Give Thanks Archives

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023

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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