Giving thanks

Stopping in our Tracks

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments 
 And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.  Luke 17:16 ESV

On our recent trip, one morning, I noticed that, instead of being thankful, I was doing a lot of complaining. My bed was too hard, (but it was clean): the air conditioner was too loud (But it worked well), the breakfast served at the hotel was skimpy, (But someone had come in at 5 AM to prepare it for me). I asked God to forgive my ungrateful attitude and began recalling the many times when Jesus gave thanks. He thanked God, for the five loaves and two fish, before they were multiplied. He thanked God for always hearing His prayers before Lazarus was raised from the dead. Even on, “The night when He was betrayed,” Jesus took bread and gave thanks. So ashamed of my own petty griping, I wondered how I could become grateful like Him. But as asked for forgiveness, God began to show me that “Giving thanks” was not something He was asking me to feel, rather it was an action that He expected me to do.

God wants us to have the thankfulness of the man in today’s verse. This guy was nobody special. He was simply just one of ten lepers, who came to Jesus for healing. All ten of them looked to God for help. All of them, prayed, asking for mercy, all of them obeyed what Jesus told them to do, and all of them were joyful when they saw that they had been healed. But the Samaritan was unique because he stopped in his tracks and returned to give thanks. If we are to learn gratitude, we need to do the same. Instead of trying hard to work up a grateful feeling, we need to just stop in the tracks of our fussing and moaning, come back to Jesus, and simply give Him thanks!

Partnership

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

A Gospel Partnership

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5 ESV

When I think of people who have helped to shape history of the Christian church, the Apostle Paul comes right to the top of my list. But in first century Macedonia, no one had ever heard of Paul or for that matter of Christianity. On his first visit there, Paul went in response to a dream the Holy Spirit sent him while he and Silas were in Asia Minor. Though Paul did not question the dream’s origin, he had a difficult time letting go of the successful ministry they were having there in the region which now is modern day Turkey. Yet, in obedience to God’s call, Paul and Silas boarded a ship to make the crossing and once ashore headed directly for Phillipi. Maybe at first, Paul wondered why God had called him there. They found just a tiny group meeting for prayer at the riverbank in place of the meeting places overflowing with crowds that they had seen in Ephesus. Yet, from those humble beginnings, Paul discovered something new: that was partnership. He found in these humble friends, people who did not just come to see miracles, or to gain some spiritual gift. Instead, this small group was moved by Paul’s Gospel message and stayed to become his lifelong friends. Later as Paul went on his missionary journeys and later to prison in Rome, they sent people to help him and out of their meager resources sent offerings to him from that day until the end of his life.

Like those friends of Paul, you and I might not be gifted speakers or influential leaders in our church, but we can partner with others in the work which God has called them to do. We can pray for the situations they are facing, go out to serve side by side, or give financially. Though what we can do or how much we can give may not be a lot, what we can do matters to Jesus. Remember that five loaves of bread in His hands can supply more in the work of the gospel than a year’s wages in the hands of the world!

Counting Blessings

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:15 NLT

As I look around the room I see most of my friends seated in wheelchairs, though a few of the more active senior saints are still making their way to our meeting with a walker. But in spite of all the reasons they have to complain, it is amazing how few of them do. Instead, I hear laughter, when I tell them to get their calculators out, because we are getting ready to count our blessings. There are days when we all need to think about things to be grateful for instead of those we like to gripe about. I am thankful for this simple song by Johnson Oatman, which reminds me to do exactly that! I do hope you will enjoy our little song session and that whatever life holds for you at this moment, that God will help you to count your blessings. Some of those blessings might be in the past, maybe some even today, but for the child of God, we all have some huge future blessings to thank Him for, beginning with His forgiveness of our sins and the home He has promised us in Heaven! (Next door to Jesus according to Dottie Rambo!)