November 18, 2012
Ephesians 5:20
INTRODUCTION
- This week we will celebrate Thanksgiving Day
- Gather round the table, carve the turkey, cranberry sauce, these are images we think about
- Those who landed here from the Mayflower, gave thanks for having survived a harsh new England winter
- When thanksgiving was instituted as a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln after the end of the civil war, it represented thanksgiving that slavery was abolished and the nation was once again united
- To us, perhaps thanksgiving relates to appreciating the freedom God has given us, the blessings he was showered on us, the peace of God in our life
- Today I want to highlight an approach to thanksgiving that is of a higher order, and less popular than only thanking God for our freedom and blessings
READING
- Eph 5:15-20
A LIFE JOURNEY
- As we start our Christian journey, we are so blessed
- We ask the Lord to forgive us of our sins, and a weight is lifted from our shoulders
- Then we are baptized, and the Lord gives us a peace and joy inside, which we can hardly contain
- Now we have a friend and a companion who is with us all thye time, every day
- God gave us his Word to show us his heart for mankind, his love and compassion
- God desires relationship with us and the Bible shows us how we can be in synch with God's heart
- I have programs on my phone, which allow me to synch what I am writing with another program on the internet, which I can access from my computer
- I can edit this document on either my phone, or the computer, it doesn't matter
- Because they are synched
- We are synched with God, and the way we relate is through the Holy Spirit praying for us and speaking to us
- So we can be on the same page as God
- This is something awesome, a special thing to treasure, and be thankful for
HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THE NEGATIVE
THINGS?
- Life is not a bed of roses, however
- As Christians we have a special relationship with God, and he watches out for us
- Some think that because of being blessed like this, nothing bad will happen to us, they may judge us if things go wrong
- But the Bible gives plenty of examples of people who hurt while still being in relationship with God
- Hebrews 11 gives a long list of some who experienced this
- Heb 11:32-40
- One of the people who is a good example for us is Job
- Job was a man who had a really good relationship with God
- He did all the things he was supposed to do, and God blessed him
- He was profoundly blessed!
- Then suddenly, in one day, it all was wiped out
- One day he was the greatest man in his society, the next all has turned upside down and he ends up sick, in excruciating pain, with boils all over him, sitting in an ash heap because it seemed the softest place around.
- Job had no idea what was happening
- He didn't know Satan was trying to destroy him
- All he knew was that He had God and God had him
- Job tells us in Job 1:21 - Naked I came from my mothers womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised
- Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:15-19 to always give thanks to God, for everything
- In our thanksgiving, God seeks hearts that are grateful for all He has allowed in our life
- Job was allowed to go through this enormous and painful trial, and God blessed him more at the end than at the beginning.
- But its not about the good things or the bad things, it is about resting in the hand of God
- It is about trusting God, wherever we are at
CAN WE BE ANGRY AT GOD?
- Sometimes we become frustrated and in our frustration we become angry at God for what we are going through
- But God never promised us easy street
- What God promised us was Jesus living through us
- Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief
- He knew what it was like to be homeless and cold
- He was on the move all the time and he says to one man the Son of man doesn't know where he will lay his head
- Jesus experienced pain beyond anything we have experienced
- He experienced pain and betrayal and rejection, and persecution and actually being spit upon
- If Jesus lives in and through you you dont know where that will lead
- But God is with us, through this all
BE THANKFUL FOR THE HARD PLACES
- This thanksgiving, think about who you are, how far you have come in your walk with God
- And then think about how much of this growth came through the good times and how much was molded in the crucible of fire
- Be thankful to God that he is doing his work in you and hat he will bring your journey to a successful conclusion
- Phil 1:3-11
CONCLUSION
- God has a long term view
- He wants us to establish the most intimate, most rewarding and precious relationship possible, with Him
- He wants our hearts to echo with his song, he wants our words to express his heart
- He has called us to be his spokesmen on this earth, his light that shines, his encouragers and helpers and servants
- And one day we will receive our reward as he says to us, well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord
- There will be no more pain, no more suffering, because the former things have passed away (Rev 21)
- All we will have to look forward to is everincreasing joy, everincreasing satisfaction, everincreasing love
- Because of the increase of his kingdom, there will be no end
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
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