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About The Episode:
- The significance of sacred spaces when approaching His presence
- How to build your relationship with God through gratitude and generosity
- Why giving brings God joy and how it blesses us in return
- How the power of prayer can foster unity within the body of Christ
This chapter explores the importance of gratitude and expressing thanks and giving. We discuss the privilege of having access to God’s Word and the endless lessons it can teach us. We also touch on the power of the Holy Spirit and the need for self-reflection to make positive changes in our lives. Emphasizing the significance of having a thankful heart, not just during the holiday season, but throughout the year, we define “thanks” as an expression of gratitude that involves thought and intention. Overall, this chapter encourages listeners to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving and be mindful of the blessings in their lives.
(0:07:58) – The Power of Gratitude and Praise (10 Minutes)
This chapter explores the topic of gratitude and the act of giving thanks. We discuss the meaning of gratitude and how it is shown through appreciation and acknowledgement of kindness. We also explore the concept of entering through a gate, symbolizing access to something special, and how Jesus is the gate to salvation. We emphasize the importance of being grateful for the blessings and freedoms we have, such as the ability to worship freely, and how this should inspire us to praise and thank God. We also touch on the fact that not everyone has this privilege and how we should not take it for granted. Overall, this chapter highlights the importance of gratitude and giving thanks in our lives.
(0:17:33) – God’s Presence and Gratitude (10 Minutes)
This chapter explores the courts as a sanctuary and altar, where the divine presence of God resides. We discuss the constant presence of the Holy Spirit and the importance of gratitude for His companionship. Living a holy life is emphasized, as we are now the temple of the Holy Ghost. Drawing parallels between entering the courts of God and a court of law, we highlight the need for proper protocol and understanding the cost of access to God’s presence. Regardless of status or pedigree, even royalty must adhere to protocol when approaching God. We conclude by reminding listeners of the privilege and honor it is to be invited into the presence of the King of Kings.
(0:27:51) – The Concept of Sacrifice in Giving (9 Minutes)
This chapter explores the topic of giving and sacrifice, as defined by the Strong’s dictionary. We discuss how giving is a sacrifice, and how we may make sacrifices in our daily lives for loved ones and others. However, we emphasize that the greatest sacrifice of all was made by Jesus, who gave his life for us. We also touch on the importance of thinking eternally and understanding the sacrifice that was made for us. We introduce a new book entitled “You Don’t Need Money, You Just Need God,” which offers practical ways to experience miraculous provision. The conversation also explores the concept of sacrifice as a group, rather than just individually, and we express our concern for how the actions of some may reflect on the name of God. We conclude by reminding listeners of the value of being a part of the body of Christ and the weight of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
(0:36:51) – The Importance of Gratitude and Generosity (14 Minutes)
This chapter explores the concept of thanksgiving and why it is expected from us by God. We discuss how thanksgiving is not asked for because God needs it, but because we need it. We delve into the idea that having a thankful spirit is the opposite of self-pity, which ultimately robs both us and God of what is due. Additionally, we touch on the importance of generosity and how it leads to gratitude towards God. We emphasize the need to examine our thoughts and feelings in order to identify and overcome self-pity. Lastly, we are reminded that offering our lives as a living sacrifice is our reasonable service to God.
(0:50:30) – Gratitude and Generosity (14 Minutes)
This chapter explores the interconnectedness of gratitude and generosity and their relationship with God. We begin by emphasizing the importance of giving thanks to God and recognizing His goodness, even in difficult times. The story of Job is highlighted to illustrate how God’s righteousness was ultimately revealed to him despite his suffering. We also discuss the negative effects of bitterness, regret, loneliness, and pride, which are the opposite of generosity. Moving on, we delve into the significance of understanding and being grateful for what Christ has done for us, and how this should inspire us to live generously towards others. The example of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall is used to illustrate the power of gratitude and its ability to bring joy and strength. We conclude with a reminder to always have a heart of gratitude, even in the midst of trials, and to share our blessings with those in need.
(1:04:31) – Cultivating Generosity and Intercession (1 Minutes)
This chapter focuses on the importance of being grateful and generous, especially during the Thanksgiving season. We explore how being thankful and giving to others can bring joy to God’s heart and bless us in return. We discuss the power of prayer and intercession for the body of Christ, and how it can bring unity and care for one another. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us remember to be givers and carry each other’s burdens, showing our gratitude to God through our actions.
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Full Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.
00:00 – Jaime Luce (Host)
We’re talking about gratitude. We’re talking about being able to have access into a gate. Why? Why do we want access into this gate? Because we are instructed to come into his in the gate, into his courts, with Thanksgiving in praise. I’m getting to a why here. Why is this something we need to do? What does that mean for us? What does it have to do with Thanksgiving? Up until Jesus came, we were kept out. If we are to look at our Christian life, the blessings that come with knowing Jesus Christ, the change that has taken place I spoke a moment ago about, maybe you have received something that you shouldn’t have been able to receive. I’m a Gentile, I’m not a Jew, but it was God’s mercy and His love that has allowed me, because of Jesus, who is the gate, to come in and partake of that thing.
