Be Thankful For The Scars

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~ Romans 6:20-25

We all have a past. Some of us have a past that we feel is worse than others’ pasts. In fact, many of us don’t like to even think about the past that we have been redeemed from because of shame and guilt, but what if remembering the past isn’t always a bad thing? When we accept our Salvation, and we begin to follow Christ, we are washed clean by the Blood of The Lamb. We, in that moment, are no longer slaves to sin, but now we are given the opportunity to overcome that sin that once kept us in bondage, and we can overcome it through Christ. When we remember all that Christ saved us from, our love for Him grows. Our desire to grow closer to Him grows. It’s only when we forget all that God has done for us and begin to take it for granted that we fall into our old ways and choose our past over our future.

There’s a song by I AM THEY called Scars. The premise of the song is that they are thankful for the scars that they have because, without those scars, they wouldn’t know the love of God. If they didn’t have those scars. In other words, if we didn’t have scars, we would not only have the memory of what God has done for us but we also wouldn’t have been saved. We’re human, so we’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to sin.

Sin causes cuts and wounds upon our souls and our spirits. Some of us have been broken and shattered because of the poor decisions we’ve made. So, when God picks up that broken vessel, He reworks it into a new creation. You can see that it’s gone through hard times and, at one point in time, was chipped and shattered, but the new creation it is is more beautiful than ever. We shouldn’t dwell on our past and let guilt or shame overcome us, but we also shouldn’t try to forget it. We have to remember where we have been so that we might know where we are going. We were once slaves to sin, and now we are free in Christ Jesus. A new, completely different creation that is beautifully remolded and sowed back together by God Himself. Why would we want to forget that?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Thankful For The Scars.

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Enter Into His Rest

8 The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. 9 For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with them, and I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ 11 So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” ~ Psalms 95:8-11NLT

For forty years, the people of Israel sought other gods, complained to God, complained to Moses, and never once did they stop and thank God for all that He had done for them. God had just rescued them from 400 years of slavery. He showed them His power and His glory, yet they were not moved by this.

Today, we are the same way. We seek the world instead of God, and when things go wrong, we blame Him. Then when He comes to our rescue, we return to our old ways. We rarely give Him the glory and honor He deserves. If we continue in our ways and refuse to be thankful and give God the praise and honor He deserves, we’ll end up like the Israelites of old. They walked around the desert for 40 years, yet they never entered into the rest of the LORD. Jesus is coming back real soon. If we aren’t careful, we’ll miss out on His rest. We have to be thankful. We have to praise Him. We have to follow Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Enter Into His Rest.

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Be Thankful For Freedom

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” ~ Exodus 16:9-12

When the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they were grumbling before the LORD. They even accused Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to starve them. Keep in mind that they were just taken out of the land of Egypt where they were slaves, and they were away from the LORD their God. They are now, however, free people, and God Himself is leading them, yet they are grumbling and accusing Moses of saving them just to starve them to death.

This is how we are today. The LORD takes us out of our filth, frees us from our slavery, and we aren’t grateful. We complain about how hard life is. We accuse Him of starving us and leading us to our death when it’s only in Him that there is food for our hunger and water for our thirst. It’s easy to look at everything we don’t have and become upset and feel some type of way, but if we seek God and humble ourselves in thankfulness and gratitude, He will supply ALL our needs according to His riches in glory.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Thankful For Freedom.

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Remember Your Mother

18 When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ~ 2 Kings 4:19

Now, the young boy went out into the field one day during harvest time. That’s like trying to get some dad’s attention during Superbowl. The boy cried out, “Oh my head, my head!” But dad was too busy harvesting his crops, directing his workers, and overseeing the job. He had to provide for his family. So, what is he to do?

Take him to his mother; she will know what to do. Whenever we are feeling sick, who is it that we want? Mom. And once you get married, who is it that you want? Your wife, another motherly figure. It’s just something about a mother’s love.

    • Her caring
    • Her nurturing
    • Her ability to just know what to do
    • Somehow, mom/wives make everything seem better, more manageable

So, this young boy goes to his father and complains about his head. His father turns to one of the servants and basically says, “I’m too busy right now; take him to his mother.” Dads may be too busy to deal with their children, but mothers are never too busy.

So, especially today, remember to take time out and honor your mother. The woman you honor may not have given birth to you, but she is/was the woman that was always there for you no matter what. Today is her day; honor her for all she’s done for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Remember Your Mother.

