Thanksgiving — Four

Posted on by November 26, 2014
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Psalm 105:1-3 — O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

O.K. Thanksgiving. We’ve talked about salvation as the foundation for thanksgiving, the reason for the practice of thanksgiving, and thanksgiving when times are hard. What now? Hope about the “how” of thanksgiving?
There are many ways, I think to give thanks. Here are just a few.

Say “thank you”! God wants us to be thankful. “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Did your mom teach you? — it’s polite to say “thank you”!

Sing your thanks. “Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:” (Psalm 147:7). God loves singers. David was a man after God’s own heart … and the sweet singer of Israel. It doesn’t even have to be great singing: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” (Psalm 100:1-2)

Tell others about how good God has been to you. You know how when someone does work on your house, does a really good job, and asks you for a reference? Well this is the same principle! If you’ll happily tell somebody about your great plumber, or painter, or electrician, why won’t you tell them about God? Remember, the service you do someone by turning them on to God is infinitely greater than the benefits of a great home repair job!

Give thanks by living a great life! If you’re a parent or a teacher I know you’ll get this … There is no better reward for all you have done than to see the child you have lavished such tender care on, given such gifts too, growing and flourishing, enjoying all that you have done for them. God is the same. He “gives us all things richly to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

Show your thankfulness by being generous. “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Actually, “cheerful” doesn’t quite say it. God loves a cheerful, joyous, “prompt to do it” giver whose heart is in his giving (Amplified Bible). Generosity is a great way to give thanks!

Lastly, of course, give thanks by celebrating! There have been many proclamations of Thanksgiving, but I think George Washington said it wonderfully in 1789:
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.
Celebrate. The only way you can improve on it is to make thanksgiving a daily way of life — not just for one Thursday in November!

Thanksgiving — Three

Posted on by November 25, 2014
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Psalm 43:5 — Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Christianity can sometimes seem to be impossible. “Love your enemies”, “Bless them that curse you”, “Rejoice always” … how can we do these things? Then there’s “In everything give thanks:” …
How do you give thanks when a beloved child dies, when a precious relationship fails, when a seemingly safe job evaporates? How do you give thanks when you live in a society where poverty and oppression are the norm? How do you give thanks in the midst of natural disaster — earthquake, flood and storm? Thanksgiving is surely impossible but, as I wrote yesterday “In everything give thanks” leaves no “wiggle room”.
I have no magic answer.
I can only offer something I am working on. Long ago I discovered that love is not a feeling, or something that happens to me. It is something I do. I believe thanksgiving is the same. The texts don’t say “feel thankful”, or even “be filled with thankfulness” but “give thanks”. It’s an action, something I can decide to do.
If you’re going through tough times, and these thoughts are irritating … I’m sorry. I know it’s a lot easier to say than to do.
David knew about tough times. In psalms 42 and 43 he three times asks himself the question “Why art though cast down, O my soul?” That very question is the first step. Emotions need to be governed by intelligence. Next, we should see that the first response to circumstances need to be questioned … sometimes there is a positive to go with the negatives …
Lastly, we should seize hold of the truth that “God is our God”. That still leaves us with the problem of understanding why our God allows terrible things to happen.
I have no answer to that one that I am sure will satisfy you if you are in the depths right now. I have tried to hold on to the idea that God is all good, all knowing and all powerful and that He loves me. I have tried to cling to the truth that He makes all things work together for my good. I have tried to trust that He has plans to give me a hope and a future. On the strength of that foundation I have decided to try to give thanks. Always.