01:03
Welcome to the Jamie Lewis podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. If you are seeing this in real time, when it was actually filmed, this is Thanksgiving. I wanted to take a special opportunity to first of all thank you as the listeners of this podcast. You’re the reason why I do it. I don’t do it for myself. I have a wonderful time of study that I do, but I just felt compelled that there are those who are looking for the same thing and who would enjoy being able to have somebody help them study the Word of God. That’s what I have ventured to do. I’m just grateful for you. I’m grateful for all that you mean to the Lord. He cares so much about you.
01:51
We’re going to talk a little bit about that today. I am going to talk about Thanksgiving. It may not be exactly what you’ve heard before, but I am going to talk about that today. I would just ask you to join me with a heart of Thanksgiving to hear the Word of God. It is a treasure. It is our gosh. It’s not even we shouldn’t be able to have what we have. The Lord has so graciously given us His Word. It is our oh.
02:27
What’s the Word I’m looking for? It is our great privilege to have God’s Word that, no matter what we’re going through in life up or down, thick or thin, whatever our circumstance, rich or poor we have the Word, and the Word makes us rich. The Word strengthens us. The Word empowers us, helps us to know what we should do, when we should do it, how we should do it, why we should do it. We are just blessed to have the Word of God, so we should be thankful in our hearts that we have the very opportunity and the very privilege to be even able to study the Word.
03:10
We don’t live in the age when only a very select few had the Word and you had to trust that what you were being told was what God said, but we have the absolute ability to open up our own Bible, to look at the Word of God and to decide in our hearts Lord, what are you speaking to me through this Word? And the more time you spend in it, the more time you realize that there’s so much more to learn, so much that you don’t know. It is forever teaching us. It is endless what we can learn. We will spend all of eternity finding out who this God is that we love so much, who gave everything for us.
03:53
And I’m going to be reading you several passages of Scripture today, so you may want to do like I always say and get out something to write with and take some notes. But I want us to have thankful hearts, and there’s a very good reason why, and over the last several episodes you’ve heard us talking about the Holy Spirit and the power that is available to us by walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, and sometimes we don’t know why we do what we do. It takes some searching, it takes some revelation, it takes the Holy Spirit stirring up some things in our hearts to help us to understand why we’re in the position we’re in. It’s really good for us as human beings, it’s good for our minds, it’s good for our bodies, it’s good for our life to examine and to see. Maybe there’s a reason why I’m in this particular circumstance, maybe there’s something I can do to change it.
04:55
Not everything that we face is an outward attack. I know we like to sling around saying that it’s always the devil’s fault and that’s not the truth. So many times. We are living our decisions, we are living our choices and it’s up to us to make some differences and we can have a really wonderful Thanksgiving. Not just a meal, not just though that’s wonderful and we should do that, and not just a season, not just a Christmas season or a holiday season or time that maybe is spent with family, that isn’t normally spent with family. Whatever the case may be, we can have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I would venture to say that this is actually a really great message for the new year as well, because we need to be those who have counted and numbered our days and recognize that there are things that we need to be doing. There are attitudes we need to have, there are positions we need to take, there are things we need to lay hold of, there are things that we need to let go of, and the sooner that we get going doing that, the better off we are. And so, anyway, let’s go ahead and dive in.
06:13
I wanted to start with just the natural word Thanksgiving. The word Thanksgiving is two words put together thanks and giving the word thanks. If you just look up, the word thanks means an expression of gratitude. So that’s twofold I am actually expressing something, I’m actually speaking something out of my mouth, and the other part is that it is very particular what I am saying. I am speaking gratitude, I am speaking things that I am grateful for. So that means there has been some thought put into this process. It’s not just off the cuff or right off the tip of your tongue, though it may be. You might just offer a quick thank you about something, but when you take the understanding that it is expressing real gratitude, not just simply someone hands me something that I was reaching for. Oh, thank you. It goes much deeper than that. Gratitude says I am truly grateful for something, and it recognizes and pinpoints and focuses on something very particular, something that has been examined. If I examine something and I’m truly looking at it, I am more able to be grateful. The longer you look at something and the more detail that you see in something, the more you have to be grateful for. So keep that in mind as we continue on. I’ll give you giving in a moment, but I want to stay on thanks.
07:57
It is grateful acknowledgement of something received by or done for someone, usually for yourself To be grateful, if you even didn’t understand the word gratitude and the word grateful. The word grateful means feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness. So I am appreciating, I am acknowledging that maybe something didn’t need to get done for me, maybe something shouldn’t have been done for me and yet it was. Maybe something is pointing out to me that somebody else did something that cost them something. So now I appreciate that Maybe someone did something for me that has now so affected me that now I don’t have to do that thing, and I so appreciate that. Have you ever been working on a project at work and you’ve got a pile high things that needs to get done and someone comes by and says, hey, how’s it going? And you say, oh, it’s just so busy, I’ve got so much to do. And they offer to take something off your plate and it’s just oh, thanks for doing that. Or a spouse who says, no, I’ll stop at the store for you and pick that up. One less thing you have to worry about when somebody does something for you that you should have had to do. That produces gratitude. So I want you to be thinking about all these possibilities of gratitude and giving thanks.
