Give Thanks

“It is so much more comfortable and rational To see what we have to be thankful for And to rejoice accordingly, than to Have our vision forever filled With our lacks and our needs…”(Leaves of Gold)

Did you have a good day of Thanksgiving on Thursday? I hope you did. Whether you were alone, or with lots of people, I pray that you were able to recognize God’s goodness, faithfulness and incredible provision for you and yours.

I don’t know about you, but I love to eat. One of my favorite meals throughout the years has been and still is “Thanksgiving Dinner!” I can still smell, taste, and see the miles of food prepared by all of the members of my family for us, when I was a child, to enjoy together with the Jones and the extended Jones family. As good and as satisfying as those meals were, what if I tried to live off of that one meal until next Thanksgiving? It would be impossible, although with all the food we eat it would seem like we could survive for months on end!

Today, we are gathered for our weekly “Thanksgiving meal”, our corporate worship service. We sing, praise, exalt, pray, and feed from God’s Holy Word and from the contributions to the table that each of us bring.

However, for some of us this is our only “meal” of the week. It is no wonder that as we ‘run the race’ during the week, we often get weak and cannot gain the strength to carry on. We lack spiritual nourishment.

We can view our corporate gatherings as our spiritual breakfast, a very important part of our balanced diet. Our Bible study, prayer, fellowship, music, and reading Monday through Saturday all enable us to survive, grow and thrive in this battle zone we call life. As we sit around the ‘table’ of God’s grace, love, mercy, hope, etc., today we celebrate Him and He fills us for today and spurs us on to tomorrow.

Eat up today! Take and give from the Table of God’s blessing in your life. But don’t think that the “leftovers” will last you all week.

Remember:

“Seven days without prayer makes one weak!”

Pastor MJ

Thanksfulness

"It's not what we say about our blessings,
but how we use them that is the
true measure of our thanksgiving," Unknown

Thank you. Everyone appreciates hearing those words. However, many times although not always intentionally, we forget to thank those to who thanks is due. Although a common courtesy, the excitement of the gift often overshadows the giver.

Thank you. Everyone appreciates hearing those words. However, many times although not always intentionally, we forget to thank those to who thanks is due. Although a common courtesy, the excitement of the gift often overshadows the giver.

Our Lord Jesus experienced that. In John 17 we see that Jesus heals ten lepers. Now just imagine. You are a leper, an outcast, set aside by society as untouchable. You look at yourself and your limbs are all but off. You are bandaged up and because of the lack of feeling in parts of your body you have several severe burns. Your life is a mess and your body is the same.

Then Jesus steps into your journey and heals you. Partial limbs become whole, gangrened skin becomes as soft and clear as a new born baby’s. A distorted face is made beautiful. What would be your first response? Well in Luke 17 we see that one man recognized the most important thing in being blessed, which is to remember to thank the giver of the blessing. But as we read, Jesus asked, Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17 NIV)

So often we focus on and are carried away with the gift that we forget and neglect to thank the Giver.

This Thanksgiving let’s take a moment and pause. Take an inventory of the past 12 months or more. What has god done for you? What has He done in you? Have you thanked Him for it? Is the Lord saying, “Where is ________? Didn’t I bless him/her too?”

We have an opportunity to bless the Lord today. As we participate in our annual Thanksgiving sharing service take a moment and share with us, in the presence of the Lord what you have to be thankful for. All of us have something, but who of us will share? By doing so, you bring pleasure to the Lord. Along with that, in the community of believer’s you’ll encourage those who hear you who might need the same blessing from God. Your thanks through your life story and journey could very well encourage them in their journey with the Lord.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pastor MJ

“Everythingness”

Because you are precious in His sight…hear His words…

“I will instruct you and teach you – I will guide you with my eye…”
Psalm 32:8

“With God nothing will be impossible…”
Luke 1:37

“I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your Right hand and says to you…do not fear; I will help you…”
Isaiah 41:13

