WHAT COMPELS YOU TO BE THANKFUL? In today’s world, if you look in the stores,
the Thanksgiving holiday gets run-over and over-shadowed by the other holidays
so much so that any reminder of being thankful and grateful is almost
non-existent. And yet, God’s Word is
rich in reminders to us to be thankful to our God, to live in gratitude, to let
the praises in our hearts roll from our lips, and to walk in worship of the One
who is worthy of our thankfulness and praise!
And yet, how much of this do you see and hear when you are out on the
streets or in the stores, in public meetings, or even in private
gatherings? Our challenge to you in
these weeks prior to Thanksgiving Day is that you will begin writing words of
gratitude on a clean sheet of paper … each time you are aware of something that
we should be grateful to God for!
There’s one necessity for this to work:
we must open our eyes and our hearts so that we will truly recognize the
countless things in our lives that we should be thankful for … that we all too
often just take for granted. What if
those gifts and blessings from the hand of God were no longer present in our
lives? Just what would that look
like? After your list is made, make a
copy of it and on that copy just take a big black marker and place a big black X across the entire list of
blessings. That’s what your life would
have looked like without those God-gifts that you were so abundantly blessed
with. Which way would you rather live? Did you know that God inhabits the praises of
His people? Did you know that out of
praise comes victory? And the more that
we praise Him, the more we are aware of the blessings He is pouring out into
our lives!! And did you know that it is
just not people who praise the Lord? His
entire creation praises Him . . . the billions of galaxies, planets and stars,
the mountains and rivers, the islands and oceans, the air and raindrops and
snowflakes, the animals and birds and fish, the trees and plants and flowers,
the soil of the earth and yes, even the rocks!
Everything that God created cries out in praise to Him! How do we know this is true? Listen to what God’s Word tells us . . .
“For
you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills
before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall
clap their hands.” ~ Isaiah 55:12
He
answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry
out.” ~ Luke 19:40
“Praise
the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him
in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him,
sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars! Praise Him, you highest
heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of
the Lord! For He commanded
and they were created. ... “ ~ Psalm
148:1-14
“Let
everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!” ~ Psalm
150:6
“Oh
sing to the Lord a new
song; sing to the Lord, all
the earth!” ~ Psalm 96:1
“The
heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” ~
Psalm 19:1
“The
people whom I formed for myself that they might declare My praise.” ~ Isaiah
43:21
“Let
this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created
may praise the Lord:”
~ Psalm
102:18
“Great
is the Lord, and greatly to
be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.” ~ Psalm 145:3
So, dear ones, let’s get
writing! We have pages and pages to fill
of God’s everlasting love and faithfulness … to us and to ALL generations to
come! What promises are ours! We
praise you, O God, for Your presence, peace, power, protection, and provision!
REMEMBER . . .
“Praise
the Lord! Praise God in His
sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens! Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with trumpet sound;
praise Him with lute and harp! Praise Him with tambourine and dance; praise Him
with strings and pipe! Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud
clashing cymbals! … “
Psalm 150:1-6
Joyfully Serving Christ . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
