Thanksliving Series

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!