09:37
Psalm 100, verse four, says enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. I want to dissect this a little bit. For you, a gate means that you’ve been given access to what is behind the gates. At the front of my home I have a gate and you don’t get to just walk right up to the front door. You have to come through the gate. If you live in a private community, there will be a gate that you have to be able to access. You have to have permission to get through that gate in order to gain access. Not everybody has that access.
10:23
In scripture we know that so many times there were shepherds and sheep and the sheep were kept in the fold and there was a gate and we’ll talk about that in just a minute because Jesus talks about that. But I want us to look at the Old Testament. Solomon’s temple had a porch, or the court of the Gentiles. This court of the Gentiles was on the outside of the gate. The Gentiles did not have access inside the gate. Let’s look at, and there was. As far as we can tell, this lasted until Jesus. So that’s important.
11:09
But let’s look at John, chapter 10. I’m going to read verses 7 through 9. Am I or am I only reading you part of that? I think I’m reading you verse 7. Sorry, I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out”. So that’s verse 7, but 7 through 9 is Jesus explaining that we are the sheep of His full, he is our shepherd, and that those before Him who went in and out of that gate and shouldn’t have were robbers and thieves. But we know His voice and we are able to. He goes in and out and we follow Him in and out of that gate. I point this out, to say this there was a time.
12:01
We’re talking about gratitude, we’re talking about being able to have access into a gate. Why? Why do we want access into this gate? Because we are instructed to come into His, in the gate, into His courts, with thanksgiving and praise. I’m getting to a why here. Why is this something we need to do? What does that mean for us? What does it have to do with thanksgiving? Up until Jesus came, we were kept out. If we are to look at our Christian life, the blessings that come with knowing Jesus Christ, the change that has taken place I spoke a moment ago about, maybe you have received something that you shouldn’t have been able to receive. I’m a Gentile, I’m not a Jew. I received something by Jesus that I should never have been allowed to partake in, but it was God’s mercy and His love that has allowed me, because of Jesus, who is the gate, to come in and partake of that thing. That should stir in my heart. Thanksgiving. That should stir up in my heart gratitude.
13:16
We take for granted so much that we have been afforded salvation. We live in this Western culture and there are there’s a religion for every thought. It’s just like it was in the Old Testament Instead of having a carved idol, instead of having a carved piece of wood or something that I am literally bowing to. And there are religions who still do that, who carve images and bow and make sacrifices and pray to those images. But we’re so used to so many different possibilities and in America, the thought is you have the freedom to worship whatever, whoever, however, you want, and we cherish that freedom. That freedom is what allowed us.
14:01
Why we broke free and came to America was so that we had the right to serve our God, the way that Scripture taught us and compelled us to serve Him, the way that he instructed us to serve Him. So we’re grateful for that, we’re very grateful for that, and so, in that gratitude of how to praise Him, how to thank, how to be grateful to Him, he’s given us instruction and our mindset has to remain that we are grateful for the opportunity, that I should be grateful that I am able to attend the, the church of my choice, that I get to look at Scripture and I have the ability to say, wow, this is teaching me that I need to do this or do that, or go here or go there, or stop doing this and stop doing that and don’t go here and don’t go there, and I’m able to find a house of worship who has read the Scripture, like I have, and has enabled me to come and worship Him in the way that the Word instructs. That’s a blessing. There are there are countries and nations who do not allow you that privilege. You are told who to worship and how to worship. You are not given the ability to choose to worship the one who came and sacrificed everything for you, the one who created you, the one who causes the sun to rise and the sun to set every day. We have that ability, but because we have been afforded in America the ability to do whatever. However, whenever we have lost a sense of true gratitude that we have been offered and afforded the ability to come and worship the Lord in truth, with our whole heart, he says they will worship me in spirit and in truth and we have been afforded that ability without hindrance. Now there are those who are wanting to strip that away, who mock what we do, who mock who we serve. But we are still able to serve our God. I’m able to worship Him, I’m able to give Him thanks, I’m able to raise my hands, I’m able to pray, I’m able to open my mouth and speak freely. And as long as we have that opportunity, we need to recognize what we have been given, that we should be grateful not only for the country that we are in that allows us that privilege, but that privilege may not always be there. If we do not, even if we are not grateful for this right, we can lose this right. We will lose this right. Gratitude is powerful. Gratitude causes a right sense of thinking, a right way of understanding. Without gratitude, you won’t think right, you won’t feel right, you won’t act right, you won’t take the necessary steps to maintain what you have. If you’re not grateful, you will lose what you have. It’s so important for us to have a right heart, a right mindset about gratitude.
17:14
The courts let’s talk about the courts. I talked about the gate. Let’s talk about the courts. Why would you enter courts with praise? There were inner and outer courts. Psalm 8410 says better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.
