EXTRAORDINARY THANKSGIVING Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6, 7 NKJV). Brothers and Sisters, we are called to a season of extraordinary thanksgiving this season in Jesus name. Extraordinary people thank God in extraordinary ways. As extraordinary people our thanksgiving has nothing to do with our situation in life.We leave God to take care of us. Our thanks is based on principle. The fact that we know that worrying about things will not make things any better. Committing them to The Lord and thanking God for our situation definitely will. A collection of sayings by several Christian and secular leaders illustrates this even further. “Be thankful for what you have; youll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you dont have, you will never, ever have enough” ― Oprah Winfrey “One of the main reasons that we lose our enthusiasm in life is because we become ungrateful..we let what was once a miracle become common to us. We get so accustomed to his goodness it becomes a routine..” ― Joel Osteen “Rest and be thankful.” ― William Wordsworth “Those blessings are sweetest that are won with prayer and worn with thanks.” ― Thomas Goodwin “We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer “Instead of thanking God for my two strong legs that are able to run and jump and climb, I whined about my thunder thighs and thick ankles. Instead of rejoicing that I have two capable arms that can lift and carry and balance my body, I complained about the flab that hung beneath them. I have been totally and unbelievably ungrateful for everything. Like a completely spoiled brat, I took my healthy body for granted. I criticized it and despised it. With crystal clarity, I know that I do not deserve the good health that God has mysteriously blessed me with. Not only have I been unappreciative of my body and its amazing working parts, I tortured it by overexercising, and I put my entire health at serious risk by starving myself. What on earth was wrong with me? As I watch these kids with their less-than-perfect bodies, I feel so thoroughly ashamed of myself. I mean, how could I have been so stupid and shallow and self-centered?” ― Melody Carlson, Faded Denim: Color meTrapped “Joy is thankfulness, and when we are joyful, that is the best expression of thanks we can offer the Lord, Who delivers us from sorrow and sin.” ― Thaddeus of Vitovnica A biblical situation that exemplifies this is found in Luke 9:10-17 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. (Luke 9:10-17 NIV). Another situation occurred in the book of Acts 27: Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. (Acts 27:33-35, 42, 43 NIV).
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 08:12:53 +0000
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