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1 Thes. 5:18 - "…in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." NASU
Tomorrow is the day that has been set aside for us to give thanks for all the blessings we have been given by God. I am sure we do not wait until this one day of the year to give thanks.
When people say to me they want the "Will of God" to be done in their lives I say to them be "thankful" and you will be doing the Will of God. They always get this strange look on their face and say, "I am thankful, but you know, I really want to do the Will of God." I tell them, according to the Apostle Paul, if you are "thankful" in everything you will be doing the Will of God.
Instead of me answering that question since I have never had one of my children die I quote a man who was familiar with the death of a child. In fact, he lost 10 children in one disastrous day. Job's wife even wanted him to curse God for what had happened to their family. Job 2:9-10 - Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. NASU Job had lost his 10 children, all his animals, his herds or in other words, his wealth, but Job's ATTITUDE guides his BEHAVIOR. He didn't sin by saying things that he would later regret. Job wasn't "thankful" for the death of his children or the loss of his wealth, but his attitude was he would accept good from God, and now that adversity had come into his life he would accept it as well. Many times in life we have to accept things that we don't like.
We must wait upon the Lord and in time once the pain has decreased some we will start to allow God to give us the answers to the trials we face. Job's attitude guided his behavior. The scripture says, "In all of this Job did not sin with his lips." In other words, he didn't curse God and ask to die.
If you do a little inspection of your life you will find you have more to give thanks for than you might realize. Develop an attitude of thankfulness and you will never regret it. Think About This: It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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1 Chron. 16:8-10 - Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
God had given this information to Moses 400+ years earlier and He had not changed His mind on how He wanted the Ark to be moved. The Ark of the Covenant was now moved back into Jerusalem and King David is one happy Israelite and so is God.
Two different Hebrew words are being used for "sing." The first word "sing" means to "extend the hands" as you are praising Him and the second-word "sing" means to "strike with the fingers." This would be done as you touch the strings of a musical instrument. One would celebrate in song with a musical instrument being played. In other words, some will be singing with outstretched arms while others are playing musical instruments. While you are singing to Him you would speak of all His wonders and to "Glory in His Name" means "to boast about God and His accomplishments" and your heart would be glad. I am sure we have all bragged about something our children or grandchildren have done in their life. With smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts, we let others know of their accomplishments. This is how Christians are to praise God with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts. We can't wait to inform others of God's deeds.
Sins can be forgiven because Jesus lived a perfect life and offered His blood to atone for our sins. Hallelujah! We have something to be thankful for this year and every year if we have given our lives to Christ. If you haven't given your life to Christ don't you believe it is about time? All you have to do is confess Christ to be your Lord and Savior (Rom.10:9) and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Be a Blessing in someone's life today. Think About These: Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. Even though we don't get all we want, we should be thankful we don't get what we deserve. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 1 Thes. 5:18 - "…in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." NASU
Tomorrow is the day that has been set aside for us to give thanks for all the blessings we have been given from God. I am sure we do not wait until this one day of the year to give thanks.
I have had people say to me for years they want the Will of God to be done in their lives. I would say to them be "thankful" and you will be doing the Will of God. They always got this strange look on their faces and would say, "Yeah, I am thankful but you know I really want to do the Will of God." I would always inform them according to the Apostle Paul if you will be "thankful" in everything you will be doing the Will of God.
Instead of me answering that question since I have never had one of my children die I quote a man who was familiar with the death of a child. He lost 10 children in one disastrous day. Job's wife even wanted him to curse God for what had just happened to their family. Job 2:9-10 - Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. NASU Job had just lost his 10 children, all his animals, or in other words, his wealth. But Job's ATTITUDE guides his BEHAVIOR. He doesn't sin by saying things that he would later regret. Job wasn't "thankful" for the death of his children and the loss of his wealth, but his attitude was he would accept good from God and now when adversity comes into his life he would accept it as well. Many times in life we have to accept things that we don't like.
We must wait upon the Lord and in time once the pain has decreased some we will start to allow God to give us the answers to the trials we faced. Job's attitude guides his behavior and it says, "In all of this Job did not sin with his lips." In other words, he didn't curse God and ask to die.
