Gracious Host: Pt 2

By: Adam McClendon

www.newlineministries.com 

Last week, I posted about the graciousness of God and the heart of thanks that should flow from recognizing all that he has done for us based on Psalm 23. 

In thinking on those ideas, some questions naturally arose.  What practically can we do?  What can we do to help focus on him?  What can we do to be more thankful and less “Captain Grumpy-Pants”? 

In light of those questions, here are four tips to help us shift our focus off of the distractions of this world that try and rob us from seeing the blessings of God in our midst.

1. We need to remember that God is good and be thankful in (not necessarily for) all circumstances.

2. We need to remember that God does not exist for our comfort, but his glory and his purpose in bringing the gospel to the nations.

3. We need to remember that we are never forsaken by God regardless of how anything may feel.

4. We need to reflect on the blessings that are all around us and not take them for granted.  Below are a few blessings upon which I’ve recently reflected:

* God has given me great shelter. 

* God has given me a heart for him.

* God has given me his word. 

* God has given me the ability to work and a job.

* God has given me friends.

* God has given me gracious reminders of his presence in creation.

* God has given me Christian music where his truth is wonderfully and creatively put to music. 

* God has given me the ability to speak.

* God has given me the opportunity to learn more about the things of God through books and education.

* God has given me the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who will never leave me. 

* God has given me food and water. 

* God never lets me fall too far.

* God has given me a godly, gospel-centered church.

* God has given me a life of laughter and fun. 

* God has given me a new identity, whereby, I am a child of God and my past no longer determines who I am.

* God has placed me in a time with great technological advances where I can stay connected with my family even when I am away.

* God has placed me in a country where I am not physically persecuted for my faith.

God has been so good to us.

Let’s stop looking at the difficulties, and focus on the blessing because gazing upon grace should bring gratitude.

Let’s stop looking at things that rob us from seeing God’s glorious graciousness in our life.

www.newlineministries.com 

Gracious Host: Pt. 1

By: Adam McClendon

www.newlineministries.com

Psalm 23:5: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Even in the midst of hostile territory when danger lurks all around, God’s people are a blessed people.  We often think of our blessing in heaven, but we are blessed even in this world.  Let’s not miss it.

These blessings are both physical and spiritual and we should acknowledge them.

First, every physical provision we have in our lives is a gift from God and should invoke gratitude.

A pastor from the 1500’s wrote, “All men, it is true, are not treated with the same liberality with which David was treated; but there is not an individual who is not under obligation to God by the benefits which God has conferred upon him so that we are constrained to acknowledge that he is a kind and liberal Father to all his people. … If he is ungrateful who, having only a coarse loaf, does not acknowledge in that the fatherly providence of God, how much less can the stupidity of those be tolerated, who glut themselves with the great abundance of the good things of God which they possess, without having any sense or taste of his goodness towards them” (Calvin Commentary, Psalms, 397)?

What a great quote.  In other words, if we would acknowledge that someone who only has one meal needs to be thankful for that one meal, how much more ought we to be thankful for all that we have.

Secondly, God has provided significant and sufficient spiritual blessing.

God has provided his children with victory and blessing in front of the enemy.

Ephesians 1:3–4, 7-8: ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. … ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

These blessings are ours now.  We have been blessed now while living in an enemy occupied territory.

These two ways we have been blessed should foster within us a great sense of gratitude; unfortunately, all too often we ignore the blessings in front of us while longing for that which we don’t have.  Three forces which foster a thankless heart.

1. Comparison: A compulsion exists to compare ourselves to others.  We always think everyone else has it better.  It’s a lie!

2. Culture: Commercials are one example.  They are simply designed to entice discontentment.

3. Circumstances: Specifically, when we experience bad or hard circumstances, we tend to miss the blessings we do have.

Since these three forces tend to foster a thankless heart, here are three brief warnings.  We need to:

1. Beware of the “What if?”  The reality is that it could always be worse. 

2. Beware of the “Why me?”  No one is exempt from tragedy.  The reality is that we live in a fallen world.  We sometimes experience the consequences of bad decisions, whether ours or someone else’s.

3. Beware of the “I’m mad at God.”  We don’t know how God may have intervened to keep circumstances from being worse than they were.  The reality is that we are not God and there is a lot about life and how circumstances are interrelated that we simply don’t know.  The reality is we are called to be God’s servant; he is not called to be ours.  My life is to be his and he is good.

So, let’s be thankful.  Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus the author, perfecter, and shepherd of our faith.  We’ll talk more on this topic next week.

www.newlineministries.com

The Ground of Our Gratitude: Part II

By: Brian G. Najapfour
Brian G. Najapfour is Pastor at Dutton United Reformed Church and author.
For a brief bio on Brian see: http://biblicalspirituality.wordpress.com/brief-bio/.

www.newlineministries.com

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love [mercy] endures forever (Psalm 118:1)

Do you know that if you and I are here today, it is because of God’s mercy alone? It is not because of who you are. It is not because of your education, or because of the fact that you are a good person. No! Remember the words of Lamentations 3: 22 & 23: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.”

Oh, let’s praise the Lord for His mercies. When you wake up in the morning, you wake up to welcome these mercies that are always new every morning. When you go to work, you go with God’s mercy. In your work place you work with God’s mercy. You come home with God’s mercy. You raise your children with God’s mercy. You go to work with God’s mercy. You sing with God’s mercy. It is all about God’s mercy! And, take note, according to our text Psalm 118:1, this mercy endures forever. Once it has been bestowed on you, it will remain in you.

