Thankful for What Matters

 Psalm 100:4
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Even during our worst days, we can think of things we can be thankful for. The fact that we are alive and breathing is enough to stop and give thanks to the creator of life. Most of us are prone to complain about the things that we have very little control over. The weather, the traffic, the workings of politics, and the price of eggs (and thank God they have come down). It sometimes takes work to give thanks in “everything” But being thankful is more than counting our blessings. It is an attitude that is grounded in how we view God. We are creatures of comfort, and often view our blessings by how comfortable we are. But I purpose to you that being THANKFUL is to look through the looking glass of the Kingdom of God. The things in this life will fade away with the passing of time. The things we should be thankful for are eternal.
 On this Thanksgiving Day, be thankful for the many blessings, family, friends, material things, and good health, but let us not forget to be thankful to God for what really matters. Be thankful for the TRUTH of His word, thankful for a HEART that can be made clean, be thankful for being an ANCHOR in the Rock of Ages, that He will NEVER leave us alone. Thankful for His KINDNESS toward us, His FAITHFULNESS  to keep us day by day, and thankful for His UNCONDITIONAL LOVE regardless of our sinful condition, and knowledge that we can have eternal LIFE, and live in His presence for eternity. BE YE THANKFUL FOR ALL THAT HE HAS DONE.

Never Alone- Thankful

 Heb 13:5 he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

I’m THANKFUL that we serve a God who will never forsake us. “Moses encouraged God’s people: “Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, He is that will go with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you.” And the writer of the Hebrews affirms the promise of God. “ I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” When it feels like you are all alone, fear not, for He is with you! Examples can be found of many who experience being alone. During the time that the COVID epidemic reached its peak of impact, many were shut in, left alone. Cut off from family and friends. Hospital beds were filled with people left to die without a loved one by their side. Being left alone to face the end of life. The greater epidemic was that of loneliness. Look around you. You may know of people who may feel forsaken, isolated from others. Feeling alone even in a crowded room, filled with conversation. I’m THANKFUL in my hour of loneliness that God made Himself known to me. His Spirit never left me alone. Even though I didn’t know it, He was by my side, guiding me every step of the way. I’m reminded of the old hymn, Never Alone, “When in affliction's valley I tread the road of care, My Savior helps me carry the cross so heavy to bear; Though all around me is darkness, earthly joys all flown; My Savior whispers His promise, never to leave me alone! No never alone, No never alone,” THANKFUL that Jesus sent the Comforter that we never need to be alone.

In Old Age, He Will Carry Me

 Isaiah 46:4,9
And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you…Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me
One look in the mirror and I know that my time on this earth is growing shorter. If the Lord permits me to live as long as my mother, I am over two-thirds of the way there. It is not uncommon for us to think that we still have plenty of life left, especially if we have maintained our health and are not suffering many ailments.  But the gray hairs that sprinkle my head are not my imagination, old age is at my doorstep. I look back on my life and see how God has carried me through. He carried me through a broken home, through my teens, as I sought to find happiness and a pure conscience. He carried me through my college years as I sought to know God’s will for my life. In the turmoil of church divisions, He carried me through, still trusting Him to keep me true to His word. Through the conflict of work dynamics and interpersonal relationships, He was there to bear me up and let me know He would not leave me alone. As I have entered my retirement years, I realize that I need Him more today than ever. My years of experience living this Christian life is not enough. I must lean hard on Him even more as I enter into this new journey of life. I can see the sun starting to set, and it will be here before I know it. But I remember the past, and He has never failed. He will carry me through until the end. There is none like Him.

