!
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
A constant state of Thankfulness, in the only Constant, in the whole entire universe.
The Great God Jehovah, is more than worthy of All, not just part of our Praise!
Paul whom we love reading his writings of Grace, which he wrote many from prison, we sense that he had so much to be thankful for,
And we who are free to experience all that God has to offer, all that He has given to us,
At times, feel like we have so little to be thankful for! What's wrong with this scenario?
Look around you for just a minute, look inward, find the you that only you know!
are you experiencing all that God has to offer you?, the benefits of a Spirit filled life, all that He has freely given to you to partake of,
Why, oh Why? Would we complain, or feel like we have so little in our lives, to rejoice about if we're not,
When we have complete and undeniable access to everything, through our relationship with Jesus, that we could ever hope, want, or ask for!
We are to be joyful people!
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart….where?,
And that’s just it, so many don’t know where to find the Joy,
Your not going to find it on the shelf at the local Walmart,
It can only be found in the Lord,
He went to the cross, so we could have abundant life, His Joy in our lives!
Our text, is much more than just an encouragement, it is an emphasis for life.
Jesus said the thief comes to rob steal kill and destroy, but He has come to give you life, and life abundantly
How many more days are you going to let the accuser rob from you of really living?
Life is short, "Start rejoicing in the Lord, REJOICE!"
Well, I don’t feel like doing that right now,
Quit living your life, by the way you feel!,
And if that’s the way you live your life, your moments of rejoicing, will be few and far between,
Because you will only be focused on what you can do for you, instead of what God can do for you,
So I ask you, where would your focus be better spent, on your capabilities or on His?
Ill. Coach Jimmy Johnson was asked what he told his players before leading the Dallas Cowboys onto the field for the 1993 Super Bowl. He said, "I told them that if I laid a two-by-four across the floor, everybody there would walk across it and not fall, because our focus would be on walking the length of that board. But if I put that same board 10 stories high between two buildings, only a few would make it, because the focus would be on falling."
Johnson told his players not to focus on the crowd, the media, or the possibility of falling, but to focus on each play of the game as if it were a good practice session. The Cowboys won the game 52-7. --
Victory over every situation in life is possible, when we are willing to focus on Gods Kingdom of principles,
• Philippians 4:8 NKJ
8. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy— meditate on these things.
We all have a choice about what we are going to let consume our thoughts.
Sometimes we think we may have it harder now a days, then Paul had it, back in the day, seems like everyone always thinks they have it harder, than the ones before them!
2nd Cor. 11:23-27 MSG.
23-27 I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.
Paul, of all people, could have been filled with bitterness, but he overflowed with the joy and grace of the Lord, and we can too!
It's a choice we make, to have the Joy of The Lord, or not to,
I urge you to choose Joy!
Ill. I really like this story about Professor William Phelps. He taught English Literature at Yale from 1892-1933. Dr. Phelps was grading tests shortly before one Christmas, and he saw a note a student had written next to a tough question on the test. The student wrote, "God only knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas."
The professor returned the test with his own note under the student’s comment: "God gets an A. You get an F. -- Happy New Year."
I like that statement: "God gets an A." When your world is falling apart and nothing seems to be going your way, God gets an A! -- Forever and always, God gets an A!
He is wonderful all the time. We can always rejoice in His goodness, His love and His grace. And we can always rejoice in the Lord, because the Lord is always with us.
Share your thankfulness, this week when you sit down to thanksgiving dinner,
More importantly share it and enjoy it all year long by telling someone about Jesus and your relationship with Him, the thing you should be most thankful for!
Amen? Amen!
Thanks to D. Greg Ebie for the starter