“I Am the Lord; there is no God besides Me…”
Isaiah 45:5a

“No weapon formed against you shall Prosper,
and every tongue which rises against you
in judgement you shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and Their righteousness is from me, says, the Lord…”
Isaiah 54:17

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield;The Lord will give GRACE and glory; No GOOD THING will He withhold From those who WALK UPRIGHTLY…” Psalm 84:11

“Behold, I Am the Lord, the God of all flesh…
Is there anything too hard for me?”
Jeremiah 32:27

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this All-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are Hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but Not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, But not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the Death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body.”
2 Corinthians 4:7-11

Let’s respond to these truths by worshipping Him with our

Everythingness

What Is God Up To

Do you sometimes find yourself wondering what God is doing? Do you sometimes feel that His timetable is too slow and that your need, desire, or want should be higher on His “to-do” list?

Do you tire of waiting and waiting, seemingly not getting an answer from your Heavenly Father who has promised to hear your prayer and give you your heart’s desire if you delight yourself in Him? Waiting can be difficult. Difficult times are not ones that we prefer, but they are inevitable, and can cripple us in spirit and many times in our bodies as well. That is if our perspective is not right. God is always working with, for and on us. No matter how silent He may seem, He is not idle. He is seldom early, but never late. As it says in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

A good friend sent me a card with some thoughts on it that have helped me see this from a heavenly vantage point. It is based on the passage found in Isaiah 40:31: “…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; the will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” It reads…

“As you wait upon the Lord you learn to see things from His perspective,
move at His pace, and function under His directives.
Waiting times are growing times and learning times.
As you quiet your heart, you enter His peace, as you sense your weakness,
you receive His strength; as you lay down your will, you hear His calling.
When you mount up, you are being lifted by the wind of His Spirit. When you
move ahead, you are sensitive to His timing. When you act you give yourself
only to the things He has asked you to do.” ~Roy Lessin

Let’s strive to know Him more deeply and rest in His goodness, faithfulness and promises today. Listen for His voice. He’s right by your side every step of your journey. Walk in that reality this week!

You Shall Not Steal

“You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15To Steal:

To take (the property of another) without right or permission.

I love impromptu conversations over meals. It’s interesting what comes up and how, should I say, “firm” those discussions can become.

This week I had the opportunity to hear about a situation where stealing was in question. Sometimes I have struggles offering my opinion on certain things because of all of the mistakes I’ve made, but if that were the criteria for offering guidance and wisdom, who of us could utter a word? Praise God for His forgiveness, grace and mercy!

Here’s the situation: a young man, went to a vending machine and put his money in. The product that he wanted came out, but so did his money. The next day, he returned to the same machine and the same thing happened. Before he knew it, there was a line of people “taking advantage” of this buffet of “free” snacks. The question at hand was if this was stealing or not. What would you do? For the next thirty minutes I heard these explanations: “Well, that machine has taken my money so many times, I was just getting what was mine!” “It’s not stealing, what was I supposed to do, just leave the money there?” “What? Everyone else was doing it!” “Okay, so you’ve never done anything like that? Oh, you did? So, why am I wrong?”

From there I had to take a deep breath and just lay out, not my opinion, but the truth – taking what is not rightfully ours is stealing. Stealing is wrong, whether it’s a candy bar or a $100,000 car, convenient or acceptable or what “everyone” is doing, it’s wrong.

When one girl was asked if she was there, what she would have done, she said, “to be honest, I would probably be tempted to take part too, but I’d be afraid that I’d be caught!” To which I replied, “why be afraid of being caught if it’s not wrong?”

Many may say, “Gimme a break, if it’s there for the taking, who’s it going to hurt?” God says, “Do not steal!” To live in integrity, that is, who we are when no one is looking, is not the easy thing, but it’s the right and obedient thing and what will bring pleasure to the Lord. As Romans 12:2 states, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”