Thanksgiving -- Part 2

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, what are some ways that we can grow in gratefulness to the Lord?

· Experience Him

We can’t give thanks for what we haven’t experienced!

Psalm 34:8 (ESV) – “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

· Pause

Thanksgiving can’t be done in a hurry! We need to slow down so that we can experience the presence of the Lord.

In Luke 10 we find Jesus and His disciples traveling, when they entered Bethany a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home.

Luke 10:39–40 (ESV) – “And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving.”

When Martha noticed that she was doing all the work while her sister was enjoying Jesus' presence, she went to Him and asked Him if He cared that her sister had left her to do all the work.

Jesus answered her . . .

Luke 10:41–42 (ESV) – “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” 

We need to make sure that we pause each day and consider all the ways that God has blessed us!

· Count your blessings

Write it down. What are you grateful for today? If you’ve been going through a time of pain and suffering, isn’t it time to shift your focus from what you’ve lost or endured to what you’ve been blessed with?

Psalm 103:2 (ESV) – “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

Psalm 103:2 (NLT) – “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me."

· Express it

Psalm 109:30 (ESV) – “With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.”

1 Chronicles 16:8 (ESV) – “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!” 

Let us take advantage of every opportunity to tell others about the goodness of God!

· Live it

Let us not be satisfied to just to consider and to sing about God’s blessings, let us live lives of gratitude.

Ephesians 5:20 (ESV) – “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

For the Christian every moment of our lives is to be lived in an attitude of thanksgiving. Let us not be dependent upon a special day that is declared by our president, but let us be moved by the grace and love of our Sovereign King to continually over to Him an offering of praise and thanks!

Thanksgiving -- Part 1

As we read through the Bible one of the commands that we read over and over again is that we are to give thanks! One hundred and nine times we find the Bible speaking about giving God thanks!

The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV) – “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

How does giving thanks to God impact our lives?

· Giving thanks brings peace to our hearts

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the crowds “not to worry about their lives.” He then names the things that we worry about the most: our physical attributes, what we are going to eat and drink, and our future.

Instead of worrying let us TAKE our concerns to the Lord with thanksgiving.

At the end of Philippians 4:5 we are told “The Lord is at hand.” The phrase emphasizes that the Lord is both near to hear our prayers and that He is near to help us and to strengthen us. It is because the Lord is near that we can “pray,” offer “supplication,” and let our “requests” “be made known to God” with “thanksgiving.”

THE RESULT: Philippians 4:7 (ESV) – “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God’s “peace” brings a feeling of contentment and harmony to our lives.

· Giving thanks humbles our hearts

When we go to the Lord with “prayer, supplication, and requests” it acknowledges that we are completely dependent upon God.

The fact that our prayer is given “with thanksgiving” doesn’t mean that we say, “thank-you” in advance for gifts to be received. To bring our requests to God with “thanksgiving” describes a life that is lived with an attitude of gratefulness to God for His blessings!

· Giving thanks strengthens our spirits

Philippians 4:7 (ESV) – “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

When we bring our concerns to the Lord with “thanksgiving,” we are told that God’s peace will “guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.” The word “guard” is a military term that is used to describe soldiers standing on guard. The point is that God’s peace stands on duty to keep out anything that brings care and anxiety.

Psalm 28:7 (ESV) – “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”

Thankfulness is living with an understanding that no matter how bad it is; we know that God is still in control and we can trust Him!

Evolution vs Creationism

      In an opinion piece in the November 24th issue of the Lufkin Daily News, it was stated that evolution is a proven fact and that creationism is as credible as the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. 

    If we are going to discuss this issue, I guess we need to begin by defining what a “proven fact” is, in order to judge the truthfulness of this statement. In my educational experience a “proven fact” is absolute, conclusive, and unalterable. For instance 2+2=4; and 2x2=4. It doesn’t matter whether you use basic math or complex algebra it will always produce the same result. If evolution is a “proven fact,” wouldn’t scientists be able to recreate a sequence of change that transformed monkeys into humans? What we find is there are many varieties within a species, but there is no evidence of one species evolving to another. 

    Evolution flies in the face of established scientific law: the second law of thermodynamics, the law of cause and effect, and the law of biogenesis. Therefore, evolution is neither fact, theory, nor hypothesis; it is a belief system — and nothing more.

     If you are honest, you must admit that neither creation nor evolution is accessible to the scientific method, since they deal with origins and history. Neither can be proved; neither can be tested. They can only be compared. It is for this reason that I believe that students in our public schools should be allowed to study the pros and cons of both models. It is then they can learn critical decision making skills and make their own decision on what they believe.

     Which leads me to ask, "Of what are evolutionists afraid?"