Let Us Give Thanks
HHM Pastor Jim Parisi 11-23-02
With Thanksgiving coming up this week and the Holidays approaching.
It would be a time for us reflect on How blessed we are as a people.
Especially in S. Calif. and here at Harvest House
Blessed first, because we are saved and are now able to have a personal relationship with the Lord.
Think about it… A personal relationship... One on One… with the creator of the universe.
Not one of acquaintance… not an outsider looking in…. but one who has been given the title of a Son or Daughter… sitting at the masters table
Ro 8:15 - For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
The Spirit of adoption has made us His child …His Heirs……
Only sons and daughters can cry out Father
He is our benefactor and provider. Talk about a sound future... That’s Stock in Heaven to me
Ever see those old commercials where the man says you’re in good hands with Allstate… Or Prudential … you got a piece of the Rock.
Forget that.. That’s mans comprehension… and understanding
Mans thinking always falls short of God’s Magnificence and Splendor
Who wants to settle for a piece of Gods best….please raise your hand.....?
I have the whole Pie… not a piece… living in me now. Yes the Whole Spirit of the Living God inside of me.
Helping ….Guiding….Teaching…. Correcting me….
Someone should be shouting here today because you are so blessed.
Pure gratitude should be driving you to witness the Gospel… to all the people you can touch...
Just because you realize what a gift it is... What He has given us … NO Charge … free … gradas
It makes me laugh because we all do this… I’m about to speak on
What’s the first thing you do when you get a new car or a great gift?
You call... tell or drive that baby up to your friends homes... to show them “LOOK what I just got”
We stand like proud conquerors. Taking photos with our latest acquisition.
Telling the tail of our great negotiation skills…. in the battle of options and price...
And this is proper …. It’s OK to have fruits from your labor … you work hard for these blessings.
What I’m trying to make a point about here is ….
Church then how much more should we be proud about the precious gifts the Lord gives us? Priceless ones
The world needs a Reality Check people... If you get that excited about a car and jump out of your skin…
What about eternal Life? How excited and thankful should we be about that?
Psalm 103 1-5 1 A Psalm of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The psalmist says…. Who... Forgives all your iniquities. Not some... but all
We should be like the Christians of old... A people with passion and a fire in their bellies.
Ready to explode... to cover every inch of a town, county, nation, a world
Willing to go and give their lives if needed… to see this Gospel….
The Gospel of Jesus Christ furthered in the earth...
Maybe even willing to give our lives at one point if need be.
I’m not only talking about the giving of our natural presence ... life as we know cease to exist here on this plant
But of spirit, time and resources… the other life we live, the one of ME… this is mine and I will not share it …
It came to me one day how can you be selfish knowing there is a need out there………….. Maybe because I had been already given the gift….
Remember Marie Antoinette? The last Queen of France.
The old wives tale goes like this…
The people were asking for bread they were hungry and dying...
In here narcissistic, self-absorbed state she quickly answered ….
What no bread … let them eat cake
The truth is she was selfish when the people of France were hungry… she wouldn’t change from here extravagant privileged life style… cut back
She was so caught up in her lifestyle….. She didn’t know? or care that others were starving outside her walls because SHE HAD HER”S
The people were Angry …HUNGRY, STARVING and then…… a mob formed against her. Why should the mob be sensitive to her?? She Wasn’t to them?
We’ll we know what happen to her next …… zip … off came her head…
So instead of being the Great Queen who saved the people… someone God could use to help His People … a living testimony in her day
Her life was ended, brutally and quickly…
She never experienced her full potential…. Struck down because she didn’t see the needs outside her own windows of her heart ….
Are you today willing to be used of God…? Become his living testimony here in this earth. Remember we all have that choice…
Are you Willing to be the spark that sets a dry isolated, desolate, place ablaze…..
From one good spark… a forest can be set on fire.
This is a time of year that we should be counting our blessings.
Preparing for the New Year...
And most of all reaching out to those in need….
Thanking God for all we have in our lives and how fortunate we are.
How fortunate we are to be living in this land… this country and to be free.
We complain too much … as a people a nation
Even when Job was at his worse what did his wife say to him?
Job: 2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!"
Integrity is honor --- truthfulness --- faithfulness
Give up what I Believe she was saying…
But Job wouldn’t accept what his wife was saying for his life…
Take the easy way out Job …… cop out. Quit
Someone is always going to try and tell you there is an easy way out..
Pyramid and Get rich Schemes are filled with them.
Short cuts in life… Let me tell you there are no short cuts in life.
The cross is the only way… The road can be hard ahead but in Christ we can grow and succeed. We are over comers…
You can always find an easy WAY OUT... But not GODS way….not Gods best.
Job now answers his wife…
Job 2: 10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept well from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
He couldn’t do sin and why….. Because he knew that he knew... His God would not forsake Him… Leave Him Like that…. all messed up … flesh for the birds to pick at….
And he realized that if you take the best form God…… you can’t curse Him when the trials come? You can’t hate Him when the tests arrive…
We stumble continually and do not fulfill the call of GOD because of adversary, trial, and hurdles in our path…
These are all entirely of the enemy… trying not to let you accomplish your call in getting the gospel out to the lost and dying…
Maybe you think it would be just easier to lie down and die.
Because life as we see it from our carnal eyes… Is HOPELESS ….
I see it differently…..use our spiritual eyes… I See Jobs experience here in the book which fits in with my life ... I can relate
Job refused to curse God when he was at his worse stage…and chose to stick it out … Because around the corner was the blessing… a double portion
Job: 42:10 And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
42: 12 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;
42: 17 So Job died, old and full of days.
What am I saying today church….. You have been given a great gift. Salvation
First we must be Thankful for it.
Next be responsible with it …. Live the best Christian life we can
Love our fellow man... Share what God has put in us with others
When trials come we must LOOK over their hurdles to the end result
Seek the finish line … seek the prize…. Enjoy the reward
Life is a race
It is up to us how we run it at our best…
Amen
