Every Day Should Be Thanksgiving Day

Two years ago on Thanksgiving Day as I was thinking about what I would pray over our dinner it struck me that having a day once a year to be thankful was really a bad idea. The implication is that we can stop once a year and prepare a meal, gather with family, say a prayer of thanksgiving , eat, and then watch football and we are good to go. As a Christian I committed myself to making everyday Thanksgiving Day. Oh, I skip the particulars of that day we all gather on in November, but every day I try and remember to spend as much time as I can thanking God.

The Bible is full of instructions to be thankful. Psalm 95 is just one of many that teach us about being thankful. Note what verse 2 says, “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving…” We should not ever come to God in prayer without doing it with a spirit of thankfulness.

As Christians we should seek maturity in our faith. Part of that maturity must involve a change in how we perceive trials and storms. Many times it is only in these times in which we take time to pray. While we need to follow the guidance of scripture and pray always without ceasing as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 commands, we must also grow into a people that are thankful despite our current situation. Thankfulness must become a permanent aspect of our lives.

Philippians 4:5-6 provides the answer as to how to not only be thankful, but how to rid yourself of the anxiety of life that holds us back. Hear the Word of God in this great scripture reading. “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. 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.”

Typically we don’t quote verse 5 when we think of that verse. But it is key as it says “The Lord is at hand.” That means we can chill out. God has this; all of it. The Lord is at hand and because He is we do not need to be anxious about one single thing. When we let God be God and recognize He is really in control even when we don’t think so then something special happens. Philippians 4:7, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This sets us free and allows us to be thankful no matter what is going on around us.

There is so much to be thankful for. Take time each day to think of all the great things God provides you. Even if you have absolutely nothing today, if you are a Christian you have a hope in an eternity where everything will be perfect. You have salvation in Christ that is not dependent on your efforts and performance but is based on the blood of Christ shed willingly for you at Calvary.

Make today and every day Thanksgiving Day. If you are looking for what God’s will is for your start there for that is exactly what God’s will is as spelled out in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 saying, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

God bless all of you reading this.

John the Baptist - What All Christians Should Be

John the Baptist is a picture of what, we as Christians, should be. In Luke chapter 1 we read of God’s calling to the child of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who was called John.

Luke 1:76-79
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

John was to be a prophet. But unlike many of the OT Prophets John was bringing a message, not of impending judgment in response to the sins of man, but as a prophet of the good news of the Messiah. He came preaching that there was a coming light and that light was Jesus. As Christians we are all called to this same mission; to proclaim Jesus as the light of the world and to share the good news of God’s grace as manifest in the Gospel.

Luke 1:80 tells us that as child John “grew and became strong in spirit.” As a child of God we, too, are to grow and become strong in spirit.

As John grew up he went to live in the wilderness until we read of him in Mark 1:4 which says that, “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Most of us spend time wandering in the wilderness before we come to Christ. But then when we accept Christ like John, we must come out proclaiming a baptism of repentance.

John was a strange fellow who “was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey” as read of in Mark 1:6. As Christians we are to be a people who live in the world but are to be different from the world. If we are truly walking in the Spirit of God we will look different than the unsaved people around us. We may even find ourselves seen as odd as John appeared dressed in that crazy camel hair coat probably did.

Like John, we are to be a people of humility, recognizing Jesus is the one who deserves all the glory. Mark 1:7 is an example of John’s humility, “And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”

And when we baptize people we must like John understand our role in their baptism. In Mark 1:8 John explains this saying, “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

John knew his part and like him, Christians must do the same. We cannot save anyone. That is the work of God. We must share the truth as John did. We must speak of repentance and the need for recognition of our sin. We must point to Christ as the answer. Sometimes in our lives, like John, this speaking of the truth may bring us distress. John would die because he was willing to speak truth no matter the consequence. He was imprisoned and later beheaded because he was unafraid to share the truth of sin even to King Herod. Mark 6:18 tells us that “…John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Too often we fall into this trap of thinking we shouldn’t ever speak about sin and repentance but only about love. Then we wonder why our world is so full of sin. Real love speaks truth and some aren’t going to like it. John lost his head over this. Most Christians are afraid to even broach the topic of sin. This has weakened the church and hindered our prayers.