Thanksgiving — Two

Posted on by November 24, 2014
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Psalm 95:1-3 — O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 — In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I had an odd question pop into my mind. Why are we told to give thanks? I don’t mean “list all the things for which we should be grateful”. I mean why is the practice of thanksgiving important?
Of course common decency suggests that when someone pours gifts on you, especially when you’ve done nothing to deserve them, thanks are in order. But this is something else …
As I thought about this, the first thing that struck me is that there is a relationship between gratitude and generosity. I know … gratitude isn’t exactly the same as thanksgiving. But thanksgiving calls to mind the things for which we are grateful, and recalling how much we have been given will surely prompt generosity: “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48)
It seems to me, too, that when I sincerely express my appreciation, or someone thanks me, it helps to build a relationship — over time even a loving intimacy. Thanksgiving is a way of acknowledging the dependent relationship I have with God.
It’s not just common courtesy though, or even an expression of dependency. Thanksgiving is about building faith.
Sometimes, life can be really tough. No surprise I know. But then we come across verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks.” Feel free to inspect that verse from all directions. Forwards, backwards, up or down — it doesn’t matter — you won’t find any wiggle room. There is nothing for which you should not give thanks. David knew this truth. See what he said in his old age when he was faced with Adonijah’s attempt to usurp the kingdom:
O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help. Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. (Psalm 71:12-14)
Thanksgiving — in the good times and bad — is a way of affirming the beloved truth: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
I think I could find many other reasons for us to be instructed to give thanks but here are three good ones … It’s only polite, it makes us generous, and it builds our faith. “Let us come before His presence with Thanksgiving.” Indeed. Always.

Thanksgiving — One

Posted on by November 23, 2014
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Isaiah 12:4-6 — And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Tonight we have a special service of and for Thanksgiving.
I am full of gratitude this year. I don’t know that I really have much more to be thankful for, but I seem to have a more grateful heart. That’s motivated me to write a series of “Thanksgiving” pieces, leading up to the day itself.
Today I’m writing about the single biggest reason I, or anybody else has for gratitude — the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Several times I have heard people, even excellent preachers, say things like “if He never gave us anything else, at least Jesus died for us.” At least? With all respect to those people, that hardly places sufficient value on the priceless gift.
Of course Jesus died on a cross for us. The crucifixion and other physical abuse was horrific. But if there is a place for “least” in all of this, perhaps here is where it can be used. The cross was the least of the gift.
Jesus “… made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8). The Son of God, God Himself, left heaven. He left the unimaginable joys of life with the Father and the Spirit to start life in a manger, grow up in a poor village to become a carpenter, become a wandering Rabbi without a home, and die a horrible death. All that, so that He could save me.
Jesus “became sin for me”. As Karl Barth put it “… to assert but also to sacrifice Himself, to be wholly exalted but also completely humble, not only almighty but also almighty mercy, not only Lord but also servant, not only judge but also Himself the judged, not only man’s eternal king but also his brother in time.” Jesus didn’t just die for me on earth … He stood, and will stand, as my substitute in the High Court of God.
Jesus subjected Himself to death, joining with all of us mortals to whom it is given “to die once”. In doing that, He defeated death, granting eternal life to all who will take it. Such a gift, to so many people!
Let there be no more talk of “If Jesus did nothing else …”. It is rank ingratitude. Let there be more singing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things!

Unchangeable God

Posted on by November 22, 2014
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Numbers 23:19 — God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Sometimes, Myra and I get into some tricky theological debates. They can happen in odd places. Like the other day. We were in the car, and the topic of God’s unchanging nature came up. That’s a really tricky subject to wrap your head around.
There are times in the Bible when it looks like God does change — or at least that He changes His mind. There was that business with Abraham when it seems like they negotiated over whether Sodom should be destroyed or not. Did you notice, though that in the end Sodom did get destroyed?
Then there’s one of my favorite stories. I love Jonah. I can tell that story end-to-end. One of the pivotal moments is when the Ninehvites repent, and turn from their wicked ways. We read, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” (Jonah 3:10 KJVA) — What’s going on?
God does not change … he knows what’s going to happen. He knows what we are going to do. There are no surprises in His world.
As we were talking an odd idea occurred to me. It doesn’t “explain” this stuff, but perhaps it might describe it a bit …
Did you ever see a gamebook? It’s a kind of book that makes the reader part of the story by letting him or her make choices. Depending on the choices, the story goes along different paths by telling the reader to go to particular pages or paragraphs. The thing is, the reader doesn’t know what’s going to happen — and the author does, or at least knows all the possibilities.
Comparing Almighty God to an author, and a gamebook to all of history is a bit of a trivialization of course. And, unlike human authors, God knows the path that each of His “readers” will eventually take. Our paths are set “according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” (Ephesians 1:4-5 KJVA)
It’s just an analogy — a rough attempt to wrap my head around an idea that’s really to big for me. I do it quite a lot, to try to explain to myself the mysteries of this faith that has overtaken me …

Alone!