17:33
The courts were the sanctuary and the altar. It was called the camp of the divine presence. Folks, I don’t know if you understand this or not, but when you came to Christ, it was the very presence of God that drew you. You have the Holy Spirit, god’s actual spirit, his presence when Jesus came to earth. He is Emmanuel, god with us. His presence. The reason that we have the Holy Spirit was because when Jesus ascended, he said I’m not leaving you alone. He didn’t want you to think he was leaving you. He said I will never leave you. That’s presence, I will never forsake you, meaning I will always pay attention to what’s going on in your life. I will never turn a deaf ear to you. I will not forsake you. I won’t change my mind about my love for you. The gift of the Holy Spirit is His presence and when you came to Christ, it was His presence, his valuable presence. We have to be so grateful for His presence.
18:45
You know I’ve mentioned this before about one of the books that I read that most impacted my life truly, that I have never forgotten. It has truly changed my life, impacted my life was a book by RT Kendall called the Sensitivity of the Holy Spirit, and he used the illustration of a dove and how sensitive that dove is and that dove could just fly away. And I was reminded of that this morning when I was doing my daily devotional time and I came across a scripture that it might seem a little crass. Maybe I’ll read it to you. A little crass and a little, maybe. I you know you might think why would you read that? Why would you pick that verse and read that? But it’s this.
19:31
And it’s when Moses, in Deuteronomy 23, is giving his final explanation of reiterating all the law before he is going to die. And he’s explaining all the law to them. And in this particular section he’s talking about the uncleanness in the camp, and he’s actually reading about it when someone has to use the restroom. Okay. So I want you to hear this. And it says you shall have a place outside the camp and you shall go out to it and you shall have a trowel with your tools and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement. I know that’s gross, because and he tells you why this is important the Lord, your God, walks in the midst of your camp.
20:28
This is the presence of God. The Lord, your God, walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore, your camp must be holy so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you. Though the Lord never leaves us nor forsakes us, he calls us to holiness. He calls us to live a life of righteousness. Why? Because he’s among us. He’s holy. He’s among us. He walks among where we live, where we go. Are you going places? But the Holy Spirit would then turn and have to turn his face and not look because it’s indecent. Where are we taking the Holy Spirit? What are we doing with the holiness of the Lord? Are we caring about the environment that we’re taking him into? I am now the temple. I talked about the temple in the Old Testament, but we now are the temple of the Holy Ghost and he goes where we go. Are we caring for the temple? Are we careful about what is decent and indecent? Are we grateful that we can carry his presence with us? Are you grateful for what he has afforded you that you did not deserve? I’m getting a little ahead of myself.
22:03
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. The courts were the sanctuary and the altar. Like I said, it was called the camp of the divine presence. Why would we need to enter that presence and enter into that court with praise. I liked thinking about just the natural form of thinking about courts, because when you came in to court if you go into court you’re looking for justice, you’re looking for a just judge to hear you and we know that we have the most just judge it says will not the judge of all the earth do right? And we bring our our complaints and we bring our troubles and we bring our circumstances to the Lord. That’s just in the natural in courts. But these courts were where you brought your sacrifice. Praise is verbal thanksgiving which acknowledges that it was only by the blood that you could be forgiven. They were coming into the altar in these courts. Only by the blood could you be forgiven and enter or have access to the presence of God. They had to bring a sacrifice. They understood the cost. Do you today understand the cost? Is God being demanding and egocentric when expecting us to behave a certain way to gain access to him? Of course not.
23:44
You know, it’s even surprising to me to think and I was thinking of this in a way that you could understand it, even in the natural if you were invited to come and to speak to or stand before King Charles in England. You would have to be schooled on proper protocol. It would not only be a a great privilege and an honor to come before a king to be invited. Just the invitation itself would be such an honor that we probably don’t deserve. But even if we did and had some reason that they felt we were worthy to come into their presence, we would have to be schooled on the proper protocol, on how you enter even the room, how you stand, how you are to bow or curtsy and when you never turn your back you exit facing. You have to be schooled on what is proper protocol, on how to even approach and be in the presence of royalty. That’s in the natural. Folks. Our God is King of Kings. Kings have to come with protocol before this King, regardless of whatever royalty they may have, whatever pedigree they may have, whatever right they think that they may have in the natural.
25:20
If we look at it in terms of Christianity, paul said I was a Jew of Jews, I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. I followed all the law. I mean he had all the pedigree here and he’s saying it was dung. The presence of God would not be able to pass through my camp. It was dung, folks, our righteousness is as filthy rags. We did not deserve the love that was shown us. We did not deserve the sacrifice that was made so we could enter into those courts. That demands our praise. That demands a grateful heart.
26:01
Where would you be today? Where would you be, even if you could think up your circumstance? I know none of us could know the depths that we have been saved out of. We have been saved from hell itself Eternal damnation, eternal suffering, eternal regret. We have been saved, we have been forgiven, like the parable of the King who forgave the man his debt. He could never have paid that back, though he worked to try to do it. He could never have done it and in that not being able to do it, he was spared not only the cost and the time and the suffering, but he was not jailed, he was not punished. You have been saved from all punishment that you rightly deserved. Me too, me too, me too.
