Give Thanks to God

“Oh give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: because His mercy endureth forever.” 

(Psalm 118:1)

I have been told that in some public school history text books, revisionists have attempted to change some facts. One of these changes is that the first thanksgiving after the Pilgrims landed on these shores, “they bowed their heads and were thankful.” The revisionists, to be politically correct, have left out any reference to God as being the One to whom the Pilgrims gave thanks.

The Bible says that all good gifts come from God. (James 1:17) My history books told me and my fellow students that the Pilgrims “bowed their heads and gave thanks to God.”

Regardless of what the Pilgrims did or anyone else has done since that first thanksgiving, let us be thankful to the LORD before, during and after this Thanksgiving season, as the Psalmist has instructed us.

Brotherly Love

“Let brotherly love continue.” (Hebrews 13:1)

It is interesting that the two words, “brotherly love,” are one word in the Greek language from whence this translation comes. That one word is “philadelphia.” As you know there is a city in the state of Pennsylvania named Philadelphia. It is commonly called “the city of brotherly love.”

The writer of Hebrews, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is telling these scattered Hebrew Christians to never cease loving one another. It is one thing to say we love our brother in Christ, it is another to actually love our brother and it is even more amazing to show brotherly love.

Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” (John 13:35)

Let brotherly love continue. Don’t let it end.

It Is Written

“It is written…” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10)

Someone has said and it has often been  repeated that, “It is written,” is nourishing enough, “It is written,” is comfort enough, and “It is written,” is authority enough.

When Satan tempted Jesus following His forty days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus responded to each temptation with the use of quotations from the Bible, prefaced with, “It is written.”

The psalmist said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11) Jesus had hidden God’s word in His heart, something you and I must do, knowing that sooner or later we will face Satan’s temptations. Are you hiding God’s Word in your heart through reading, memorizing, meditating upon it and studying it?

In Distress? Call Out to God

”In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and He heard me.” (Psalm 120:1)

There have been many people through the ages who have been in distress from many causes. Hezekiah, king of Judah, was one whose distress was sickness. God sent Isaiah the prophet to take a message to the king. “Set thy house in order: for thou shalt die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD…” (Isaiah 38:1-2) After he prayed God gave him fifteen more years.

If Hezekiah is the author of this Psalm, then the above mentioned sickness and prayer could be his reference to distress in our text.

The lesson for us is that when we are in any distress, whether health, finances, employment, family or a host of others, we can come before the LORD in prayer and can expect Him to hear us. God always encourages his followers to pray.

Walk In the Old Paths

“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein.” (Jeremiah 6:16)

When evangelist, Billy Graham came on the scene in a huge revival in Los Angeles in 1949 there were those who said, “Graham will set the church back fifty years.” Mister Graham responded by saying, “I don’t want to set the church back fifty years. I want to set it back two-thousand years.”

We must get back to standing with the doctrines of the first century churches who believed the authority of the bible. We must declare that sin is against the will of God and a transgression of the law of God. We must declare with certainty that eternal life comes through Jesus Christ alone. With that same kind of certainty we must declare the Second Coming of Jesus. Churches must get back to living holy, uncompromising lives in this sinful world.

...Neither Were Thankful

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:21)

One of the identifying marks of a Godless, pagan society is thanklessness. John MacArthur on his “Grace to You” radio program said, “We are living in Romans chapter one with all its Godlessness today.” In the midst of all the sins mentioned in Romans chapter one is the sin of thanklessness. It is listed with idolatry, homosexuality, covetousness, fornication, a list of more than twenty-four items of sin.

One may not be guilty of committing every sin on the list, but if we haven’t expressed thanks to God for His many blessings to us, we need to pause a little while and thank Him for the gift of eternal life through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Glory in the Cross

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Galatians 6:14)

Paul never saw the cross as a good luck charm, an item of jewelry, or beautiful art work to adorn a wall or table. One would not have seen a small cross on the dash board of Paul’s chariot.

Paul gloried in the cross because it did two major things. First, it revealed God’s attitude toward sin. It is one thing to read “thou shalt” and “thou shall not” in the Ten Commandments. It is another thing to see the Son of God suffering death on the cross because of man’s sin. All the sins of the world were placed on Jesus Christ and God the Father poured out his Holy Wrath on sin. That’s what God thinks of sin.

Second, the cross represents God’s love for the sinner. Man cannot pay for his sins with his own efforts. But, God in His love for mankind sent Jesus to die on the cross for all of us sinners.