Thank You Lord Jesus

 The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Taken from the Greek, the word everything means; all things; every kind or variety; in the highest degree; the maximum; with all boldness. The Holy Spirit is our helper and comforter (John 15:26) and no matter what circumstances of life we may find ourselves facing, let us remember that He is with us always. The attitude of giving thanks for every believer should go beyond Thanksgiving Day, which we celebrate this year on November 23, 2017. Simply put, Thanksgiving is not just a holiday every fourth Thursday in November where believers join with family and friends and share what they are thankful for, but everyday ought to be Thanksgiving Day for believers and as Paul tells us "In everything give thanks."

The Psalmist says, "Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations." (Psalm 100) One of the things that we see concerning giving thanks, is, "Make a joyful shout to the Lord." For most there seems to be no problem with shouting at sports events or even various forms of entertainment, but what about shouting thank you to the Lord. As we see in the beginning of this Psalm, our lives are meant to be joyful. God wants us to get excited about who He is. We all need to exercise the fruit of joy and shout joyfully to God. He has won the victory for us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We also see that we are to, "Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing." The word serve not only indicates to labor, but also to worship as we see "Come before His presence with singing." The usage of the word gladness talks of glee; exceeding gladness; joyfulness; rejoicing. The reasons for this are obvious. Jesus has saved me; He is merciful to me; He lives in me; He is a present help in time of trouble; He is healer; deliverer; provider; He loves me without conditions; He will not cast me away; on, and on, and on. Just keeping these things in mind and confessing them at all times should cause us to serve the Lord with gladness and with a song coming forth from our lips.

Next, we are called to, "Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." This verse shows three of the many attributes of God. He is Lord. We are to let Him be Ruler, Master, Lord of our lives. He is Creator. When a person creates something, though we simply use the created things of God to invent or make things, that person is greater than the thing created and they have every right over that which was made. (Romans 9:20) The Apostle Paul tells us, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) He made us; We are His. He is the our Shepherd. He guides us to the place of security, plenty and rest. Like sheep, we are to be totally dependent on God.

Next, we are to "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations." Here is the epitome of what Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the kind of thanksgiving that flows out of a thankful heart. In Luke chapter seventeen we see a heart of thanksgiving revealed through a Samaritan who was healed of leprosy by Jesus.

"Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-17)

Notice, that out of the ten lepers, the Samaritan was the only one who returned to Jesus, "and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. In doing so, he was showing us just how thankful he was for what Jesus did for him.  Why? "For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations." Let's be honest, Jesus has done exceedingly great things for us, we, more so than the Samaritan, should be thankful to God for what He is and what has done for us. So, this Thanksgiving with all the preparations, events and excitement, let us be truly thankful, with shouts of joy; with gladness; with thankfulness and gratitude; and with a heart dependent on Him. Happy Thanksgiving...