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. 

Numbers 11:1

[ 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.

Psalm 106:25

But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the Lord.

There are so many more scriptures. 

Philippians 2:14

Do all things without complaining and disputing...

Jude 1:16

[ 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

3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 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)

2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Those who do not glorify God....

Romans 1:21

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. 

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Colossians 3:15

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. 

Psalm 105:1

[ 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...

1 Chronicles 16:8

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!

1 Chronicles 16:34

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Revelation 11:17

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)

Your Past does not determine your future.

Your Past does not determine your future.

We all have some kind of past that we are not too happy about. There are things that come to mind and remind us who we were. We do not have to act on those memories. Don’t let what has happened to you define who you are. 

The promises of God are greater than my character flaws. All those things that are in me that are opposite of God’s character do not have to stay and do not have to determine what I am today. 

The promises of God is greater than the confinements of your past. What ever you have been or where you have come from is not a determinate of your future.

Don't let anything or anyone else but God determine the boundaries of your life...Don't let anything or anyone else but God determine the boundaries of who you will be or what you will accomplish in life.... (Claude Houde)

Acts 17:26-28

New King James Version (NKJV)

26 And He has made from one blood[a] every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

You have been chosen by God...

1 Peter 2:9-10

New King James Version (NKJV)

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

God is in control of your life. He is working in you and through you. Don’t trust in yourself or in man. 

MHC - That in him we live, and move, and have our being, Acts 17:28. We have a necessary and constant dependence upon his providence, as the streams have upon the spring, and the beams upon the sun. 

He has a plan for you. We need to depend on he providence. 

providence |ˈprävədəns; -ˌdens|

noun

the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power 

• ( Providence) God or nature as providing such care 

• timely preparation for future eventualities

Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP) 

11 For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

MHC - He that in the beginning finished the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of both, will finish all the blessings of both to his people. When he begins in ways of mercy he will make an end. God does nothing by halves. (2.) He will give them to see the expectation, that end which they desire and hope for, and have been long waiting for. He will give them, not the expectations of their fears, nor the expectations of their fancies, but the expectations of their faith, the end which he has promised and which will turn for the best to them. 

Romans 8:28 (AMP) 

28 We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

Be lifted up today...Have Faith, Hope, & Peace in knowing that God is working in you and will continue to work in you until Christ be formed in you. Do not let your past form you, let what Jesus did and is doing form you. 

Philippians 1:6 (AMP) 

6 And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

He will continue developing and perfecting you...He is not done with me yet....Praise God!!! He is not done with you yet. Look to Him for today and for your future. Let Him change you. Let Him change your memories. Don’t let go of these promises. Hold on to them. 

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

New King James Version (NKJV)

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Cast down every thought, every memory, everything that tries to come up against what God has done for you and is doing in you. 

Say right now:

“No matter what scares are on me, God’s promises are greater....”

What Satan means for evil, God will turn around for good....

You are His child. You are in His Hands. Let Him comfort you and change you today!!!!!

Difference Between Right and Wrong

Difference Between Right and Wrong

Genesis 2:17

21st Century King James Version (KJ21)

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.”

Genesis 2:17

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

17 except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!”

Genesis 2:17 (EXB) | In Context | Whole Chapter

17 but you must not eat the fruit from the tree ·which gives the [T of the] knowledge of good and evil [C eating from this tree would make Adam, not God, the determiner of right and wrong]. 

MHC - Because the restraint of it is laid upon the desires of the flesh and of the mind, which, in the corrupt nature of man, are the two great fountains of sin. This prohibition checked both his appetite towards sensitive delights and his ambitions of curious knowledge, that his body might be ruled by his soul and his soul by his God.

 Eating from this tree would make Adam, not God, the determiner of right and wrong. God wanted the body to be ruled by the soul and the soul ruled by God. 

Boy we see how the decision Adam made today. Just listen to people, listen to the news, & watch what decisions are being made. People who are not born again trying to determine what is right and what is wrong. Fights, court cases, and so much more. 

Those who walk in the old nature draw from their own opinion, their own flesh, & their corrupt nature. This brings confusion.

James 3:13-17

King James Version (KJV)

13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

When we get our wisdom from God it is pure and full of mercy. It will produce good fruit. 

 Eating from this tree would make Adam, not God, the determiner of right and wrong. This is where the battle of good and evil started. Who is determining the right and wrong in your life? Are you following the sin nature or your born again nature. If you are not born again you have no choice. You may try to make the right decisions, but in the end it will be birthed from a corrupt nature and will fail. Your decisions will spring from earthly principles, you will act upon earthly motives, and you will serve earthly purposes. You will service the indulges of the flesh and make provisions to fulfil the lust and desires of it. You will be working from the natural reasoning, without any supernatural light. 

But when you are born again you will follow God’s wisdom. One dof love, peace, yielding to His nature, His wisdom, & His ways.

James 3:17 (AMP) | In Context | Whole Chapter

17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity).

James 3:17 (ERV) | In Context | Whole Chapter

17 But the wisdom that comes from God is like this: First, it is pure. It is also peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help people who have trouble and to do good for others. This wisdom is always fair and honest.

MHC - Heavenly wisdom is full of mercy and good fruits, inwardly disposed to every thing that is kind and good, both to relieve those who want and to forgive those who offend, and actually to do this whenever proper occasions offer.

Let’s be like Paul in 2 Cor. 1:12 He boast of having a clear conscience. He testimony and witness and all he did was done in honesty and a sincere heart from God. He boast that he did it by the Grace of God. Wisdom from God and not of this world. Not of this world or the fleshly nature of wisdom, but from God’s wisdom. We were never intended to make the decision of right and wrong. That came from the fall. Oh I can hear people now, then I am just a robot if I just follow what God has said.... Boy that has been said from the beginning and is what got this world as bad as it is today. God’s ways are pure, true, peaceable, filled with Grace, and so much more. Why would you want this worldly way of thinking that is selfish, cold, and so much more. 

