THANKS LIVING
Thanksgiving-An act of giving thanks; an expression of gratitude, especially to God:
TEXT
1 Thess 5:18
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Let me also share this Scripture with you.
1 Tim 5:4
4 But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite (pay back) their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.
We can pay our parents back what we owe them, but how do you pay back God for all He has done for you?
The only way is by "Thanksliving."
Titus 1:16
16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him,
My prayer- "Help me prove my love to you by the way I live."
Ps 92:1
92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD,
What is thanksliving?
1. Loving my neighbor.
Luke 10:36
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him
Priest, Levite, Samaritan
Luke 10:34
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
The world is destroying people everywhere. God help us to be neighbor to them, by pouring in the oil and the wine.
Rom 13:10
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
1 Peter 4:8
8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
What is thanksliving?
2. A daily verbal expression of gratitude.
(Song)
Thank you Lord for saving my soul, thank you Lord for making me whole....
I want to know Him. I want Him to see that I have a sincere passion, desire, and hunger for more of Him in my life.
I want Him to know taht I consider Him in all my daily decisions.
What is thanksliving?
That I may be found daily in His Word.
Ps 119:105
[Lord, your]word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path .
Rom 15:4
4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
2 Peter 1:2
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
James 1:21
receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
What is thanksliving?
Daily communion
Col 4:2
2(So) Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
1 Peter 4:7
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
What is thanksliving?
3. Living a life apart from sin, pleasing unto the Lord.
Let your behavior say thank you, Lord.
"Thank you Lord, becaue I’m not the man I used to be."
Rom 6:12-13
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Heb 12:1
12:1 let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us
Rom 12:9
(Let God see you) Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
1 Peter 3:11
11 eschew evil, and do good; seek peace, and ensue it.
What is thanksliving?
4. Faithfulness to church, tithing, giving, and willingness to work so the ministry here will be fruitful for God.
What is thanksliving?
5. A life filled with (expression) worship and praise.
Ps 119:62
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.
Ps 100:4
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Ps 95:2
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
What is thanksliving?
6. Loving and caring for each other.
1 John 3:18
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1 Thess 4:18
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Peter 3:8-9
8 be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
What is thanksliving?
It’s your life expressing Christ-likeness. Its saying, "Thank you Lord for all that you have done, what you are doing now, and what you are going to do in my life, as I serve you.
What is thanksliving?
7. Being a witness.
Doing what Jesus did. Telling everybody about God’s love.
Once a Christian Leper in India was heard to pray: "I thank God that he laid leprosy on me because of the lepers I have been able to lead to Christ." He saw his leprosy as part of God’s saving plan. That the souls of the lepers might be washed white in the tide of the Savior’s blood, God had permitted him to become a leper.
1 Cor 9:19-22
19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
There are three reasons, I think, that we do not witness.
1. We are too much like the world.
2. We are afraid or ashamed. We are more concerned about our emotions than about the soul we need to witness to.
3. Or we are too righteous.
The art of thanksgiving is thanksliving.
It is gratitude in action.
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.
It is thanking God for health and strength by the care and respect you show your body.
Are you and I "Thanksliving" everyday? We need to be.
