Psalm of praise and thanksgiving

Psalm 100 (NASB)

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving.  And His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him, bless His name.  For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting.  And His faithfulness to all generations.

Thanksgiving is a unique American holiday with only a few other countries (Canada, Grenada, Netherlands, Liberia) celebrating a similar type of holiday.  While a day (actually three days) of thanksgiving was first observed by the Plymouth Rock pilgrims in December of 1621, President George Washington in 1789 declared the first Thursday of November to be observed as a day of thanks. Abraham Lincoln in 1863, responding to the 30-year efforts of Mrs. Sarah Joseph Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, to set aside the fourth Thursday of November as a national Day of Thanksgiving.  In 1941 Congress permanently established the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday.

Speaking of Abraham Lincoln and his proclamation to make the fourth Thursday of November a day of national gratitude, read the remarkable article published on November 21, 2012 by the columnist Leonard Pitts:  http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/21/3106927/after-profound-grief-a-nations.html.

Psalm 100 is called the psalm of thanksgiving.  You’d think that the 100^th chapter of Psalms would be something special and it certainly is.  So many wonderful and glorious phrases.  Dwell deeply on what they are claiming should be happening between you and the Lord:

·    Shout joyfully

·    Serve…..with gladness

·    Come…..with joyful singing

·    Know…..He is God

·    He has made you, you didn’t…….

·    You are His people, His sheep

·    Enter……thanksgiving

·   Give thanks

·    Bless His name

·   The Lord is good

·    His lovingkindness (mercy) is everlasting

·    His faithfulness also is everlasting

The purpose of Thanksgiving is for Americans is not to watch pro football games or eat turkey, but to think of God their Provider and gives thanks to Him for all He has done, just like the first pilgrims did.  To help you make this Thanksgiving fresher and more special, look up all these verses that declare and affirm God’s goodness to you and your need to thank Him for every aspect of your life:  I Chronicles 29:11-13, Psalm 28:7, 30:11-12, 50:23, 92:1-5, 95:1-7, 118:29; Colossians 3:15-17, I Thessalonians 5:18, I Timothy 4:4-5 and 6:17, and James 1:17.

Here’s a Thanksgiving Day prayer by Scott Waseman that I like and perhaps you will too:
Lord, so often times, as any other day.  When we sit down to our meal and pray.
We hurry along and make fast the blessing.  Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing.
We're slaves to the olfactory overload.  We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold.
But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more.  To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for.
For my family, my health, a nice soft bed.  My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head.
I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those whose lives touch me more than they'll ever
   possibly know
Thankful Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure.  Thankful that in my heart lives life's
   greatest treasure
That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place.  And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace
So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You've provided.  And bless each and every
   person invited.  Amen

Emptiness

Ecclesiastes 6:6 (NLT)

He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use?

If you ever saw the movie, “City Slickers”, you’ll remember when Billy Crystal was speaking to a grade school class about his life and what he does.  He was very bored and depressed with his life and this is what he shared to a very bewildered group of kids:

“Value this time in your life, kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices. It goes by fast. When you're a teenager, you think you can do anything and you do. Your twenties are a blur. Thirties you raise your family, you make a little money, and you think to yourself, ‘What happened to my twenties’?  Forties, you grow a little pot belly, you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud, one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother.  Fifties, you have a minor surgery-you'll call it a procedure, but it's a surgery.  Sixties, you'll have a major surgery, the music is still loud, but it doesn't matter because you can't hear it anyway.  Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale.  You start eating dinner at 2:00 in the afternoon, you have lunch around 10:00, breakfast the night before, spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate soft yogurt and muttering, ‘How come the kids don't call?’ The eighties, you'll have a major stroke, and you end up babbling with some Jamaican nurse who your wife can't stand, but who you call mama.  Any questions?”

You laugh when you watch this part of the movie, but what Billy Crystal’s character is describing is a modern day Ecclesiastes view of life.  Ecclesiastes is a book full of skeptical and pessimistic verses written by a man (Solomon) who had ignored the wisdom of God as he wrote in Proverbs and replaced it with human wisdom that can never satisfy.

Thankfully, Ecclesiastes is unique.  In the whole context of Scripture, it serves a powerful purpose to tell and remind you that human wisdom apart from divine wisdom will lead you to nowhere.  Solomon wrote about his efforts to find happiness and fulfillment later in his life via intellectual pursuits (1:13-18), pleasures (2:1-11), possessions (2:12-17), and work/productivity (2:18-23), yet all led to “striving after wind” (utter futility) (1:17, 2:1, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26).   

The world offers promises full of emptiness; God offers emptiness full of promises.  Ecclesiastes repeatedly asserts that worldly pursuits will never provide fulfillment in life.  Consider what Ecclesiastes 2:17 says: “I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling.  Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.”  Unfortunately, people don’t believe this and spend their lifetimes pursuing worldly things that amount to nothing. 

However, the main message of Easter is the empty tomb.  The empty tomb represents the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ means that the promises of God were fulfilled (John 16:22), sin and death were defeated (John 14:19), and Jesus has power over all things (Revelation 3:10).  Such power means that He can fulfill His promise to you that you “might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  Through a relationship with Jesus Christ and allowing Him to lead your life, your life will have purpose and meaning and will never be like what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes.  If you don’t believe this, then go ahead and live your life according to the world’s ways; you will find out for yourself how vain and futile this pathway will be and you will be sorry.  Hopefully, all who read this already know or are willing to find out how wonderful your life can be because of your faith in the risen Christ.

