Thanksgiving

Three Psalms Outlining The Mighty Deeds of God for Israel

 

We have three Psalms 105, 106, 107 that give us an overview God’s dealings with the nation of Israel.  It is a good review course.  The God of the mighty miracles to protect Israel remains the God of mighty miracles.  We need to give thanks to God that we know of His mighty deeds reassures us that God acts on behalf of His people.

 

 

Psalm 105

King James Version (KJV)

105 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.

Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.

He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth.

He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;

10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:

11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:

12 When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.

13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;

14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;

15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.

17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:

18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:

19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him.

20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.

21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

24 And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.

25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.

26 He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.

27 They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.

29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.

30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.

31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts.

32 He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.

33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.

34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number,

35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.

36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.

37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

38 Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.

39 He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.

40 The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.

43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:

44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;

45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord.

Thanksgiving

Jesus sang “His Love Endures Forever”

We are still looking at the deeds of God.  But I thought you might enjoy reading the words of a song Jesus sang about thanksgiving and remembering who God is.

 

In the last supper, Jesus took the cup (This is the third cup of the Passover–the cup of redemption) and says:

Matthew 26:30

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

There are four cups (last is the cup of ingathering) , but that night Jesus said He would not drink of the cup again until He drank it new with them in His Father’s kingdom.

So after they drank the third cup they sang a hymn.  By tradition, this psalm they would have sang is the Hallel.  The entire Hallel is Psalm 113-118.  but after the third cup and right before the forth cup they sing Psalm 115-118.

This is what Jesus sang just hours before HIs arrest and death.

 

Psalm 118

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say:
“His love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say:
“His love endures forever.”

When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
I look in triumph on my enemies.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humans.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.

15 Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
16     The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.

22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
23 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.

25 Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success!

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up[c] to the horns of the altar.

28 You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Exercise
Think about the fact Jesus sang this song.  Do you believe God’s love endures forever?  This phrase exist in many of the psalms.  God’s love never wavers.  We maybe disciplined, but it is because He loves us.  We may go through hard times, but there are lessons that must be learned because He loves us.  No matter what is going on in our lives we know His Love Endures Forever and that is something to be thankful for.  He loved us so much that He sent His only son to die so that whoever trusts in Christ shall not perish but have ever lasting life.
Look through each of the things Jesus sang thanks for and ask yourself if you are also thankful.  By the way, the cornerstone in this psalm is seen as a reference to Jesus.  Now that is actually wild.
Playlist

Psalm 118: Easter Alleluia      Gary Daigle, Rory Cooney & Theresa Donohoo     This Very Morning

Psalm 118: This Is the Day   John Angotti          Joy Beyond Our Dreams

Already on list

Hallel      Richie Furay                    In My Father’s House

Location identified as site of Lord’s supper

Thanksgiving · Uncategorized

God’s Works…..Everything in the Universe

We’ve learned to remembered those things God has done in our personal life.

Now

David reminds us to be thankful for all God has done from

the beginning of the Universe down through the ages.

So let’s start with the sun in the morning and the stars at night

The shepherd boy David spent his nights and days in the fields watching the beauty of nature.  He wrote Psalms 19 in gratitude and praise of God’s work in the creation of the heavens and earth.  Most of us spend way to much time in our office, homes and cars shielded from the beauty of nature.  And in many ways, I think those walls separate us from realizing the glory of God.

Davids Word’s

The heaven are recounting the honour of God, And the work of His hands The expanse is declaring

The beauty of the night sky with stars sprinkled across the expanse far beyond what we can imagine reminds us of the mightiness of our God.  His power and strength are mightier than any force we know; because all forces that we know were created by Him.

 

Exercise 1

Find time to sit outside one night.  Study the heavens and thank God for creating the Heavens and Earth.  Write down in your journal what the vastness of the night makes you thank about God.

Exercise 2

During the day, walk where you can see grass, trees and flowers.  Notice the beauty of the plants and the diversity of life.  Inside all life is a code with specific instructions regarding the design of that specific blade of grass, flower, bug, animal or even person.

God is a God of details.  He counts the hairs on our head and knows when a sparrow falls. (Matthew 10) Praise God that he is not just some Spirit who put the world in motion and left it to spin on it’s own.  Our God cares about the small things.  Our God cares about even the small things in our lives.

 Write down in your journal what thoughts occur to you as you realize that God cares about the details of your life.

Playlist Song

The Heavens Declare (Psalm 19:1-4, 7-9)  Todd Fields        Word of God Speak: The Worship Session

Uncategorized

Sing, Sing a song

Be grateful you are no where near me. The lyrics to the Carpenter’s song Sing A Song are flooding my head and rolling out my mouth.  The whole tone deaf (my voice teacher resigned) and lack of rhythm (kicked out of band) tend to limit my vocal talents.  But if make a joyful noise serves as our instructions; I am following orders.

David said “Sing to Him; sing praise to HIm”

But I think you should take the advice of the Carpenters with one alteration–Sing praises to Him.  Here are the lyrics to the song.

Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud, sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last your whole life long
Don’t worry that it’s not good enough
For anyone else to hear
Just sing, sing a song

I think David, the prolific song writer, might change the words in the first stanza to something like:

Sing of the good things He did

Sing praises to Him

Exercise

The reason for the daily playlist was to find songs praising and thanking God for who He is.  For the most part, I tried to find a variety of songs with up beat tunes.  Today chose a playlist for yourself.  Find songs praising God that fill you with joy.  Find songs you like to sing. Search for songs from your past with sweet memories of great times with God. (Sweet Sweet Spirit in this Place is a song that always reminds me of those Mountain Top Experiences from my teens.)  This playlist is not for listening; the songs you select need to be for singing.

Now every day find time to sing to God.  Not for yourself, not for others to hear, but sing to God.  He loves to hear your voice even if others cringe.

Sing of the good things He did

Sing praises to Him

Playlist

Sing, Sing a Song     The Carpenters

(A reminder to sing to our Lord -even if it is a secular song.)

Thanksgiving

Make known his deeds

Let’s venture back to the difference between counting your blessings and thanksgiving.  Counting blessings entails two activities.  The first thinking about what you are happy about.  What people, things, places and activities you are glad exist in your life?  You focus on what pleases you.  You focus on what makes your life happy.

Thanksgiving changes the focus to what God has done in your life.  Look towards those time in your heart of heart when you know God brought blessings into your life.  Yesterday, we redirected what we are meditating upon from general blessing to those times we know God acted directly in our lives.

Today it goes from inside to outside.  David says we are to share with others what we know God has done for us.

Okay, back to our Leper.

Luke 17:15  One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.

So we have our healed leper running down the road praising God and shouting for everyone to hear what God has done for him.  Not one person passing by would not have know what Jesus had done.  But notice something else.  The 10 Lepers know to cry out to Jesus for help.  They know he can heal them.  How would they know this if someone hadn’t been talking about what Jesus had done?

How often do you tell someone about what Jesus has done in your life.  Not share the gospel with them.  Not tell them to come to church.  Not tell them the stories in the bible.  Do you tell them what He has done in your life?

I don’t.  God acts in my life.  He accomplishes mighty works and I know they are from God.  But I seldom if ever share these big and small miracles with people.  Sometimes it doesn’t seem like the right time.  At other times, I don’t believe people will believe me.  I know the truth, but I am sure it sounds wild to others.  Most of the time, it just never crosses my mind to tell my stories.

God demonstrates His power in our lives through life saving giant miracles (and I have had those in my life) but just as often, He simply places a kiss on our cheek.  These are small moments when God acts and you know it was Him.  A God kiss touches your heart, answers a real need and lets you know he cares about you in the little things.

Since today is about making his deeds known.  I will tell you about the most recent God Kiss.

A few months back I had a period of total ditziness.  In about a three month period, I lost two separate credit cards.  I sent to have the first one replaced, but my monthly payments were on the second card.  I just did not want to have to redo all those accounts.  Not a life or death situation.  I watched the account no one was charging on it.

Now doing everything that is wrong,  I spent about a week going back to every place I had used the card around the time it disappeared. Nothing.  Then I prayed to God to get me out of this jam.

As a last ditch effort. I returned to the place where I thought I had lost the card.  I had called this place immediately after I realized it was gone. But they had not found it.

Pulling up at the little store-filling station combination, I locked my car door and went inside.  The people in the store searched everywhere but it was no where to be found.  I accepted it was time to give up and do what adults do.  I needed to report it lost and change all the auto pay accounts.

I unlocked the car door and settled into my seat.  My heart sunk.  I just didn’t want to have to face this problem right now.  Not a big issue.  Nothing of even great consequence would happen if I didn’t find the card.  It just frustrated me.

Then God gave me a kiss on the cheek.  I went to buckle the seatbelt.  You know that step you take every time you drive.  Now a week after I lost it, my credit card set across the latch of my seatbelt.  I could not latch the belt without removing it.

I knew God did it.  I knew God gave me a ‘here is something to make your day better’ miracle.

But I don’t tell people because I assume they won’t believe me.  They will argue that someone had my card. They kept it but did not use it.  I some how forgot to lock my car even though I thought I had.  This person heard me ask about the card.  They still had it on them, but did not want to just say it was in a drawer or back behind the counter or anything like that.  But they snuck to my car.  They chanced someone seeing them open my car door. They then slipped the credit card on the seat belt latch so I would find it..

If all that happened, and I find this scenario is a stretch, or  if God just made it appear, it was a God kiss that brighten my day and my week   I praised God all day for his helping me.  But I sure didn’t share His deed until now.

Exercise

Tell someone about something personal God has done in your life.  Or write about it on one of the social media pages.

Play list

I Love To Tell The Story         Barbara Mandrell            Precious Memories

I was going to put  “I’m So Happy and Here’s the Reason Why” , but it is hard to find versions of this one.

