Thankfulness

Jesus is NOT a know-it-all!

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Lifting up His eyes then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” John 6:5 ESV

Last Friday, God changed my notes, and substituted a short message about how Jesus sometimes spent more time asking questions than He did providing answers. In short, Jesus, unlike myself, was NOT a know-it-all. He rarely gave long lectures, and instead, Jesus often asked questions, and then took a breath to listen to the answers. In today’s verse, when the disciples were feeling stressed about how to feed the people, Jesus did not say, “Hey chill out guys. I have a miracle up my sleeve that will knock your socks off!”  

Instead, Jesus turned to the closest disciple and more or less asked, “Hey what do you think we should do?” Jesus was not in a hurry to show off His knowledge, and He asked questions, even when He knew the answers. Why would He do that? The next verse tells us that He asked in order to test Philip. Now, there were at least five thousand hungry men, including the disciples, and though Jesus was concerned for their welfare, He was more interested in their hearts than their hunger. Then Jesus asked a second question,

“And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Mark 6:38

Strangely, when Jesus asks us questions, His next step is often to invite us to surrender whatever we have towards the answer. In this story, the disciples had only five loaves and two fish. Yet, despite of the absurdity of that tiny meal, they brought it to Jesus. Then Jesus gave thanks. He was grateful for the loaves and fish that looked insignificant to everyone else. Then, last, and most amazing of all is what happened next. Jesus gave them back everything they had surrendered, but with a blessing! And today, just like then, Jesus asks us questions, He patiently listens to our answers, welcomes what we give Him, and then, with a blessing He gives us back everything we surrender to Him!

A Thanksgiving Prayer

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One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. Psalm 145:4 KJV

O Father, I seek you this morning with a heart filled with memories of your love and faithfulness to our family through the years. You have blessed us, helped us, forgiven often, given comfort in sorrows, and through everything we have lived through You have given us hope.

So, on this day, which is set aside for giving thanks, we pray that you would show your great love and faithfulness again, especially to the next generation. May they accomplish more for You, trust you more deeply when facing their own challenges, oppositions and trials, and love you more unselfishly than we have, so that they will show your love and grace to a world growing darker and more hopeless every year.

Fill our hearts, not only our tables, teach us to humbly listen to your voice above all voices and look for your face among all the faces, because You are our only hope and the God of our Salvation. Thank you, Father, that You have brought us this far, kept us in spite of how often we have messed up, failed You and forgotten Your goodness. So, now we come to praise, You, and ask for Your strength to show Your wonderful love, power and kindness to the next generation. And we ask this all in the name of our Great Savior Jesus Christ our Lord and give You thanks with all of our heart, our mind and strength!

We Gather Together

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 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name! Psalm 100:4 KJV

Thanksgiving is one of the few days of the year when we in the United States gather with our family members, some of whom we may not have seen since the previous year. In our case we are heading to our son’s place in Texas soon, with another son coming with a grandson down from PA to join in. Our thankfulness may not resemble much the original feast held by the Pilgrims in Massachusetts in 1621, nevertheless we are genuinely grateful to have an opportunity to break from our busy schedules and recall God’s goodness through both our hardships as well as victories. God has been gracious, patient and kind, even when we were not. He has taught us more of forgiveness and continues to work in our hearts as we seek His will. A few weeks ago, during a senior’s luncheon, the pastor asked what everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving hymn was. Many replied, “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, while I like some of the more modern songs on Thankfulness, but my wife surprised us all when she brought up, “We Gather Together.” Now, I actually always loved that older hymn, but had nearly forgotten its words as we probably had not sung it in church in nearly forty years. So, I opened up my old hymn book, and began practicing it, and introduced it into our song selection last week at the Life Care Center, Friday service. I do hope you will enjoy our simple rendition. Here on my third attempt, I actually made it all the way through without missing any of the lyrics! Have a blessed week everyone and think of ways you may gather to give thanks to the Lord. He always welcomes those who come into His gates with Thanksgiving!