Give Thanks Archives

May 29, 2023May 29, 2023

Always Remain Grateful

¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ~ John 15:13

Today, as we enjoy our barbecue and family time, let’s not forget what we’re commemorating. We enjoy constitutional freedoms that no other country has the liberty of enjoying. We have the freedom to evil burn our flag and run down our nation without fear of being arrested or executed. This freedom that we have isn’t free. It wasn’t just thrown onto our laps one day out of nowhere. Our freedoms were bought and paid for at the highest price, the lives of many young and old male and female Americans. They paid for our physical freedom with their lives so that we didn’t have to. Let’s not forget their sacrifice. Their ultimate act of love, laying down their lives for us.

They bought and paid for our physical freedom here in America with their spilled blood, just as Jesus bought and paid for our spiritual freedom with His spilled blood. There is no such thing as free freedom, so don’t waste it. Don’t let it slip away. Don’t let their sacrifice be for nothing. Always remember and never forget all who came before us, paving the way for us to have the lives that we do.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Always Remain Grateful.

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Lay Everything At His Feet

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they gave a dinner for Him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Him at table. ³Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ~ John 12:1-3

Mary took the most valuable and expensive possession that she owned and anointed Jesus’ feet with it. But she didn’t stop there. She then took her hair and wiped His feet with it. She wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair because she was humbling herself in repentance for her unbelief. Why her hair?

According to Paul, the greatest apostle who ever lived, a woman’s hair is her glory (1 Corinthians 11:14-15). This is why Mary wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. Martha, Mary and Lazarus’ sister, continued in her previous role, serving. She served before, and she served now. Why? Because her faith hadn’t been mutilated. Her faith hadn’t been violated. It was intact before Lazarus’ death, after Lazarus’ death, and after Lazarus was raised from the dead. She passed the test. She remained in the sheepfold. She didn’t stray, so she continued with what worked for her. But Mary returned to Jesus’ feet, except this time, she brought her most expensive and valuable possession and poured it on Jesus’ feet, then proceeded to wipe His feet with her hair, her glory. Mary understood how close she had come to walking away from her salvation entirely. She understood how close she had come to spiritual death. So, she took all that she had and laid it at Jesus’ feet. She humbled herself as low as she could.

Jesus said the one who is forgiven much loves much. We’ve all been forgiven a great deal, but for those of us who haven’t committed sins that we’ve deemed as greater or worse sins, we look down on those who have committed them. We think ourselves better than them, but in actuality, we aren’t. We need the same amount of forgiveness as anyone else. There aren’t multiple ways to God. There is only one way. One way that is for all people, regardless of the severity of their sin. So, we’ve all been forgiven much.

If only we could see and truly understand the severity of our own sins, we would each be like Mary and wipe the feet of Jesus with our glory. We would lay everything we have at His feet. We would humble ourselves as low as we possibly can because of His great love, mercy, and grace that He has shown to us. If we could only see how much God has forgiven us, we would appreciate His grace much more. If we could only grasp the price Christ paid for our sins, we wouldn’t be so quick to forget His sacrifice and fall into sin again. Never forget the price paid and the eminence mercy and grace we have been shown and given.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lay Everything At His Feet.

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Thank The LORD For Mothers

¹⁵She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. ¹⁶She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. ¹⁷She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. ¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. ¹⁹She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. ²⁰She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. ²¹She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. ~ Proverbs 31:15-21

So many things can define a mother, but the greatest definition of a mother is a caretaker. Why? A mother puts the needs of the household above the needs of her own. She makes sure her household has what it needs in order to run smoothly. She’ll sacrifice whatever is necessary in order to make sure that she takes care of her family, including sacrificing sleep. One of my favorite songs, as a kid, was The Christmas Shoes by Newsong. I think it depicts a mother perfectly when the little boy says,

Mama made Christmas good at our house
Though most years she just did without

Mothers will do without so that their families can have and enjoy. The trait of a caretaker is so important for a mother to embody that God Himself compares His caretaking to that of a mother (Isaiah 66:13).

A mother will sacrifice for her family, unlike anyone else. She’ll go without so that no one else has to. She’ll take the abuse of an angry or hurting child in order to get to the root of the problem and mend a broken heart or wound. There is nothing like the love, comfort, and sacrifice of a mother. They are irreplaceable.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Thank The LORD For Mothers.