There is a well known hymn based on Lamentations 3:23 (quoted above) that says, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” This hymn is by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm (1866-1960):

 

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father!

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou has been Thou forever wilt be.

 

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

 

My fellow believers, we see this mercy displayed at Calvary when God sent His precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our mediator, to die for our sin, to redeem us from the curse of the law. That’s the mercy of God. And, the psalmist says in our text, give thanks to the Lord, not only because He is good, but because His mercy abides forever and ever. So, here we have the ground for our gratitude. Let’s remember the goodness of God and His mercy. And, let’s learn to trace all our blessings back to God, back to the cross, and to give Him thanks. Amen!

www.newlineministries.com

The Ground of Our Gratitude

By: Brian G. Najapfour
Brian G. Najapfour is Pastor at Dutton United Reformed Church and author.  For a brief bio on Brian see: http://biblicalspirituality.wordpress.com/brief-bio/.

www.newlineministries.com

 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good… (Psalm 118:1a)

 

The ultimate ground of our gratitude is not our circumstances, but God’s character. The ultimate ground of our gratitude is not our mood, but the fact that God is good. It is easy for us to thank the Lord when we are in a good mood, when we feel good. It is easy to thank the Lord when we receive blessings from Him. But, thanking God has nothing to do with what we receive from God. Give thanks to God. Why? Because He is good. Period! The fact that God is good is enough for us to thank Him regardless of our circumstances.  

 

The psalmist is calling us to thank the Lord for the fact that God is good. And, because God is always good, we always have a reason to thank Him. Even if He stops pouring out His blessings on us or on our family, still you have a reason to thank Him because He remains good. However, the problem today is that even in our gratitude we tend to be man-centered. We tend to thank God only when He gives us what we want.

 

Now, take note that the psalmist does not say, “Thank God for the many good things He has done for us.” So, in this context thanksgiving does not depend on God’s action, but on His attribute. We don’t say, “Lord, I will thank You if You do this to me; Lord, I will thank You if You answer my prayer; Lord, I will praise You if You heal my sickness.” My friend, even if the Lord does not grant our request, He still deserves our gratitude because He is good. His goodness is enough for us to glorify Him. There is a hymn that says,

 

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!

 

Let us cultivate this kind of attitude—to be grateful to God even in the midst of sufferings. And, let us remember that this attitude of gratefulness is a command; everyone is commanded to do this.

 

www.newlineministries.com

Taken for Granted

By: Adam McClendon

www.newlineministries.com

Last night as I was preparing for bed, I had the wonderful idea to get up and go running this morning.  Why?  I don’t know.  Anyway, I was resting peacefully in my bed when this horrible sound jolted me awake and shot adrenaline through my veins: as any good mobile phone alarm clock should.  After scrambling to find the phone, bumping the nightstand, and squinting to hit snooze, I was awake.  So, I roll over for 9 more minutes of peace just to experience that all over again. 

 

So, I finally get out of bed.  I’m tired.  Honestly, I’m really tired and want to go back to bed, but muster up the strength to go out and punish myself on the road of life, also known as Perry Crossing Road by the Indiana Department of Transportation.

 

Outside, I stretch and notice that once again the kids didn’t close the garage door after playing yesterday.  Arrrgggh.  So, I’m off to a great morning to jog and talk to the Lord.  As I began to jog and pray, I became pretty convicted of all that I take for granted.

My garage door was open all night, as it has been several times in the last few years, and nothing was missing, no one was attacked, nothing happened.  I was reminded of going on a mission trip in India a few years ago where houses are surrounded by concrete walls topped with broken glass and jagged metal, and friends in Africa whose home had been pillaged.  So, here is a brief list of some of the things that I took for granted as I prepared to sleep last night and woke up aggravated and tired before the day began.

·         Reasonable security, safety, and freedom
·         Loving family, healthy kids, and faithful wife
·         A home with electricity, air, comfortable bed, soft towels, and hot water
·         Ability to go jogging
·         Being born in an environment where I would be continually exposed to the gospel
·         A reliable car
·         Clean running water, food, etc.

The list could go on and on.  I do not acknowledge and appreciate these things.  I take them for granted.  I’m no different than the Israelites who in the Old Testament constantly missed the provisions of God and focused on that which they did not have.  That’s me.  I take what I’ve been given for granted and focus on what I don’t have.  As a result, I find myself complaining a lot versus walking in an attitude of thankfulness (Eph 5:20).

Prayer:

Merciful Father, please forgive me for taking your gifts for granted.  In your kindness, you have allowed me so many luxuries that I treat as entitlements.  I’m sorry.  Adjust my eyes that I might see your gifts and kindness more clearly, and transform my heart that I might be consistently thankful for them.  Shift my eyes off of that which I don’t have and on to your faithful provision of my needs.  Then, in those moments that my heart longs for that which I don’t have, may you remind me of all that I do and remind me that those things may be kept from me so that I might remain more dependent upon you and faithful to you.  Would you remind me that you want me to be holy and satisfied with you and not temporarily appeased by the attachments of this world.  Oh God, create in me a thankful heart.

 

www.newlineministries.com