27:07
How grateful should we be? What should the gratitude be expressed from our own lips be? What are the actions we should be taking and the lives we should be living that say I care enough to keep my camp clean, I care enough about what God has done for me and I don’t take it for granted. I am so grateful for what has been done for me and the price that has been paid for me, the sacrifice that was made. Are you grateful today? The Strong’s defines because I want to touch on that’s thanks, that’s gratitude.
27:50
Let’s talk about giving. The Strong’s defines Thanksgiving first by the word sacrifice, sacrifice. That giving is sacrifice, and you may be making sacrifices every day for a spouse, for children at work, of your time, for family and friends. But regardless of whatever price we have paid, whatever sacrifices we have made or continue to make, there was no greater sacrifice than the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and giving his life for us, the Father giving his son, his flawless son, his precious son, in whom he was well pleased, for a sinful people who may or may not accept him, who may completely reject him. That is sacrifice, and no sacrifice that I make matters in eternity. What matters is that I received the sacrifice that was made for me. Now, of course, if I’m making sacrifice by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, if I am making that sacrifice as a Christian, as one who has been saved and accepted that sacrifice, then those sacrifices matter in eternity, but without Christ, not one of them matters. Not one, not one. And you may have made great sacrifice, but if you are without Jesus, there is not one sacrifice that you have made that will matter. We must be those who are thinking eternally, who understand the price that was paid for us, who do not take it for granted, who know what God has given in my place.
29:49
Hi, my name is Jamie Luce. I wanted to share with you some information about a brand new book entitled you Don’t Need Money, you Just Need God. It’s a playbook for miraculous provision, and I want to share it with you because it solves the problem we are all facing right now. The economy is going crazy, gas prices are soaring, there’s wars and rumors of wars. We’ve got everything hitting us all at once, with interest rates rising. You need to know what to do, and so many times we think we need the money, but you don’t need money. I’m telling you the answer is you need God, and that’s exactly what we want to teach you through this book. We’ll give you practical ways to know what to do and how to do it, so that you get answers now. You can find my book on Amazon. You can also go to jamuelucecom. You can also find this book at. You Don’t Need Money, you Just Need Godcom. This book is available today. A sacrifice is giving something that costs you.
30:54
Now, of course, we know that Jesus gave everything and sadly, it is almost cliche. I am ashamed when I think of how we as a people and you know I want to interject this just for a moment I have been thinking on this for the last several days and it is truly becoming alive and real to me. And we in America love individuality, we love our individual freedoms and we stand for ourselves, and we have lost what has been meant through all the Old Testament to teach us something. And if you look at the people of Israel, they were always spoken to by God as a group. Very few were spoken to individually. God spoke to Moses individually, to Abraham individually to Jacob. He spoke to our fathers individually to make a nation of them, but through Moses, he spoke to them as one, as one, and if one sinned, they were all to feel that they were all to recognize the sin they were all to. It wasn’t a matter of one man. It was one man and everybody who stood with him, anybody who didn’t stand in the way of stopping him anybody who. It was a whole. They were spoken to as one unit as a whole.
32:18
And I recently was on a zoom call with Dr Michael Brown for the fire school of ministry and he spoke about what was going on in Israel and I had watched several of his radio shows in regard to that and how it breaks his heart. He’s a Jew, he’s a Jew, but he is a Christian man and so he identifies with this whole group of people, though he’s here, and at the same time there is tragedy right now in what has happened with the accusations that have been brought against the minister, mike Bickel, and of course we want we want righteousness, we want to know all truth and we want to make righteous judgments. But in that meantime Dr Brown had spoke about his broken heart and he said these words and this truly impacted me and he cried and wept before the Lord and said we keep disappointing you, we keep messing up your name and and what is being thought of about your name? We keep putting a dark mark on who you are. And he said we, and he wept.
33:41
Do we in America have that mindset, folks, or do we just think, oh, I’m good? Do we not carry, like Moses did, the the weight of a people. He was a great intercessor. We could do a huge study. I’ve thought about actually talking about that, that true intercession. The picture of Moses as an intercessor is great and and they would, as a people, do wrong. Not every single person was breaking every law, but as a people, they all suffered together, they were blessed together, they took a land together, they took territory together.
34:18
You attend a church because you want to be a part of a body of Christ, who studies together, who worships together, who weeps together, who prays and gets healing together. We need to have that mindset. It’s important that we know the value that is placed on on being a part of what Jesus has done, and so Jesus gave everything. I want you to think about this and and I’m gonna take us back into this I went on my little side rant, I’m coming back but we now think of we’ve and I’m sure you’ve heard this he gave us all so that we could have what we have. He gave his all. He gave us everything. We’ve heard it so much.