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Don’t Forget To Say Thank You

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. ~ Philippians 4:6^NLT

We always quote to never be anxious about anything, but in all circumstances, make your request be known to God. This is a common teaching in the Church, yet the Church is ridden with fear and anxiety. We worry about any and everything, just like the world. Why? Because we aren’t making our requests known to God accurately. We are to make our requests known with thanksgiving.

When was the last time you prayed a prayer of thanksgiving, thanking Him for all that He’s done for you? All that He’s doing for you? And all that He will do for you? We are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and enter His courts with praise. Maybe we don’t have His peace because we don’t know how to receive it. Maybe if we focused more on the things we are thankful for rather than the things we believe we need in that moment, the peace of God will begin to work in our lives.

Even secular studies have shown that the more thankful a person is, the less anxious, stressed, worried, etc., that person is. Today I challenge you to not just bring complaints before God and expect Him to change things for you. Instead, start each morning out with thanksgiving. Thank Him for keeping you safe as you slept. For His mercy and grace that gave you breath this morning. Thank Him for all He has done, is doing, and will be doing in your life. Then make your request to the LORD. Then thank Him for hearing you. The more thankful you are, the more you will see yourself and your life change.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Forget To Say Thank You.

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Be Thankful For Our God

⁵Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~ John 14:5-6

In response to Thomas’ question about knowing the way, Jesus leaves no doubt in the minds of His hearers. He made it plain and simple by saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” But Jesus doesn’t leave it there; He takes it a step further and adds a very bold claim; some may even consider it a narrow-minded statement. “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

So, there is no doubt what Jesus’ claim is here. There is no other way to salvation except through Him. It is through faith in Jesus Christ, the faith that He has paid the penalty for our sins and that it is only He who can forgive sins, and because of our repentance and belief in Him we receive salvation.

Our entire salvation has been purchased by Jesus. Knowing that we don’t have any way of achieving salvation through our own merit or works, Jesus set aside His Godliness and took on flesh so that He could take our place on the cross. We have so much to be thankful for. There’s no other religion where the Almighty God comes down to save all of the wicked mankind.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Thankful For Our God.

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Cling To The New and Better Covenant

²⁴and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. ~ Hebrews 12:24

Everything has a set time, and all things happen in that set time. There was a time before the Law, during the Law, and after the Law. Before the Law was a time when lawlessness ruled, during the Law was a time when sin ruled, but now, the Law has been removed, and we are under a new and better covenant. A covenant that brings liberty to the follower and grace to the believer. A covenant built on the hope of our LORD and Savior to redeem us from our sins and this mortal body.

We have so much to be thankful for because of this new and better covenant, but because we now have a grace like never before, we take this covenant for granted. We live day to day as if we won’t be judged for the way that we live. We speak as if our words won’t be judged one day. We lie to ourselves and to others so that we can ignore the conviction that we feel deep down. This new covenant allows us to enter into the very presence of God Almighty and for Him to dwell inside of us, so why do we take it for granted? We forget all that Christ did for us so easily because we’re not as thankful and grateful as we should be.

When we’re filled with thankfulness and gratefulness, we never forget what someone has done for us. We remember it year after year after year. It stays with us. Maybe we need to learn how to be more thankful and grateful when it comes to our salvation. Our entire salvation is in our hands. Jesus already paid the price; it’s now on us whether we accept it and follow Him or turn away and say no, thank you, I’m better off alone. There’s an old song that says:

There is a man
His name- His name is Jesus
He use to live in this world we’re going through
He died and He’s gone to prepare a place for you
What more do you want Him to do?
What more do you want Him to do
To prove that He loves you-
He do
He died on the cross to save – save us all
What more do you want Him to do?

Jesus did everything that we need in order to gain salvation, yet we’re not grateful. He gave His very life so that we might be saved, yet we’re not thankful. He gave us a new and better covenant through the pouring out of His own blood, yet we continue in our sin and expect Him to accept us, refusing to change. There’s so much for us to be thankful for, so why aren’t we? I challenge each of you to start each day thanking God for at least one thing and end each day thanking God for at least one thing. Then keep adding to that list until your heart softens and you’re filled with thankfulness.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cling To The New and Better Covenant.

