  
|
|
About-Him Devotional 11-27-04
Http://About-Him.Com Well, Thanksgiving day has come and gone and the refrigerator is bulging with leftovers. Now starts the annual frenzy called Christmas shopping. Some folks here in Vegas were actually lined up at 1:30 in the morning to catch the special sales. While it is good to have a day set aside for thanksgiving, we know that the Christian walk is a continual walk of thankfulness. We truly have much to be thankful for. Be Ye Thankful John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Jesus left us a unique peace, His peace. As the song says, "The world didn't give to me, and the world can't take it away." We are called as one body to the peace of God. When the peace of God rules we are thankful. We see the opposite portrayed in the apostle Paul's description of men in the last days. 2 Timothy 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Unthankfulness is included in the evil works of the flesh. Although our present society certainly seems to fit Paul's description, things haven't changed much since Jesus healed ten lepers and only one returned to thank Him. Luke 17:11. And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up [their] voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. ,br> 14 And when he saw [them], he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on [his] face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where [are] the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. We, like these lepers, were afar off. We were separated from God by the leprosy of sin. We know how that they had to constantly cry, "Unclean, unclean." Before Jesus came our way we were constantly being reminded of our uncleanness. He came our way, we cried out, and He healed us. Have we returned to praise Him? Is our gratitude so overwhelming that we can be like the one leper and praise Him with a loud voice? It is very easy to forget. Our society is all about image, success, personal rights, and financial success and survival. It would be good to reflect on the Sermon on the Mount. We have a heavenly Father who clothes the lily and feeds the raven. He has promised to do the same and more for us. Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Scripture instructs us to be thankful. Our thankfulness is to be a lifestyle. We praise and thank God continually. He is our Creator, our Savior, and our Sustainer. Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, We are told to bring the sacrifice of thanksgiving. This is not saying that our praise and thanks is a laborious thing. God desires praise and thanks from willing grateful hearts. We thank Him for life, for He is Life itself. In Him, we live, we move, and we have our being. By Him all things consists and He upholds all things by the Word of His power (Jn, 1:4; Acts 17:28; Heb.1;3; Col. 1:17). We thank Him for our inheritance. We are heirs of God and joints heirs with Christ Jesus. Colossians 1:12. Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: We abound with thanksgiving in the faith of Christ. Our thanksgiving causes the grace of God to be magnified and redound to His Glory (redound means to give credit to ). Colossians 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 2 Corinthians 4:15 For all things [are] for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. Lastly, whatever we do "in word or deed," we do in the name of Jesus in thankfulness. This is our lifestyle. we are different than the world. We see things differently. We live in praise and thanksgiving. We can only so live, when we have the peace of God abiding in our hearts. Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. In About-Him
Online Sermons http://about-him.com/sermonlink.htmlOur Bible Studies http://about-him.com/bslinkpage.html Our Music http://about-him.com/audio.html Flash Theater http://about-him.com/player.html Scripture list on 30 subjects http://about-him.com/wordarc.html Humor
A certain minor-league umpire, is used to being heckled by fans. But imagine his surprise when he was rushing to umpire an exhibition game at Coors Field in Denver. After a long search for a place to change clothes, He finally located a room with a neatly lettered sign: 'Dressing Room, Umpires Only.' As he was about to go in, however, he noticed something else below the sign: the same message ... written in Braille.
Somebody Has Said
Danny Thomas said that there were two kinds of people in the world, givers and takers. He stated that the takers ate better, but that the givers got a better night's sleep.
Keep Looking Up!
Don & Marie Spooner About Him! Ministries Your thoughts and Inquiries Contact@about-him.com Subscribe to this devotional? Subscribe@about-him.com
The purpose of About-Him.Com is to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ whom we preach as the Almighty God manifest in the flesh.
It is our desire that everything presented on these pages increases your
faith in our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
|