God specializes in filling emptiness.  Jesus promises an abundant life in Him.  Where in your life do you need to empty yourself and fill the void with the presence of the Spirit of Christ?  Just reading the Bible every day will give you the encouragement you need to deal with anything/ everything you are facing in your life with new perspective because of His abundances placed in empty places of your life.   

Involved with, but not influenced by others

I Corinthians 9:19-22 (NLT)

Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.  When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.

James 1:27 teaches a Biblical principle called “involvement and separation”.  We are to visit orphans and widows of the world (help and care for the less fortunate) while at the same time “keeping yourself unstained by the world”.  The passage above describes how Paul applied the “involvement and separation” principle.  I heard my pastor, Scott Luck, use this passage to describe how he applied this principle in his preaching to relate to those who attend services. 

Paul made himself a servant of all people for the main purpose of bringing them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Warren Wiersbe described Paul like this: “He did not follow the slogan, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’.  That would be compromise rooted in fear.  Paul’s attitude was based on love, not fear.  He was not lowering his standards; rather he was laying aside his personal privileges.  It was not hypocrisy, but sympathy.  He tried to understand those who needed Christ and enter into their experiences.” 

Paul describes in this passage that he always was aware of whom his audience was in order to find common ground with which to relate to them to truth of Christ.  Pastor Luck empathized his use of secular events/circumstances (the “bucket list”, games of life, the economy, jobs, the Colts, etc.) to teach and apply spiritual truths.  As the end of verse 22 states, he is trying to find common ground with everyone, doing what he can to bring the gospel and teachings of Christ to as many as he can.  Not all will respond, just like Paul stated that he did what he could to save some. 

It is a tricky endeavor to balance involvement with people, including unbelievers—the lost—while at the same time staying true to God’s Word and not allowing worldly values to take over.  Sometimes, pastors and church leaders cross the line and relate to worldly values too much.  Yet ignoring the world will lessen the effectiveness of Christians to reach the lost. 

How are you involved in the world without allowing to world to influence you?

Who is the man who fears the Lord?

Psalm 25:12-14 (NASB)

Who is the man who fears the LORD?  He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will abide in prosperity and his descendants will inherit the land. The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him and He will make them know His covenant. 

Psalm 25 is worth your time studying and meditating about.  It gives me great hope, strength, and reassurance every time I study it.  Reading these four verses should increase your curiosity and desire to spend time with the entire chapter.  Psalm 25 is described as a prayer for protection, guidance, and pardon.

Who fears the Lord?  The word “fear” can be translated “reverence” so the more accurate question is “who reverences the Lord?”  If you have a sincere reverence (respect, adore, follow, be in awe of) for the Lord, He promises that He will guide you to make right decisions every step of your life.  I think about my life and while I have lived a wonderful life with a wonderful family and great career, I still wish that I had been a believer when I was in high school so that I might have been aware of a verse like this and had the Lord involved in my education and early career decisions.  Nevertheless, I do believe that once I gave my life to Christ, I have feared the Lord and because of this He has not allowed me ever to make a wrong major decision.  That’s how powerful this verse is for those who choose to believe it.

The person who reverences the Lord will find his/her soul abiding in prosperity and his/her children and grandchildren also being prosperous.  Prosperity might mean riches, but not necessarily materialistic riches.  Prosperity in the Bible simply means having all your basic needs met—health, food, shelter, protection, peace, happy living, and so forth.  The word for prosperity here means simply to live a good life.  It does not mean a quick way to get rich as some prosperity gospel preachers claim.  Such prosperity teaching appeals to the flesh and not to the spirit and it is false.

When you reverence the Lord, you will know His secret and His covenant.  What’s this about?  Oswald Chambers says that you can tell who truly is your friend by being able to tell him/her your secret joys.  Anyone can hear your secret sorrows but only those closest to you will hear your secret joys.  So it is with God.  He only provides His secret joys to those who are in an intimate relationship with Him.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:25 that God hides His will from those who think themselves wise and intelligent and reveals His will to those who trust in Him.  Jesus also told His followers that He spoke in parables so that those unwilling to believe in and follow Him would not understand the meaning of these stories (e.g. Matthew 13:10-13).

To know God’s covenant is to be His child, to be part of the body of Christ (the church) and to be in communion with Him (e.g. Matthew 26:26-28, John 1:12, Romans 8:16, Galatians 3:29, James 2:25).  You know His salvation, His forgiveness, His teachings, and His will. Thus, if and when you choose to fear, that is, to reverence and respect who God is, who Jesus is, who the Holy Spirit is, you will receive innumerable benefits, among them guidance for making right choices, living in prosperity, and being in a covenant relationship with the Lord.  Can you claim these promises today?  If so, you already know how blessed you are.  If not, you still have hope by choosing to commit the rest of your life to reverence the Lord.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” -- Proverbs 1:7 

“Where there is fear of the Lord to keep the house, the enemy can find no way to enter”. –-

Francis of Assisi