35:01
Like I said, it has become cliche and it is a shame to us as a people. That’s my heart between what I just told you and now, because I felt that weight, that that we as a people should be ashamed of this that I’ve heard people say words like and they give this verbal assent, and yet they are actually empty and void of their lives, living the proof of what they’ve said. They say things like he gave everything for me, so I’m going to live for him, I’m giving him my all, and yet all that means is is that I’m attending a church service for one hour every week. There’s no guarantee that I am praying every day or reading my word, or that I have taking instruction from him, that I am spending precious time with him, hearing his heart and doing what he’s called me to do, that my life looks any different saved than it would look unsaved. Folks, I have been that person before. We have to repent of that. We’ve got to take seriously. Does my life truly give it’s all for the one who gave everything for me? All that people are it. We are. We’re fooling ourselves, we’re lying to ourselves. We’re telling ourselves oh, he gave me everything, I’m giving him my all, and we, we hear those words and we hear ourselves say it and we actually think that, just because we said it, that we’re doing it. There is a difference, folks, between what you say and what you do. Why do we tell kids don’t do what I do, do what I say, because the two are not matching up. Are we truly grateful for what he’s done? Are we living that life that says we’re grateful?
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Jesus said in Matthew 15 8 these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, aside from knowing this, why is it that God expects Thanksgiving? Why do you think he expected? Knowing he gave everything, knowing he gave his son who paid the price? There’s nothing you could have done. He did it for you. You couldn’t have done it anyway. He did it for you. That alone should be reason enough. But why there’s more? It’s not just because he thinks you should be grateful. So I’m expecting gratitude from you. That is that. That is not the only reason why there. There is a very unselfish reason why a very un god motivated reason why meaning it doesn’t attribute to God. It’s not. It does in the end, but he’s not doing it for himself. He doesn’t need anything. God does not need your Thanksgiving. He’s not asking you to give him thanks because he needs your thanks. He’s telling you to be grateful and thankful, because you need it. You need it, child of God. Let me explain why.
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Paul said in Colossians 3 15 let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since, as members of one body, which we talked about, you were called to peace and be thankful. So we have Paul giving an instruction. This isn’t. This is the revelation that Paul is teaching that he has received from Christ and we’re gonna go deeper and deeper into this but he says let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. So there’s a ruling of a heart. Since you’re members of one body, you are to remember, in the way that you act, that you are a part of the body of Christ and you were called to peace. So there’s a ruling of our hearts and there is peace that we are to make sure rules. And he adds this line and be thankful. Okay, so let’s take that and start digging in there.
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Go to Colossians 4 2. Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. So there it is again. This time he’s talking about prayer. So I’m offering prayers to the Lord and he’s telling me to be watchful and thankful. So I’m praying, but I am to be watching and I am to be thankful.
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Okay, well, now let’s go to 2nd Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 11. That says you will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and, through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. So, okay, I’m gonna try to tie all these together. There’s a running theme here that, regardless of what you’re doing, you, as the body of Christ, in your endeavor to live peacefully, in your endeavor to in prayer, to be watchful and waiting to see what God would do or say in your Christian walk, he continues to add be thankful. And now I love this because in this verse that we just read, he’s talking about both thanksgiving, but he’s doing it mentioning thanks, being thankful, thanksgiving and in the same scripture, he is talking about generosity, giving. So I’m gonna read it again you will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us, your generosity will result. So there, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. So I want to talk about this.
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God doesn’t ask for thanksgiving and your generosity because he needs it. I know I already said that, but you need to understand. He’s trying to imply and impart to you a truth for your life. Paul is trying to teach this because this has been imparted to him. He’s explaining the, the whole process of what takes place in thanksgiving to God. He does this again, I said because you need it. So the opposite. Let’s look at this because there’s generosity and thanksgiving going on here. If we sometimes to know something, it’s to know what it’s not, or to to look at its opposite. So let’s do that.
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The opposite of a thankful spirit is a heart full of self pity, and I know I talk about self pity a lot and it’s because it is so damning to the Christian life. It is so. It is so the rot. It rots you from within. Self pity will rob you in every way, shape and form.
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It doesn’t matter if you feel that everyone else has more than you, that’s really just self pity clothed in comparison. Or thinking that what has, what belongs to you, someone else has and that you should have it. Well, that’s just self pity clothed in envy. And if you feel you were taking advantage of or stolen from and now someone else has it, well, that’s just self pity clothed in jealousy. I mean, no matter how we think about whatever circumstances are going on and we’re upset with what the circumstance has played out to be, in some form or fashion, it’s self pity. It may be clothed in something else and you really should dissect this in yourself. You really we need to be looking at ourselves and examining our thoughts and our feelings and getting past the initial feeling. Okay, because the initial feeling will often will stop right there and that initial feeling will only take us so far. But you need to go to the root. What is the root of that thing?
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Self pity is a trap and it’s a pit and you can fall into it so easily. It robs God as well. So I want you to see this not only robs you, this robs God and it robs him, because, if we look back at that verse, we’re robbing God of what’s due him. Let’s read the verse again you will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and, through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. So what is he saying? Let’s back this up with Romans 12 1. Okay, romans 12 1.