I want to do the Will of God and one way I can do His Will is by giving thanks. If you do a little inspection of your life you will find you have more to give thanks for then you might realize. Develop an attitude of Thankfulness and you will never regret it. Think On This: It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart. Many times we don't get all we want, but we should be thankful we don't get what we deserve. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 1 Peter 2:15-17 - For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. NASU
Yesterday, was another day where we the citizens of the USA were able to celebrate being free from the British. It was our 241st year of freedom. I wonder how different it is for the illegal alien in our country to watch us celebrate, but not be able to enjoy the same experience.
Romans 6:3-7 - Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. It was a Sunday night when I was baptized into Christ, or I could say, it was a Sunday night when I received my FREEDOM from sin. I died in that watery grave of baptism and I have been free ever since. Does that mean I have never sinned since then? Heavens No! It means that sin is not my master, Jesus Christ is.
When were you baptized into Christ and freed from the bondage of sin? If you are reading this Pump Up and saying, "I have never been immersed or baptized into Christ." Then please contact me and let me help you obtain your freedom.
God's Word says, "Honor all people, Love the Brotherhood, Fear God and Honor the King." We are to treat every person with the same respect. In the first century as today the wealthy were many times treated with greater respect. God's Word says, "Honor all people." We are to treat everyone with respect. "Love the Brotherhood." This would be awesome if every Christian loved every Christian. I remember a banker in MD telling me why the bank wouldn't loan money to churches. He said, "Churches sometimes go through splits, not saying where you preach would but we can't take the chance. Could you imagine how bad this would make us look in the community if we had to sue the church?" I remember thinking, "What a horrible reputation to have." "Fear God." If the world had more of this we would have less crime of every kind. "Honor the King." When I read this it makes me think about how our Presidents are treated. I am pretty sure that the Kings and Caesars were a lot worse in their behavior than our Presidents. Yet, Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit informs them to Honor the King. The King at the time of the writing of this epistle is Nero. Need I say more? Nero killed his own mother, is blamed for setting Rome on fire in 64 AD, he then blamed this on Christians and had them burned at the stake. The good news by the age of 31 Nero had committed suicide.
When you watch the nightly news it is easy to become discouraged by all the evil that is going on in our world. Peter's words are still applicable for us today. Honor all People. Love the Brotherhood. Fear God and Honor the King unless you live in the USA, then we are to honor the President. Most of all enjoy your freedom in Jesus Christ. Think On This: Freedom is a package deal - with it comes responsibilities and consequences. Freedom is like the air we breathe, we don't miss it until we are deprived of it. Lk 17:15-17 - Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine — where are they? NASU
If you were out walking and you saw a person you had to warn them by crying out, "Leper." In doing this, you warned them that you were an outcast of society and to stay away from you. Jesus on one of His daily outings approaches ten lepers and tells them to "go and show themselves to the priest." On their way they are all healed of this horrendous disease. Their skin would have changed back to normal and it would have been very obvious to them. All ten of them would have known they were healed.
WOW! One out of ten returns to say "Thanks!" Jesus changed all ten of their lives for the better and only one will slightly inconvenience himself and return to Jesus to say "Thanks!" How could such a little thing have been neglected? Why was it so hard for 9 out 10 not to return and say "Thanks!"?
While I was a minister in MD for 20 years, I would handout Tootsie Rolls on Sundaymornings after the service to the children as they walked out of the building. You don't know how many parents I heard say to their child, "What do you say?" The correct answer was always "Thank you." It makes me feel good when I give my grandchildren a gift and they say "Thanks!" It allows me to know that my child learned the lesson they were taught and they have taught their children the same lesson. All parents teach their children to say "Thanks!"
You know if my parents were alive I would be calling them right now to "thank" them for all they did for me. I can't call them, but there are some others that will be hearing from me today. Maybe you have a teacher, preacher, coach, friend or relative that really helped change your life. Today would be a great day to give them a call and say "Thanks!" Let us be like the One Leper and not the nine. Think On These: Even though we can't have all that we want, we ought to be thankful we don't get what we deserve. If you can't be thankful for what you have, be thankful for what you don't have. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Share this Pump Up with others by Sharing on Your Facebook Page, Twitter or Forwarding to a friend. |
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