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

List Your Many Blessings; Name Them One By One

Give thanks to the Lord

We are back to the beginning in a way.  David starts his instructions telling us to Give Thanks to the Lord.  He doesn’t guide us to name our blessings one by one.  That is a good thing to do but it is not what Thanksgiving is about.  Our leper in yesterday’s study didn’t just say and I am thankful for no longer having leprosy.  No he ran to Jesus telling everyone on the way, praising God until he reached Jesus and threw himself at Jesus feet thanking Him.  That is Thanksgiving.

Many people spend the month of November listing those things they are thankful for in their lives.  I do it. It focuses you to look at all you have in life.  But it is not thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving focuses you on the giver of all those blessings and how he has blessed your life.  Thanksgiving must be specific just like the counting all you blessings, but it requires that you meditate on what God has done in your life.

A Christian logically might start with salvation.  Every human lives in sin, a sin we can not possibly wash away by ourselves.  A human, like me or like you, can not bridge the gap between mortals and God.  But God provided a perfect sacrifice to cover those sins. A simple solution, and because of the simplicity of that solution, an answer many reject for its simplicity.

But Jesus seeks us.  He sought me.  At eleven, I had never really thought about God.  My mom sometimes took me to church, but it wasn’t a major part of my life.  Then suddenly, and without much explanation, it seemed people invited me to church and Christian activities constantly.  I decline the invites for the most part, but accepted one.

Invitation started at church that day and I knew God wanted me to follow Him.  But, there was no way I was going to the front of the church.  Or at least I didn’t think I would.  I remember thinking I will follow you and then I was standing at the pastors side.  I believe God carried me those few feet to the front of the Church.  The “yes I want to follow you” was enough for my Lord to intervene and help me.

Now this Thanksgiving I list my Salvation as one of my many Blessings.  But I think God he sought me when I had no idea I needed Him.  My heart sings out of love for a Lord “Who sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood.”  My Lord came to earth and took on human form in order to live a perfect life and be a perfect passover lamb to cover my sings.  But my Lord also loved me enough to send tons of messengers each calling me to Him.  Many of them will never know their impact on my life.  Those who I said no to and the one I said yes to were all sent by God to seek me and to draw me close to Him

I so love my Lord for bringing me to know Him.  And I know that a God who sought me with that level of concern is not going to ever leave me.  I am His and He is mine.

Thank you Jesus for Loving me.

Exercise

Take one of your many blessings and write a Thank You Note to Jesus.  Instead of counting your blessings try writing Thank you notes to God for those things where you know He has acted in your life.  You might won’t to find a big bowl to throw your Thank you notes in.  It will be a monument to God for all He has done in your life.

Play list song (I have two for this one)

Victory In Jesus        Travis Cottrell Jesus Saves (Live) Christian & Gospel

Praise God From whom all blessings come

Thanksgiving

10 Little Lepers Heading to the Temple

As mentioned in an earlier post, our ten lepers cried out to Jesus to cure their horrible disease.  They hoped he might cure them.  Jesus healed the lame and the blind.  Maybe just maybe, he would heal 10 lepers as well.

So our 10 guys meet the criteria for a person of Thanksgiving.  They were ten desperate people crying out to Jesus for help.  They were helpless on their own.

Jesus tells the men to go into Jerusalem and present themselves to the Priest.  The writings of Moses gave instructions regarding leprosy.  They had specific guidelines for determining if a person was infected and when these people were to be removed from society.  But they also had specific instructions regarding what to do if a leper was healed.  They had to go to the Priest in order to be declared free of the disease.  No one had ever been declared free of leprosy.  Many believed this would be a sign of the Messiah.

Jesus tells them to go and they go.  The sores still cover their bodies as they move toward the temple, but they go towards the place where they will be declared clean.  They walk hoping the sores will disappear.  I suspect more doubt than belief fills them.  They walk.

A spot disappears.  Was it ever really there?  The skin across their body regenerates as they walk.  Where there was once oozing masses of flesh there is now clean healthy skin.

They know Jesus healed them now.  They know the leprosy is healing.

Exercise

Be honest with yourself as the sores heal over what would you do?

Would you reaction be to walk slowly afraid the healing would stop?  Would you be trying to rationalize how this could be happening?  No one is ever healed of leprosy.

Would you rush to the priest to see if they would declare you healed?  Not really believing it was true until the priest said it was so.

Or would you be afraid that if you didn’t go straight to the temple the healing would stop?  Jesus said go to the priest.  You skin is healing as you go.  Shouldn’t you do just what Jesus said.  Obedience seems like a logical reaction.  What if you didn’t obey and the healing reversed itself?

Maybe you would rush home to you family instead of heading straight to the temple?  You have been isolated and missing your love ones for years.  You just want to hug them and hold them.

Would you turn around and run back to thank Jesus.

Try describing what you would do and why in your journal being as honest as you can be with yourself?

Playlist

Amazing Grace            Elvis Presley            Elvis – Ultimate Gospel

Thanksgiving

Case Study from Luke 17 (here are the verses)

11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Uncategorized

Fourth Day Adventures–Learning About God using the calendar as a guide

Genesis 1

14. And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning 

November–Thanksgiving right?  We are in the mist of studying about Thanksgiving as a way of life from King David.
Image—the fourth day.