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Enter Through The Blood

²² And they brought Him to the place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull. ~ Mark 15:22

Jesus was brought to Golgotha. There the Roman soldiers nailed His hands and His feet to an old rugged cross. Jesus hung there suffering for hours. At the time of the evening sacrifice, the time when the Passover lamb was to be slaughtered, Jesus, with a loud voice, cried out and gave up His spirit and died.

At the exact moment that Jesus died, something miraculous happened. The curtain in the Temple that separated the Holy place from the Most Holy Place where the Mercy Seat was and the Presence of God dwelt was torn from top to bottom. This was a very significant manifestation of God’s glory.

First of all, the curtain was approximately 45 to 60 feet tall and about 4 inches thick.
Second, it was torn from top to bottom.

This was a clear indication that it was not the power of man that tore the veil, but God Himself, letting ordinary men into His holy presence. Remember, the Holy of Holies was curtained off from the rest of the Temple, and only the high priest could enter in, and he could only enter once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. He could not enter without first offering the blood of a bull and a ram, but we now enter in through the blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:15). Therefore, give thanks to Jesus, who paid our debt and made a way for us to enter into the presence of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Enter Through The Blood.

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Appreciate Grace

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, ¹⁵and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. ~ Psalms 50:13-15

Paul said that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (Romans 5:20-21). When we hear that, we get excited. We think it means that we can just sin and then ask for forgiveness later. This isn’t the purpose of grace. This isn’t the heart of God. The heart of God is love, but not the way that we see and define love. Love doesn’t take advantage of another, especially not another that we love. Love doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing; love rejoices in Truth.

The desire of God isn’t for constant sacrifice so that our constant sins will be forgiven. His desire is that we worship Him. That we don’t fall into sin but boldly walk into the presence of God with thanksgiving and praise. God desires that we abide in His love so that we may remain in His presence. Grace isn’t a free pass to sin. Grace is the redeeming blood of Jesus that washes our sins away and gives us another chance to do what is good and right. Because we have received grace, we should be giving the LORD a sacrifice of thanksgiving. This is how we enter His presence through His redeeming blood. Faith in Him and a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Appreciate Grace.

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The Many Reasons To Rejoice

²³Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given the early rain for your vindication; He has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. ~ Joel 2:23

Countenance is the outward showing of God’s love that is in you and in me, which is expressed on our faces through rejoicing. It is our way of expressing thankfulness to God our Father for His numerous blessings on us. It’s our offering to Him.

Rejoicing is directly related to the harvest. Every feast and every offering. Every harvest time and every sheep shearing time was to be accompanied with gladness and rejoicing. Rejoice! Because the Lord, your God, has made you glad and has blessed you with good things to enjoy. Rejoice and be glad because the LORD your God has dealt wondrously with you. Meaning, He has given you a bountiful blessing to enjoy; now show thanks. So, remove that frown. Get rid of that downcast face. Look up and rejoice because the LORD our God reigns.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Rejoice.

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Invoke, Thank, and Praise

⁴Then he appointed a family of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ~ 1 Chronicles 16:4

Solomon said that a three-strand cord isn’t easily broken. In other words, when you put three key principles together, you aren’t easily overcome by the enemy. David set up a three-strand cord as well, and there was much peace, prosperity, and favor of the LORD during His reign.

1. Invoke (to invoke the Name of the LORD. To bless. Jesus gave us the authority to use His mighty name.)
2. To give thanks
3. And to praise the LORD

Normally, the first thing that is listed, or the first thing that is done, is the most dominant or the most important. The first thing David did was call on the name of the LORD. We were given a promise from the time of Joel that all who call on the name of the LORD would be saved. Jesus promised that God would hear those who call on the name of the LORD.

After this, David gave thanks. This is important because we enter God’s gates with thanksgiving. In other words, after God has heard our cry and we’ve gotten His attention, we begin the process of entering His presence through thanksgiving.

Finally, David had them praise the LORD. Because you enter His gates with thanksgiving, and you enter His courts with praise. In other words, we enter God’s presence through praise. This three-strand cord opens the door to the presence of the LORD. It worked for David during his time on this earth, and it still works for us today.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Invoke, Thank, and Praise.

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