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So self pity will rob God of thanks due to him, which is your reasonable service. According to Romans 12 1, which says that we are to offer our lives as a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. A reasonable service means it’s just the base, that’s just what’s reasonable, that’s not even us going above and beyond. It’s just reasonable that the God, like I said, who, who gave us his everything, who gave everything to us it’s only reasonable that my entire life be in service to him, my entire life. Okay, this is the generosity that Paul’s talking about.
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On every occasion, every place that you have opportunity to be generous, you should be generous because it produces something. It doesn’t just produce a grateful person who’s on the receiving end. That person then gives thanks to God, so God is praised by your generosity. That’s why Paul said through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God, so God receives the thanks. The person on the end of the receiving of that generosity is grateful. In their gratitude, they are worshiping and giving thanks. Most likely, they are giving you thanks and you being able to give, being so blessed that you are able to be generous. Now I want to make a side note here, because I experienced something many, many years ago that I will never forget, because we like to say and this is what self pity will do self pity will tell you that you have nothing to be generous with and it will rob you of the opportunity to both give and be grateful and to also have your generosity produce thanksgiving to God as a family.
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When I was about 14, 15 years old, something like that my family wanted to bless a family who was in need and we were told about a particular family who lived in the town that we lived in and we wanted to bring gifts to that family so that for Christmas they would have gifts. And when we arrived, it was a housing, low income housing that they were living in and this precious girl was a single mother and she it so moves me even to remember it this day she lived in this little apartment and yet it was so clean and taken care of, very well taken care of, and she offered us. She had made cookies and she had offered us food and drink while we were there and inside. I have to tell you I did not want to take it. I didn’t want to take her generosity because I felt like I’m taking and you have so little. I wanted to come and give to you and yet she was giving to us and I didn’t want to dishonor her and give her the opportunity to be blessed by her giving, so I received, even though we were there to give.
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And folks, it is a lie of the enemy that will tell you that you cannot give, and it is a trick of the enemy and it is greediness and it is selfishness and it is not righteous before God. It is not gratitude and it is not generosity to think well, when God blesses me, then I’ll bless. When God finally gives me my promised land and I have all this extra money, boy, am I gonna give bologna? If you didn’t learn how to give when you had little, you’ll never give when you have much. You’ll never give when you have much. That’s a lie. You are fooling yourself.
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Generosity begins with whatever you have when you have it. Generosity could mean that you open your door to someone who’s cold outside. It could be a hug when someone is hurting. It could be sitting and listening to somebody tell you what they’re going through and praying with them and interceding for them on their behalf. Generosity isn’t always money, but when Paul was talking about this, he was talking about receiving offerings. He was talking about if you attend a church body and you do not give, you are not generous to that church body. What makes you think that you should receive anything. What makes you think that you have a voice to say what should be said or done, or goes on in that place? You, you, you don’t.
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If you’re not giving, why do you expect to reap where you have not sown? Folks, it is a biblical law. God has made it an earthly, natural law. You can’t reap from the ground without sowing. You cannot expect to be somebody who reaps if you do not. So we are to be generous on every occasion, every occasion, not just because we will reap the benefits, because we will. We’re taught that, because that is what will produce for us. God tells you to give and be generous because he wants you to be overflowing with bounty, that you can be a blessing, that you are blessed to be a blessing.
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Let me find the scripture for you. Let’s go to Galatians 6. We’re and this is verses 7 through 9. Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked.
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A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction. Whoever sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. God wants you to experience his goodness and blessing, but that requires your participation. He has already paid the highest price and valued your life above his own. That alone, and the fact that he always is good, it really is enough. It really is enough to stop right now and just give him the thanks that is do him. We deserve nothing but the hell that was created for the devil. Because we were born in sin. We have no righteousness of ourselves. It is his righteousness, it is his cleansing and his blood that has made it possible for us. He has always good, always. He’s always been good to you, and if you’re going through something that you don’t understand and you can’t put your finger on why you’re having to deal with this or go with this, he is trustworthy and you can trust that. Even if you don’t get it, even if you don’t understand, he is still good. Look at the life of Job. The message of Job is clear.
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Job thought that he could go before God and say you’re treating me unjustly. I have done everything that I knew to do. That was right and to a certain extent, that part was true. That’s why God was bragging on him. But God was still not finished.
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The story of Job was not over. It didn’t make sense to those who were listening. It didn’t make sense to Job. They did what only they knew to do, and that was to judge based off of what he was going through and to say that it must be your fault. You’ve got to be sinning somewhere. There has to be something you’ve done. But the truth was it wasn’t anything that he had done and his story wasn’t over by the time it was finished.
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God showed his goodness to Job. God was good and he showed. This is what’s amazing. God never told Job In the end of the book what really took place and why it happened. God never explained himself, and yet he didn’t have to. When Job saw God immediately, the goodness and the righteousness of God, he knew immediately I am so wrong. I spoke about things I didn’t understand. I couldn’t even comprehend who you are, and he accepted that he was wrong just by the presence of God. Folks, we may not understand, but your story is not over yet. It doesn’t end like this. God did repay Job for all the trouble that he had been through. God was just for Job and he was blessed beyond measure. He was blessed beyond measure. Everyone likes to say double for your trouble. That almost doesn’t sound weighty enough. He was already the richest man. He was he. He was blessed beyond measure. He was blessed beyond measure.
