TEARS OF THANKFULNESS!
Have you ever been so thankful about something that it moved you to
tears? I have! Probably more times than I can count – and most
likely more times than I could account for if given a test on the subject. There are times that you can recount every
single thing from recent days that caused gratitude to well up inside of you;
and then after years and years pass by – all of those wondrous things get
stirred into a huge melting pot of recognition of the goodness of our God! That’s how we remember many of the blessings
God gives us. But there are SOME things
that we never, ever forget! They are none other than life-changing,
divine miracles coming to us that cannot be credited to anyone or anything
other than God Himself and His outpouring of love, power, protection, and
provision – and a million other overwhelming gifts. They come special delivery – direct from His
hands to our hearts! As much as I love
celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends and savoring the forkfuls of
turkey and stuffing and every other delectable dish on the menu, I thought I
would take a walk through God’s buffet of thankfulness! I wanted to be reminded of why He thinks
having a thankful heart is so important.
Tucked back in the pages of the Old Testament is the story of the dedication
of the wall of Jerusalem as recorded by Nehemiah (in chapter 12). The Levites and the singers from around the
area were sought out and brought to the city to celebrate joyously this
outstanding occasion. Along with the
leaders who Nehemiah instructed to be on the top of the wall, were two large assigned choirs who moved in procession
from opposite directions, converging on the top of the wall … “to give thanks.” Just think … all of this was arranged to thank God for the great joy that He
had given them. And the scripture says
that “the sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.” FAR AWAY!
Wow, that is a lot of thanks! God must have loved the sound of their gratitude!
How far away can our thanks
be heard? We need to take note that “God
turns our wailing into dancing” – “He removes our sackcloth and clothes us with
joy”. Why? “That our heart may sing to Him and not be
silent, O Lord my God, I will give You
thanks forever.” (Psalm 30:12) The entire chapter of Psalm 100 is a psalm
for giving thanks. Verse 4 tells us how to offer our
thanks: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with
praise; give thanks to Him and
praise His Name”. Then in Psalm 118:28,
we are shown how to personalize our love and gratitude: “You are
my God, and I will give You thanks; You are my God, and I will exalt You.” The words of 2 Corinthians 2:14 help us
express our thanks for something God does for us and through us: “But
thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and
through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.” Here in the New Testament, we are told that
WE get to be the ones celebrating in victorious procession and WE get to be used
to broaden the awareness of our God in the world around us! How can
we NOT thank Him?! You see, His gifts are many, but none are more
precious than the gift of His only Son: “Thanks
be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2
Corinthians 9:15) In the last book of
the Bible, John writes that in heaven, “whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to Him who
sits on the Throne … the twenty-four elders fall down before Him … and worship Him who lives forever and ever.” (Revelation 4:9-10) How about that? Thanksgiving and worship go hand in
hand. Out of genuine thanks flows true
worship! And how are we to come before
Him when we pray? Philippians 4:6 puts
it this way: “Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” In other words, we should not be asking for
something without being thankful for
what God has done in the past – and more importantly, telling Him that we are
thankful for WHO He is! And finally, I
love the example we see in God’s Word about the value of expressing our thanks
for each other, which is how your pastor and pastor’s wife feel about each of
you: “I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3) And … “How
can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the
presence of our God because of you?” (I
Thessalonians 3:9) This is really,
truly, what is in our hearts for all of you ~ and how grateful we are to God
that you have joined us on this incredible Kingdom journey – serving God
together with us! May we live in thanksgiving every
day! For our God … and for each
other!
REMEMBER . . . Thank the
Lord for His steadfast love,
for His wonderful works to humankind.
for He satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry He fills with good things.”
~ Psalm 107:8-9
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
