Sunday, February 24, 2013

Thanksgiving in your heart....


Thanksgiving in your heart....

So many times we forget where the Lord has brought us from. We start complaining about where we are at or getting upset because we are not where we want to be. 

We are complainers and do not have a Thankful heart... 

The children of Israel are examples of this, they compained against Moses, against the rulers,  against God and were not thankful for where God brought them from. They were so unthankful that they wanted to go back because they did not get what they wanted as quick as when they wanted. 

They forgot what He can do. They despised the pleasant land that God was bringing them to. They forget how good they have it. They turned to idols. They turned their children over to be sacraficed. 

[ The People Complain ] Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.

But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the Lord.
There are so many more scriptures. 


Do all things without complaining and disputing...
[ Apostates Predicted ] These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

MHC - “Do all things without disputing, wrangling, and debating one another; because the light of truth and the life of religion are often lost in the heats and mists of disputation.”
We lose site of what really matters. We lose truth each time we start complaining. Our heart gets harden to what God is doing in us and through us. We forget what God has done for us already. We lose our way. 

In the last days there will be many who fall away. One of the signs of a group of those people are the fact that they are unthankful. 
2 Timothy 3:1-5
New King James Version (NKJV)
Perilous Times and Perilous Men
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

complain |kəmˈplān|
verb
[ trans. ] express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event : 
[ intrans. ] ( complain of) state that one is suffering from (a pain or other symptom of illness)
  • state a grievance
  • make a mournful sound : 
  • groan or creak under strain.

When complaining it can be words of complaining or a sound. Maybe you don’t say anything, but your actions and sounds you make show what is in your heart. 

Grumbling is a trademark of the Scribes and Pharisees. 
Luke 15:2
New King James Version (NKJV)
And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Those who do not glorify God....
because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Thankfulness is a trademark of those who walk with God. Of those who know their God. Those who remember where the Lord brought them through and know where they are going walk in Thankfulness. 
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Sometime to be thankful you need to stop and reflect on what God has done in your life. 
[ The Eternal Faithfulness of the Lord ] Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!

Psalm 92:1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord...

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
saying:“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

Instead of being thankful we say give me more. I don’t have enough. I want it and I want it now and if I don’t get it now I will murmur and complain. 
Being thankful becomes personal. What has He done for you? Where has He brought you from? How has He touched your life? 
Even if you have not said anything out loud and no one around you knows what is in your heart, you can still have unthankfullness in your life. What ever is in your heart you act upon. Your actions are outward movement of what is in your heart. So as you hear your heart complaining or grumbling about a situation or a circumstances stop it before you act on it. Start Praising God for who He is and what He has done in you, for you, and through you. 
Stop right now and meditate, muse, replay in your mind, all those events of your past that God has brought you through. What has He done in you? Praise Him for it. What has He done around you? Praise Him for it. 
Have a Thankful heart!!!!  Be a Thankful Person.....



Matthew Henry - 
Thank God for the Scriptures
2.2.25
For the writing of the Scriptures and the preserving of them pure and entire to this day.
I thank thee that I have the Scriptures to search, and that in them I have eternal life, and that they testify of Christ; John 5:39(KJV) and that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16(KJV)
That whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for my learning, that I through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope; Romans 15:4(KJV) and that I have this most sure word of prophecy, as a light shining in a dark place. 2 Peter 1:19(KJV)
That the vision is not become to me as the words of a book that is sealed, Isaiah 29:11(KJV) but that I hear in my own tongue the wonderful works of God. Acts 2:11(KJV)
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that the things which were hid from the wise and prudent, and which many prophets and kings desired to see, and might not, 1 Peter 1:10(KJV) are revealed to us babes: even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Luke 10:21(KJV)

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