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Thankful For Every Gift

15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” ~ Luke 17:15-19

Jesus had just healed ten lepers, yet when one returned to Jesus and thanked Him, Jesus told him his faith made him well. Keep in mind the man was already healed, so what healing was Jesus talking about? If we go to the original Greek, we get the word SOZO, which means delivered in every way. The man wasn’t just physically healed; he was emotionally, spiritually, psychologically healed. He wasn’t a Jew, yet because he saw the miracle he received, he went back and thanked Jesus, and he received even more than before.

Sometimes, when we have been in Church for a long time, we forget to be thankful for the little miracles. We forget to take time out for God just to thank Him for all that He’s done for us. We become like the nine Jewish lepers, becoming almost entitled. We forget that God has saved each of us from the same filth. We didn’t deserve it. We weren’t entitled to it. We did nothing to earn it. It was a gift of grace from God, and each and every day is a gift. When we forget to thank God for the little things, we miss out on experiencing the big gifts of God.

LORD God, please forgive me for overlooking Your great unfailing grace and love that I don’t deserve. Thank you for each and every gift, blessing, and miracle that I’ve received, known and unknown. Thank you for keeping me safe each night and waking me up each morning. Thank you for giving me life, and please help me to run the race set before me that I might enjoy eternal life with You one day. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Declare Your Thanksgiving

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, 15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. ~ Psalms 50:14–15

If we are thankful and express our thanks and we perform our vows, God said we can call upon Him in the day of trouble, and what? And He will deliver you, and you, in turn, will glorify Him. God wants to be glorified, but He also wants to bless you. He wants to heal you.

Are you in a day of trouble? Your trouble could be medical issues. You might have gotten a bad report from your doctor. I declare to you right now that Jesus paid for our healing with the stripes on His back. The word of God declares that “By His stripes, you are healed!”

So, receive your healing right now! Declare it over your life! Then thank Him for the healing and believe that you are healed in Jesus’ name. Don’t allow doubt to sneak in and keep you from your healing. Thank God for your healing until you receive it. Speak the things that are not as if they were.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Declare Your Thanksgiving.

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Where’s Your Heart?

24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. ~ Psalms 118:24

God has created a day which He has called today; He has blessed it, and He has given it to us. He expects us to receive it with glad hearts and thankful spirits. If we aren’t thankful, we are then spurning the things of God. And God considers that to be a grievous offense.

So, as you celebrate this Thanksgiving, remember that all good things come down from the Father of lights. Jesus has purchased everything you need for peace, for healing, and for salvation, and He is offering it all to you, freed of charge.

Thank God for what He has done and all that He’s given you.

Father, help us to have thankful hearts and grateful spirits. Help to never take any of your blessings and/or gifts for granted. Teach us to always have thanksgiving in our hearts. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Find the Good

18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Paul didn’t say to be thankful for all things but in all things. We might have been in a bad car accident, but praise the LORD, we are thankful that we are all fine and no causalities. We find the good in bad situations. Without thankfulness, bad situations will take hold of us, and grief, fear, depression, anger, and every other negative emotion will consume us until we are a slave to them.

That’s why God’s will for us is to be thankful and grateful. That’s why He has incorporated all of the benefits in that one little action or attitude. That of being Thankful/Grateful. So that we can never be lost to the darkness but instead grow in His precious and holy light.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Find the Good.

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Thankful and Grateful

In our society today, it can be difficult to find something to be thankful for. With sin running rampant and selfish actions causing harm to so many, being thankful or grateful seems to be at the bottom of so many’s to-do lists. And from the surface, it makes sense, but is that what God had in mind for us? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he explains God’s true desire for all of our lives in his Thanksgiving Day message, Thankful and Grateful.

Psalms 118:24KJV
Psalms 50:14–15
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Psalms 50:22–23

Being Thankful and Grateful

Verses on Thanksgiving

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!

Psalms 100:4

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Romans 1:21

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Statistics on Thanksgiving

Being thankful or grateful can improve:

  • Your relationships
  • Your physical health
  • Your mental and emotional health
  • And cause your employees to work harder without any further incentives

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To Be Thankful

24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. ~ Psalms 118:24KJV

The Scriptures tell us that this is the day that the LORD has made. Today. Right now. The present. It is called the present because it is a gift from our heavenly Father. Therefore, I will rejoice, and I will be glad in it.

Rejoicing then is a choice. Being glad is a choice. It is not something that just happens only when everything is going good. Or when all of our bills are paid, and everything is as it should be.

NO! Rejoicing is a choice. That’s why the Psalmist wrote, “I will rejoice and be glad in it.” You can choose to be glum or sulky. You can choose to be angry. Or you can choose to be thankful. Today, we choose to be thankful.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Choose to Be Thankful.

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