Personal Thanksgiving

Personal Thanksgiving

Psalm 103.8-12

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

    slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,

    nor will He harbor his anger forever;

10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve

    or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is His love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

    so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

There are blessings that are personal to each of us and blessings that are common to all followers of Jesus/lovers of God. One of the reasons I like to journal is that it helps me remember (make a record) of the personal blessings in my life. Photos do that as well. I have a church file in my photos and I can put it up and remember people who served the church, people I knew and who loved me and it is a blessing.

The psalmist here is remembering by writing a song to the LORD. Some of us can express our thanks that way, others through art, others by serving around the facilities, by giving, by helping others, by talking about it.  Do you know how much a text or phone call can mean? Whatever is your hand use it to take the thanks that is in your heart and make it personal and productive. 

This Psalm is a good starting place to make your thanksgiving personal. One commentator said it was so complete it didn't need any commentary. I will try to do it anyway this  morning. 

1. This is a Psalm of Thanksgiving/Gratitude

Unlike the other nine lepers in Luke 17.15-18, who took the LORD's blessing for granted,  this a Psalm of recognizing the goodness of God in the Psalmist's life. It is personal. He was very thankful for the blessings of God in his life.

The writer of this Psalm was delivered from serious illness which would have resulted in a premature death. God has healed many. Yet we must balance scripture with scripture as we shared last week...  

Isaiah 57.1 NLT Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.

57.1-2The righteous perish,

    and no one takes it to heart;

the devout are taken away,

    and no one understands

that the righteous are taken away

    to be spared from evil.

2 Those who walk uprightly

    enter into peace;

    they find rest as they lie in death.

God knows what is coming in a person's life and I am convinced that He takes people home who would have lost their way, wandered from the path, departed from the faith or possibly have endured suffering that was beyond them.

Our thanksgiving should focus on the Giver more than the gifts. We ought to be thankful for the gifts. We ought have gratitude that we live in such abundance.

We should focus on where they came from and Who sent them.

James 1.17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows.

Exalt Him in thanksgiving. Praise Him for Who He is...

2. The LORD is a God of mercy, love, forgiveness and grace.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. Thank God for that! 

Compassionate= love deeply, have mercy, tender affection

If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? Psalm 130.3

Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"? Proverbs 20.9

The thing we ought to be the most thankful for is our salvation.

Luke 10:20 (NIV) However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

We really need to give thanks to the LORD for saving our souls, for writing our names down in heaven.

Being thankful for your forgiveness by God. 

3. Jesus took our sins.

*As high as the heavens are above the earth...

Infinite

Oh, we've just discovered a new quasar, or galaxy that is beyond anything we've ever known before. It is out there, eight billion light years away, ten billion light years away." All right, keep searching man; you're only expanding the mercy of my God. 

*Interesting that he said as far as the east is from the west, rather than as far the north is from the south. Because the north is only about 12,500 miles from the south. You can only go north until you get to the North Pole, then you are going south. And as soon as you get to the South Pole, you are going north again. The distance of about 12,500 miles, that is, unless you are going straight through. But you can start off tonight flying east, and you'll fly east the rest of your life, if you don't change directions. Or you can start flying due west, and you'll be flying west the rest of your life. So I'm glad that he said as far as the east is from the west, rather than as far as the north is from the south, because I want my sins farther away than the north from the south. I like the east and the west bit. I like God just removing completely my sins, my guilt from me. Because of His mercy.- Pastor Chuck Smith

Psalm 107.10-22

Ezra 9.13

Let me end with this note of praise for your patience and grace this past year with all the changes we have worked through.

God bless you.

Yelssy encouraged me on Wednesday after the election to reach out to our Spanish brothers and sisters. I did.

This afternoon If you know of anyone who is here in the United States illegally and is concerned about the future please invite them to attend the Spanish Service at our church this Sunday at noon. Mayor Joe McDermott, Attorney Rudy Migliore and I will be speaking to the congregation through a translator to separate facts from fiction in articles that speculate like the one below. God is control. We will be helping folks become legal residents over the years ahead. Bay Shore Church of the Nazarene, 1314 Pine Acres Blvd. Bay Shore, NY 11706

We can do this because you persevered, because you through many changes have brought a new day to the ministry of this church. People have shared this post. Yelssy told me it could be used as a model for all the churches on our district. I already wrote a letter to President Elect Trump to tell him what we are doing and asking him to let the church help with the illegal immigration problem. Rudy directed me to wait until he is in office, but to begin with the Congressman from New York. Who knows what God is going to do?! Only God knows. Romans 8.28 remain usable and open to His Work.

As you thank God for forgiveness continue to forgive as the LORD forgave you. Keep short accounts. Forgive others. Love each other deeply for love covers a multitude of sins. Live a life of forgiveness. It has such a sweet smelling fragrance!