A Thanksgiving Reminder

As you guys know, we've been focusing on being thankful for the last few weeks and this week is no exception! As we approach the end of November, don't let this be the only month that you focus on giving thanks - instead, let's do all that we can to make thanksgiving a habit we do every day!

In the spirit of the holiday, I want to leave you with a little poem, compliments of Shonta Alexander:

Thanksgiving Day is that special time of year;

That you give praise and thanks to the things you hold so dear.
Thank you for forgiving us for each and every sin.

Thank you for our parents, our family and our friends.

Thank you for the food and the talk around the table;

Thank you for the ones who are here and the one's who weren't so able.

Thank you for the memories we cherished throughout the year.

Thank you for the struggle that it took to get us here.

Thank you for our coming in as well as our going out.

Thanking you I thought, my friend, was what it's all about.

So, thank you for the dead as well as the living.

Thank you for this holiday; truly a season of giving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

With all that said let the church say amen…and AMEN!

How To Keep A Thankful Heart (Part 2)

This week, there are a few more things that I would like to share about being thankful... after all, one can never be TOO thankful, right?!

In Ephesians 5:20 the Word says, "Give thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Just look at how often we should give thanks - "ALWAYS." Now take a minute to think about what always means. When you got dressed this morning, did you think to give thanks for your shoes?  How many times have you complained about not having "anything to wear" while staring at a closet full of choices? Friends, stop grumbling and give thanks for all things always, so we can create the right environment to keep a thankful heart.

Daniel 6:2-3 tell us, "And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm." Now what do you think made Daniel have such an excellent spirit? Daniel had built the right environment of thankfulness around him and that environment carried an excellent spirit.

We know that people plotted against Daniel; the King went so far as to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Despite this decree, Daniel kept doing what an excellent spirit does - he continued to give thanks. The Bible tells us that Daniel opened his window just as he had always done, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God. And we know that Daniel ended up getting cast into the den of lions... but we also know who prevailed in that situation! If we keep building the right type of environment through being thankful, it won’t matter what the test is - we will be in the best place to overcome it!

Being thankful always must be a habit. Of course, when we first set our minds on doing this, we might not be as good at it as Daniel. However, if we can consciously think about it all the time, we'll find that the more we think about it, the more we will do it and we will eventually get to a point where it’s second nature, we'll simply give thanks always without even thinking about it.

Psalms 34:1 says "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." We must bless the Lord continually. We must also make a consciously decision to give thanks in everything, so that we can generate this environment of thanksgiving and our God that delivered Daniel, can (and will) also deliver us, because we have learned how to keep a thankful heart! 

With all that said let the church say amen…and AMEN!

How To Keep A Thankful Heart!

We know that when we want to keep something safe that it's our job to protect it, guard it, and preserve it, right? Well, we need to do the same thing with our hearts. There is so much going on in the world; in our cities; in our homes - and that stuff is trying to keep us SO busy that we won’t have time to have a thankful heart. But what a blessing it is to have a mind to keep a thankful heart! As I Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminds us, "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

We should not mark just a single day to be thankful - being thankful should be an environment we live in; a state of mind - and it should be something that we carry with us daily. If it’s raining outside - we have an umbrella of Thanksgiving. On the other side of that coin, if the sun is shining too bright - we still have that umbrella of Thanksgiving! If the road is too crowded, we have our own lane of Thanksgiving. It’s that environment of thankfulness that we carry around!

You might be wondering - how do we keep a thankful heart? Well, like we talked about earlier, we have to build an environment around it and make a point to be thankful every single day! 

When we get up in the morning and we turn the faucet on and water comes out - we need to be thankful that we have running water! When go to brush our teeth, if we open the drawer and there is toothpaste waiting there for us - we need to be thankful! By doing that, we are creating an environment of being thankful for everything, whether it’s big or it's small AND regardless of whether it makes us happy or sad. 

Now, if you turn the faucet on and the water isn't getting hot fast enough for us and we let out a sigh of disgust or we open that drawer and the toothpaste that's waiting for us isn't the kind we want and we turn around and complain, what kind of environment are we creating?? Let me tell you, we are creating an ungrateful environment all around us. When we get in our car and it doesn’t start right away - especially when we are in a hurry - what do we do? Most of us start complaining, and when we do - what are we creating? A climate of ingratitude, that's what!

What did the scripture tell us in I Thessalonians 5:18?  To give thanks in every thing! Imagine if we started to practice that kind of thankfulness - what would that entail for you today?! Think about how many times you would have been thankful before you got to work; before you started doing whatever you had planned for that day, if you were being thankful for every thing.

What an awesome and powerful way to start each day - with a mighty attitude of Thanksgiving!

With all that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN!

How To Beat The Blues!

Blues: Sorry, cast down, weary, grief, sad, depress, heart broken.

During this holiday season the Lord wants us to be thankful, full of joy, and in good spirits. After all, if you really think about it, that is the true reason for this season we call Thanksgiving. Ephesians 5:20 says, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Lord wants us to be happy and thankful every day, but especially during this Thanksgiving season. If we are doing our part, how can we become cast-down, depressed or heart-broken??

Here's how we are going to do our part and beat the blues this thankful season:

1. Believe: what are we believing in? The positive word of God, of course! John 4:49-51 tells us, "The nobleman saith unto him, Sir come down err my child die. Jesus saith unto him, go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth." Jesus didn’t have to preach him a sermon, the man simply believed. That’s the kind of trust we must have in His word.
2. Look for God's Purpose (i.e. Plan): to find God's purpose in this season, we will have to go through a test; but friends, remember those tests are designed to take us to the next level - not to make us sad or cast-down. We must go through each test with a thankful heart, knowing that God is too holy, too righteous, and too just to allow anything to cross our path that’s not for our good and His Glory. As 1 Peter 5:10 says, "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."
3. Utilize the Promises in the Word of God: we must be sure to make use of God's word, and rehearse His word back to Him. He said that He would never leave us or forsake us; and that He is a very present help in the time of trouble. Philippians 4:19 says, "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" and Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us to, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." How can we become sad or cast-down if we are utilizing God's word?
4. Encourage other people: this may come as news to some, but it's not always about us - we must spread some cheer among others, encourage, and motivate someone else. As II Corinthians 1:4 tells us, "Who comforteth us in all tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted to God."
5. Sing God's Praises: finally, no matter what our situation is, we must still be thankful. Look at Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25-26. They had been beaten and put into prison, and despite that, at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God. If they can sing praises after all of that, surely we can manage to make a joyful noise unto the Lord and be thankful for the many, many wonderful things He’s done for us.

So you see, it’s easy to beat the blues this Thanksgiving season - we just need to continue to be thankful for all things and all situations. Remember, it’s very important that we give thanks, because God gives blessing by the way we give thanks.

With all that said, let the church say amen... And AMEN!