Never Alone

 

John 16:32  Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

There are times when we just want to be alone. Pull away from the noise of the world and the distraction to focus and contemplate on life. Time to examine who we are and where we are going. Time to reflect on where we have been and what our next steps will be moving forward. Being alone is often necessary in order to muse over our relationship with God and others. Being alone on purpose is not the same as being lonely. Loneliness is an emotion that is triggered when we feel no one cares, the absence of feeling we are not loved. It often leads to depression and lack of self-worth. Even though born in sin, we are made in the image of God. We are His creation, therefore the Father values who we are. We may find ourselves in a state of loneliness, but we truly are never alone. Others may scatter about, giving no attention to our presence, but the Father will never leave us alone. He loves the sinner, and He loves those who believe. To the sinner, God seeks to have a relationship. The Holy Spirit works in the life of a sinner to reveal their sinfulness, and bring them into fellowship with his creator, never to be lonely again. To the believer, Satan will discourage us into thinking that we are all alone. Tribulations come, and it seems that we are facing them alone. This is the feeling the disciples had when they were out to sea and the storm came. They cried out, “Master, don’t you care that we perish.” (Mark 4:8). In other words, “Why have you left us alone to die?” Jesus warns us that we will face hard and difficult times in this life, and times when we will feel that we are all alone. He reminded his disciples that even though others may scatter, and hard times come, that the Father will never leave us. When Jesus left this world, He promised us the Holy Spirit, the comforter, that would go with us and be with us in every trial and tribulation we face. No matter what Satan says, we are never alone.

God Does Not Sleep

Psalm 121:3,4 … He that keeps you will not slumber…Behold, He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

He is a God of 24-7. No matter the time of day or night He watches over His children. His voice is sometimes absent and there may be times that we feel He is no where around. Like Job, we look around and it seems that God is gone and we are left alone. But, we serve a God who is omnipresent, who does not forget where we are and what needs we have. God does not need to be awaken, He is always watching over us and keeping us. The Holy Spirit is given to us to help us walk and led us in path of righteousness. We need not fear that He will walk away or fall asleep in time of need. We serve a God who loves us and desires to keep us safe in the palm of His hand.

The Promise of Jesus

John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

The promise of Jesus given to believers that there will be one that will not only be with us, but “shall be in you” Such was the case on the day of Pentecost. The day that believers gathered together in the upper room united together in prayer. The Holy Spirit came, purifying their heart’s by faith, filling their heart with burning love, gave them power over the works of darkness and sin. As believers, we need the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and lead us and direct our path. He is the source of truth who will not lead us astray. Believers in Christ are still human vessels subject to the temptation of Satan. It is essential that we have the Holy Spirit in us to be all that God wants us to be. The Holy Spirit want to work in our lives, but we must submit ourselves, our will, our desires to His will. Let the Spirit of Truth be our standard of living. We are never alone, and He will go before us.

Knowing Christ

Philippians 3:8 

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.

There is nothing in this world more important than knowing Christ. Our relationship to Christ is what really matters in life. We seek acceptance, pleasure, and happiness, but all is waste compared to winning the prize of eternal life with Christ. There are people that measure their worth by how many “likes” they get on social media, how many “friends” they can gain on Facebook. Yes, God made us with these desires. We all have a need to be wanted and accepted, but in reality, Jesus is all we need. He is our all in all. Without Him, it matter not who befriends us or what pleasures we experiences, they don’t compare to the love and friendship that Jesus can give us. In Him, we never walk alone, in Him we are never alone, in Him we can win the battle, and in Him we have eternal life.

Lead Us and Hold Us

Psalm 139: 9,10 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.

Yes there are times we feel that God is nowhere to be found. But, He promise to never leave us or forsake us. This is not the time to walk away from believing and trusting Him to carry us through. Even when we may be going through a difficult situation, or a time of loneliness, He will take our hand and lead us to the other side of our trail or hardship. Finding comfort or satisfaction outside of God always comes to a dead end. Like Job, we may turn in every direction and wonder where He is. For “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. We don’t see Him physical, but by faith our eyes can be open to him even when life is dark and uncertain. We can have the confidence that no matter where we our, God sees us and desires to hold us.

Surely the Lord is in this Place

Gen 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

They say that angels watch over us when we sleep, and that angels aware camp around about us. We know not the number of times that God’s protecting hand has shielded us from an unfortunate event. Surely the Lord has been in this place. Miracles happen all around us and we know it not. We are focus on living our lives and God is at work doing things to clear the path for us to walk. We look back on the path we have trod, and surely the Lord has made it possible and walked with us, and yes at time has carried us. Events do not happen by chance, even in our failures, God can take them and use them to make us what we ought to be. When we come to the end of our life’s journey, surely we can see that the Lord has been with us all the time.