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The opposite of generosity. I wrote this down because this made me laugh, but in myself and thinking this. But the opposite of generosity is the stuff that Christmas ghost stories are made of, and you know what I’m talking about. The opposite of general generosity is bitterness, regret, loneliness and pride. God gave first, teaching us how and why. He gave because he loved and his gift gave us gratitude because we didn’t deserve it. Do do you not give thanks or generously because you think others don’t deserve it? We didn’t deserve it, I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t deserve it.
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Even if we gave, it could have been because of what Christ Jesus did, that you could therefore deserve his goodness in order that you might give. All the praise and all the glory belongs to him and the proof that we understand what he’s done versus what he. What we deserve is how we live thankful and generously towards others. Without being thankful, we will only experience pain and misery. Like Scrooge it is to look at life without the light of the world in it. Without his light. It is dark and lonely and filled with pain, but a thankful heart sees hope and a future, because the light has come. Gratitude brings joy and Nehemiah tells us a great example of this. Go to Nehemiah. Chapter eight, verse 10 says go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
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The backstory of that scripture is that they had just completed rebuilding the wall. Folks in um, in Ezra. We get a little bit bigger picture of this wall being rebuilt and rebuilt and this meal that they’re about to have and I’m comparing this right now today to our Thanksgiving meal. They had to rebuild. There was destruction in their past and once it was rebuilt, they looked on it and began weeping because it became apparent to them of what they had had and lost. It exposed their own ignorance. It exposed their own um, their own disobedience. It exposed their own hearts and how they had allowed it to get to that point that destruction was able to happen. It meant that they had disobeyed God and because they disobeyed him, they were allowed. Then the enemy was allowed to come and destroy had they not done that, and it may not have been these exact people.
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This was after a time of exile, and these people had the mentality that I was speaking about earlier, that they understood, as a people of God, what had taken place, and Nehemiah, through their tears and through their recognition of all that they had come to. He instead wants them to have hearts of gratitude because they are coming back from their exile, they are coming back to their homeland, they are rebuilding and they are being prospered in the way and God had made it possible. He provided them with all that they needed and with leadership and ability, and kept the enemy from bringing more destruction on them while they rebuilt. Nehemiah said this because they had just finished rebuilding, and so I want you to look at where you have come from and what God has done for you, and be grateful for the rebuilding that has brought you to this place. We are to be thankful and to rejoice this Thanksgiving.
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You need to understand that, no matter what has gone before and happened before, you can still be grateful, and you should be and you could still be generous. Why, why does God want you to do that? Let’s read it again Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Go and be generous this Thanksgiving season. Joy is the muscle of God working in you. The joy of the Lord is your strength. It’s God’s joy over you. It’s God’s joy in you and what’s been done in you. It’s God’s joy that you are now generous and have learned and have accomplished and have come back into favor. I want you to think of the joy of the Lord, because the joy of the Lord is what strengthens you. It is your strength. They are the same. It is strength. It is God. It doesn’t produce strength. It is strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
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So if you feel weak today, if you feel beat down today, sit in Thanksgiving before the Lord with a heart of true gratitude, truly, get yourself a list. What does the old song say? Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God has done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done.
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Take the time truly to sit down and think about everything you are truly grateful for. Think about how you’re grateful for your family, for a spouse, for children, for their hearts toward you, for the sacrifices that have been made for you, for the heart and the right attitudes that have been shown to you, even when you didn’t deserve it. Begin writing down all the many ways that God has been good to you, where he’s rescued you, where he’s forgiven you, where he’s given to you when you didn’t deserve it. Be grateful and as that gratitude wells up in your heart, let the joy of the Lord be your strength. Let his joy overwhelm you, let his generosity burst forth from you and just see how what God wanted from you was actually for you. He wants you to rejoice, he wants you to have joy. He wants you to be happy. He wants you to be blessed. He wants you to live in abundance. He wants to be able to give to you and do for you all that he has promised you.
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But there is a part we play. We enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his holy name. Father, we just thank you for all that you have done for us. Truly, we owe everything that we are, everything we have, everything we are able to do on the blood of Jesus Christ that was sacrificed for us. Cause us to remember that it is our reasonable service to live a holy life, that you can walk amongst us, that you would be pleased with how we are walking before you and that, because of it, it is not because you are demanding and expecting from us something that is for you, but it was because you so loved that you gave. It is for us.
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Cause us to truly be givers, to care about the whole body of Christ, to care about your people, to be praying for not just ourselves but for others, to carry the burden and bear one another’s burdens. Make us true intercessors for your body, Father. We pray that you would receive joy in your heart, that, by the generosity that we show, thanksgiving would be made unto you, for you do deserve all of our thanks and all of our praise, and it is in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen, amen. Thank you so much for joining me today. I truly pray that you have a blessed thanksgiving, be a blessing, be grateful, be generous and see what God will do for you. Thanks for joining me today. We’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.