The life of John the Baptist is a picture of what we must become as Christians. We must be prophets in the sense of speaking out the Word of God. We must call for repentance and we must come out of our wilderness declaring the Gospel, even if people see us as odd, like John. We should baptize with water but let Christ baptize with the Spirit. We should be willing to die for the truth of God’s perfect law and confront sin without fear. We must become less and let Jesus become more. We don’t have to perform miracles; John didn’t need them, John 10:40-42 tells us that “Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." And in that place many believed in Jesus.” We simply need to say all that is true about Jesus. Stay faithful to that and many will believe in the Christ.

Are You Training For Righteousness?

Recently a friend and I discussed the need for a loving, yet truthful sharing of God’s Word that speaks of a salvation that is more than just a “Jesus Loves You” kind of message. Though a few ministries still preach the entire counsel of scripture, for the most part churches have stopped preaching sin. We no longer hear sermons that tell us straight up that we need to repent of our sins. Oh, we all have been instructed on the evils of the very wicked but most of us are not being told that “we” are the sinners. Most church people walk around in their minds with an attitude that Jesus loves us and forgives us so we can just live out our lives in relative comfort.

The truth is we all still have a lot of sin deeply embedded within us. I base that statement on two observations. First of all I am completely aware of my own sin. Daily I read the Bible and whether I am in my morning OT study or my evening NT study I take time to meditate on the Word and I examine myself against it. On my best days I fall really short. The second observation I make is of people. I watch them as they drive, shop, work, and play. I look at Facebook, Twitter, and read blogs as well as other internet writings. I even watch them in ministry and church. Trust me; you guys are sinners just like me. Some of you think because you don’t murder people or steal from them you are good to go. It’s not my job to go around being the sin police but it is each of our responsibility according to scripture that we examine ourselves daily, but that examination has one standard; the perfect holiness of God. You cannot compare yourself to the world or even other Christians and then think “Oh, I’m okay.” Unless we can look in a mirror and see Jesus reflected back then we have fallen short.

This morning as I read my OT chapter I was moved to see that even though in its historical context it speaks of the Jews, the truth is we should be studying it to apply the spiritual principles in our own lives. Guys, we are in a behavioral sense the Jews. When we are in trouble we seek God. When things are good, not so much.

We are living in the age of grace, I hope people understand that. But that is not license to sin. Jesus is coming back and when He returns it WILL be to bring judgment. Sin has consequences and we are beginning to see them in our own culture here in America. Things are a mess. Even confessed and forgiven sin has consequences in our own lives.

So what can we do about it? We can preach the truth. Pastors and teachers must return to preaching against sin and teach the church to look deeply at our own sinfulness. Romans 15:4 says this, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” When that was written there was no New Testament. Obviously God knew there would be a New Testament and He used the Holy Spirit to move the hands of those who wrote it to speak His Word. But we have got to stop teaching the OT as if it is just some nice historical document to be studied like American History. First of Jesus is all over it and even if we never had the NT the OT has everything about Jesus we would need to believe in Him as our savior. Secondly when we read about Israel we must see the spiritual messages that are there to instruct us as Paul stated clearly in Romans 15:4.

I will leave you with one example of an OT message which came from the prophet Jeremiah which in its historical context is obviously a warning to the Jews. I suggest we look deeply at it and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us its meaning to the church.

Jeremiah 5:23-25
'But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed. 'They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest." 'Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.

Yes, we are saved by grace. There is no one who appreciates that more than me and maybe no one who has received more grace from Christ than I. But the simple truth is that God has so much more for me and for you, but our sins withhold good from us.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

All scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Are we training for righteousness or we content in just being forgiven by God’s grace? We must ask that question of ourselves. If we want to be like Christ we must study ALL scripture with the goal of teaching, reproof, correction, and most importantly, training in righteousness.