Posted on by November 21, 2014
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Job 19:13-15 — He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.

Yesterday I wrote about the way God is everywhere, so that we are never alone. Despite that truth, most of us are lonely from time to time.
Job’s loneliness wasn’t surprising. After all, God has let Satan take his children, his wealth and his health away. Job’s loneliness had three components.
Firstly, his family, his servants, strangers living in his house — they all stayed away from him, were alienated from him. He was a stranger in his own home!
Secondly, Job’s friends and acquaintances have turned on him, believing that he has brought affliction on himself.
Thirdly, and most painfully perhaps, Job suffered from the sense of isolation that those who are sick or injured or abused often feel.
Job wasn’t the only great Biblical figure to suffer loneliness. Let’s look at Elijah, Paul and even Jesus.
Remember what happened to Elijah? He had comprehensively defeated — and disposed of — the priests of Baal. Jezebel, in fury, had come after him with a vengeance. He ends up in a cave, hiding out. When the Lord comes by and asks him what he’s doing, Elijah says “… I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” (1 Kings 19:14)
Then there’s Paul. At the end of his second letter to Timothy, we find him writing a series of personal messages to his young protégé that make his loneliness clear: “for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. … At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.” (2 Timothy 4:10-12, 16)
Job’s world got fixed, eventually. Elijah got an immediate answer from the Lord. Paul was immediately comforted too. The very next thing he wrote was “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” (2 Timothy 4:17)
Then there’s Jesus. The agonized cry from the cross. His people have rejected Him. His family think He’s crazy. His disciples have run away. And now … “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
And then came the resurrection. Even when we feel desperately alone, he is there.

Never Alone

Posted on by November 20, 2014
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Deuteronomy 31:6 — Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

I could have chosen any one of a number of verses that express one of my favorite truths about God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Wherever I am, there God is. David said it beautifully:

Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:7-10)

It’s one of those “OMNI” things about God. You know — omnipotence, omniscience, … this one is omnipresence. God is everywhere. This is what God is like — He fills space and time. If there is any good quality He is the ultimate expression — He is all-knowing, all-powerful … and all-loving.
God is not just omnipresent … being everywhere implies that He is immense. He fills all of space — all of ever space. “for in him we live, and move, and have our being;” (Acts 17:28)
Because God is everywhere I always have a friend. He is the friend who is closer than a brother.
Because God is everywhere, I need never be afraid. He will never leave me nor forsake me.
Not only is God everywhere — He is eternal: “… lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. …” (Matthew 28:20).
I suppose there are those who might see a down side to all of this. God’s omnipresence means that He sees everything … There is no hiding our sins, nor escaping His chastisement if He decides what I need. It also means it is peculiarly terrible when He withdraws himself. I believe the occasional pain I feel when I seem not to feel God’s presence is a distant echo of the agony Christ suffered on the cross when He cried out, “My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken me?” God does not “go away” — there can be no concept of departure for an infinite God — but He does withdraw His intimacy.
I love this idea that wherever I go, God is there before I am, and will be there when I am long gone.
I am never alone. Praise God.

Insurance

Posted on by November 19, 2014
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Ecclesiastes 8:6-7 — Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?

Yesterday I talked about assurance. Today I thought I’d talk about insurance.
The Christian can be assured of his place in eternity. Assurance is possible. Insurance — against damnation — is not.
Life insurance, home-owners insurance, automobile insurance, health insurance … It seems you can get insurance for (or against!) any life event, right up to death. After death, it’s another matter. There is nothing that can be done to avoid the consequences, for good or ill, of our decisions or actions.
The consequences of our life’s choices can be categorized — with no great theology — as “major” and “minor”. The major consequence is either salvation or damnation, and it depends solely on our attitude to God and His Son. Jesus offers to be our redeemer, but we must freely choose to accept the offer. There is no way other than that for us to make sure we don’t end up in hell. The second category of consequence — the minor consequence comes in terms of the rewards that might be stored up for us in heaven. Paul writes and touches on the idea:

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. (1 Corinthians 3:10-13)

There was a time when people believed that they would have to serve penance in purgatory before proceeding to heaven — and that they could reduce their sentence by buying “indulgences”. This spurious notion was one of the underlying causes of the Protestant reformation. It’s not possible to insure against hell, and it’s not possible to ensure against the consequences of sin.
The whole notion of how we deal with sin and salvation depends on grace:

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Salvation is by grace alone.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Forgiveness is by grace alone.
There is no insurance — only assurance. Get yours today!

Secure!

Posted on by November 18, 2014
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John 10:27-30 — My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.

We just had a security consultant take a look at our home to see if we needed to make any changes. The good news is that we’re in pretty good shape. As an added bonus, the experience set me thinking about eternal security.
I know that I have eternal life. I have admitted that I am a sinner. I know that Jesus is the Son of God. I have acknowledged Him as my Lord and Savior. And then an interesting thing happened. Jesus didn’t start “Lording it ” over me. He started shepherding me.
The Lord is my shepherd. That’s security. It’s exactly the security I need, because I am a sheep!
“All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6). I have certainly gone astray, time and again. But since Jesus became my shepherd, He’s wonderfully rescued me time and again. It’s one of the “before and after” differences in my life.
It’s hard for me to understand how my Lord has become my servant — for a shepherd is the servant of his sheep — but He has. He guides me, protects me, defends me and sometimes even carries me.
There’s another interesting thing about eternal security. It’s different from home security. We have to pay for home security. There were setup costs, and we have to keep paying. We don’t have to pay anything for it. It continues into all eternity, without me having to do anything! Just like any other sheep, I depend on the shepherd, and He keeps me safe.
I’m not saying that my security came without a price. It was the most expensive security that there has ever been. The price was the death of the Son of God on the cross. Jesus said “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11 KJVA)
Jesus has given me eternal life and it can’t be taken away. That’s a promise. I can say with Paul that “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
I’m guessing that most people reading this already know all this. But sometimes I lose sight of these basics, and
I enjoy being reminded. If you needed the reminder, you’re welcome. If you didn’t, you can always pass it on …

The Days Of Ezekiel

Posted on by November 17, 2014
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Ezekiel 37:4-5 — Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

There is a wonderful song that we sing from time to time in our worship services. Robin Mark wrote “The Days of Elijah” in 1994. You can find the story behind it at http://robinmark.com/the-story-behind-days-of-elijah/. The second verse begins “These are the days of Ezekiel, The dry bones becoming as flesh;” and of the days of Ezekiel he says, “The second verse refers to the restoration of unity of the body, what Jesus prayed for – “that they may be one even as I and the Father are one…” by reference to Ezekiel’s prophetic vision of the valley of the dry bones becoming flesh and being knit together. There are lots of interpretations of this picture, but one of a united church rising up in unity and purpose, is a powerful call on us in these days.” 
I want to take a day away from the introspective pieces of the last two days to consider this issue of the united church, twenty years on from the writing of the song.
The history of the church is a history of splits. Almost from the start there were “Jewish” Christians and “Pauline” Christians. Then the Gnostics came along. The Western church, the Eastern church. Catholics, Protestants — Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, Baptists … and now there are hundreds of denominations. So many little streams flowing from one mighty source.
The little streams run the risk of drying up, flowing into that valley of the bones. How do we avoid it? We don’t!
One of the great mistakes we can make is to think we can win the war in the heavenly places — or even the lesser battles. The battle is the Lord’s, and He will heal all the fractures in the body of His church in due season.
We have a lesser task … but is mightily important, and the Lord has caused breath to enter into us and we are alive. Our task is to be the best church we can be — to take that breath and use it to proclaim the gospel wherever and whenever we can. Our task is to take care of the family, and to reach out to those who aren’t in the family yet. We don’t need to be united in denomination, or style of worship, or architecture … just in purpose. When we are united in purpose, then we’ll be in the days of Ezekiel!