The only way someone can make a right decision about what is right and wrong is by surrendering to the one who has all wisdom. 

Only surrendering can bring true peace in Life... Don’t delay today... Let the one who knows all and sees all guide you today.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE

No one wants to hear that anything is impossible. Each year that goes by I hear this more and more. We are a people of goals and motivational speakers. 

Reminds me of the people who built the tower. God told them that He would not send another flood to destroy the earth, but they did not believe him.

Gen. 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

They were so into what they wanted and thought that they went against God. vs 6 they would not think that anything is impossible. 

But they did not please God. God went on to confound their languages. 

They did not believe God. They did not trust Him that He would do what He said. 

That is what is impossible: 

Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him...

Without faith IT IS IMPOSSIBLE...

TO PLEASE HIM....

MHC 2. What is here said of his faith, Heb. 11:6. It is said that without this faith it is impossible to please God, without such a faith as helps us to walk with God, an active faith, and that we cannot come to God unless we believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. (1.) He must believe that God is, and that he is what he is, what he has revealed himself to be in the scripture, a Being of infinite perfections, subsisting in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Observe, The practical belief of the existence of God, as revealed in the word, would be a powerful awe-band upon our souls, a bridle of restraint to keep us from sin, and a spur of constraint to put us upon all manner of gospel obedience. (2.) That he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. Here observe, [1.] By the fall we have lost God; we have lost the divine light, life, love, likeness, and communion. [2.] God is again to be found of us through Christ, the second Adam. [3.] God has prescribed means and ways wherein he may be found; to with, a strict attention to his oracles, attendance on his ordinances, and ministers duly discharging their office and associating with his people, observing his providential guidance, and in all things humbly waiting his gracious presence. [4.] Those who would find God in these ways of his must seek him diligently; they must seek early, earnestly, and perseveringly. Then shall they seek him, and find him, if they seek him with all their heart; and when once they have found him, as their reconciled God, they will never repent the pains they have spent in seeking after him.

Heb 11 - Those who walked in faith let Faith rule their lives. 

 [Prompted, actuated] by faith,  [Urged on] by faith,  [With eyes of] faith, [Aroused] by faith,[Motivated] by faith.... 

by [faith—[b]trust and holy fervor born of faith]

It is not about the outcome. There are many who did not receive: 

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

AMP. VS 6 For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

BUT All Things are possible with God. Through Him, trusting Him, believing Him, Looking to Him, & Having FAITH in Him and who He is.... 

Casually seeking of God

Casually seeking of God

Luke warm... 

Draw unto God

Inner court, Outer court

Veil ripped 

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. You draw near to Him first. You determine how close to God you want to be. This does not pertain to salvation. You were only saved because He drew you to Him. You can not be more saved than you are right now. A person can't get saved without God revealing Himself to them first. There is a level of closeness we can have to God based on how we live our lives. There is a level of hearing God based on the way we live our lives. 

People have a lack of hunger therefore they don't draw near to God.

Psalm 42:1 as does the deer...

When I remember these thing I pour out my soul within me...

Vines: remember...more than just recall... Means: To retain in thought 

When I retain desire for God in my thoughts it causes me to pour out my out my soul within me.

We need to protect and increase our hunger for God. 

We can't pray Lord give me more hunger for you... Prov. 27:7 satisfies soul loathe the honey comb...

Definition of loathe: to feel intense dislike for..: to dislike greatly and often with disgust or intolerance : detest

We don't loathe things because we are in a satisfied state. We are stuffed with things and are not hungry for the right things.

This is one reason why it can be said, good is the enemy of best... Something's are good but are not God's best. 

1 Corinthians 10:23

King James Version (KJV)

23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

1 Corinthians 10:23 (AMP) | In Context | Whole Chapter

23 All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].

There are good things out there, but can hinder us in our walk with God. 

MHC-The hungry will bless God for bread and water, while those that are full think the greatest dainties and varieties scarcely worth giving thanks for. The virgin Mary seems to refer to this when she says (Luke 1:53), The hungry, who know how to value God’s blessings, are filled with good things, but the rich, who despise them, are justly sent empty away. 

Rev. 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:...

People being satisfied, have need for nothing...so they think

Cling to the Word of God....

Your daily activities change the way you think. If you spend the day busy, busy, busy, with all the things of life and don’t spend anytime in the Word of God, Sharing the Gospel, Praying, Alone time with just you and God, You will have the thought of this world. Your ways will reflect those things and will not reflect God and His ways. 

Your motive must be right. Don’t change just because you think you will go to hell. Change because it causes your relationship with God to be less than it could be. It does not make Him love you less. He has not changed, you have. 

You have neglected...

1 Timothy 4:14

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.

Hebrews 2:1

[ Do Not Neglect Salvation ] Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

Hebrews 2:3

how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him...

Matthew 23:23

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

We neglect the weightier matters.... We are so consumed with our lives and what we want, that we leave justice, mercy, faith and much more undone. 

We only see the things right in front of us. Even if we see the people in our own little circle, our focus still becomes too small. We need to ask God to show us His ways, His Mercy, His will and follow that instead of our own thinking  and ways. 

If you are doing that, great. But I know I have had many times where all I could focus on is the bill that is not paid, or the job, or my pain & wants, and I have left the weightier matters undone. My relationship with God is more than important than my work for God. Yes we still do good works, but we don’t leave the other to do it. 

As we walk in right relationship we will do those good works with right motives. 

So cling to Him. Cling to His Word. Cling to His ways. Don’t get caught up in this temporal world.