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Colossians 2:7

I Thank God for You

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 25, 2024

There are so many things for which I am thankful in my life. As I sat down and looked through my digital pictures of old Thanksgiving, I was surprised to find how many I had. Dad always diligently took pictures of us at our table with Turkey.  As I mentioned, we didn’t practice saying Grace at many meals, but at Thanksgiving, we always did, and Dad would lead it. I don’t remember what he said. I wish I could, but I know he prayed the standard prayer we had all learned, “Bless us, Oh Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.” As my kids grew up, we’d say more personal prayers and even share what we were thankful for. I still like to do that today during the Thanksgiving season.

It’s always good to be specific when thanking God. Paul was. In his letter to the Romans, which was to be the longest of his letters, after his opening, and before he got into the content of his main reason for writing, he said, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you…” That’s a great thing to thank God for. He was grateful for the believers in the world’s capital city of Rome. He knew how hard it was to be a believer in the 1st-century world and rejoiced that God had blessed him with other believers to share his life within every part of the world. Paul did not plant the church in Rome but was thankful for every believer there.

I’m thankful for all of you who share my faith in Jesus Christ. It’s not easy in our society to be a serious believer, and we need each other to nourish our faith, to encourage us in the face of opposition, ridicule, and often shame. We comfort each other. We give credence that we’re not crazy; if we are, there are many crazy people like us. I always enjoy the thought that I’m not in this alone. You are with me! There are believers all over the world, and everywhere I go, we find those who love the Lord and subscribe to the wonderful values and teachings of the scriptures. That has always helped and sustained me in my mission and call to preach the Gospel. Like Paul, I thank God for all of you!

“Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And be filled with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:7

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1 Timothy 4:3-4

Celebrate!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 24, 2024

At the beginning of Chapter 12 of the Gospel of John, Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem, which would begin the last six days of His life. The city was thronged with people from all over the world who had come to celebrate the Passover, and they were celebrating His entrance, but the Priests were plotting his death. However, on his way into Jerusalem, he passes through Bethany, where his old friend Lazarus lived. He’s the one Jesus raised from the dead earlier in his ministry. A special dinner was held in His honor. Martha served, and Mary sat at his feet to listen and learn. Mark tells us that the house belonged to Simon the Leper (14:3). Matthew reveals that the rest of the disciples were there (26:8). So evidently, the table was set for at least seventeen. The dinner was a celebration, a “thank you, Jesus” dinner for Lazarus’ resurrection. It was certainly a time of great joy and celebration. It was the first real “Thanksgiving meal.”

Our Thanksgiving day is also celebrated with a great meal! I love Turkey. My whole family loves turkey! We eat turkey every year! I love leftover turkey! I love turkey and gravy! I love turkey and dressing. I love turkey and cranberry sauce. I love turkey and dinner rolls. I love turkey with beans, corn, or peas! I love hot turkey and gravy sandwiches. I love cold turkey sandwiches. I love turkey. My family scrapbook is filled with pictures of turkeys. They are treated like one of the family. My Dad always insisted that we’d get a picture with us and the turkey before we ate when I was growing up. The turkey was always well baked and set in the middle of the table with all of us standing around admiring it.

Every Thanksgiving is a celebration in God’s honor. Although we seldom prayed when I was growing up, at the dinner table, Dad always said the blessing at Thanksgiving. It was the one meal that we remembered where all the good things in life, especially this turkey, came from! It was a gift from God. I don’t know if Martha served turkey at the celebration in Jesus’ honor, but she should have. This is another great way to say Thank You to God: celebrating with family over the good things God has blessed us with.

“God created food to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” 1 Timothy 4:3-4

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Psalm 50:14, Micah 7:19

A Debt of Gratitude

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 23, 2024

The Bible teaches us that there are many different ways to say “Thank You” to God. We can sing out our gratitude. We can just say “thank you” or “give thanks.” Or we can give something to God out of gratitude for what He’s done for us. Giving to God is one of the clearest expressions of thanks we can give to God. Psalm 50:14 says, “Give an offering to show thanks to God…” When Malachi speaks of the tithe, he speaks of it as the test of our gratitude to God, and he calls the ungrateful, selfish Israelites who test God.  Give it to God and watch God open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings upon you. When Solomon received the offering for the building of the temple, he said a prayer of dedication in which he said, “You test people’s hearts, and you are happy when people do what is right. I am happy to give all these things, and I gave with an honest heart. And your people gathered here are happy to give to you, too.”

I can’t think of a more profound way to say “thank you.” In 1943, an American pilot named Fred Hargensheimer was shot down over New Guinea. Local natives rescued him from the Japanese and cared for him. After the war, Hargensheimer remembered his debt. He personally raised money to finance a school on the island. Finally, in 1970, he and his wife left their home in St. Paul, Minnesota, for New Guinea. They planned to donate fourteen months of their lives toward the development of a cacao plantation at the school.

Jesus Christ rescued us from eternal damnation and the power of the worst enemy of all, Satan. God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross and pay the penalty for our sins, and through His death and resurrection, He purchases for us a place in heaven that he offers as a free gift that’s received by grace through faith alone. He saved us! Though we were under the spell of Satan and Sin, God took upon himself the task of redemption, and He hid us from the condemnation that’s ours and removed our sins from us. We owe Him much more than Hargensheimer owed the natives in New Guinea.

“You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19

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Ephesians 5:20,

There’s Always Something!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 22, 2024

Things don’t always go how I’d like them to go, and I don’t always feel like singing out my thanks to God or even saying “thank you” to God. Sometimes, I’m discouraged and sometimes even depressed and don’t feel joyful. The Bible teaches us that we’re to thank God in every situation. I’ve shared that thought with many people who are in the throes of some suffering, and it comes across as rather insensitive and trite. Yet when Paul says, “I can do all things in Christ,” he’s speaking very specifically about being thankful in the clouds as well as the sunshine. But I sometimes tell myself that saying thank you is wrong when you don’t feel it. Isn’t it hypocritical to say “thank you” when you don’t mean it or when you don’t really feel thankful?

Nike says, “Just Do It!” Don’t sit and wait for thankfulness to overtake you. Overtake it! You are not a hypocrite for doing your duty. If you know that being thankful is the believer’s duty, and you don’t feel thankful, tell God how you feel and thank him anyway. It’s part of the Christian battle that we face every day. I expect there is such a thing as a hypocritical Thanksgiving that’s done in public to gain the admiration or acceptance of others when a person isn’t really thankful, simply showy. But the true aim of a believer in saying “Thank You” when he doesn’t feel like it is to open ourselves to God’s Spirit in hopes he will fill my words with the genuine emotion of gratitude. We’re called to do many things, whether we feel like it or not, and meeting our obligations often changes our hearts.

Although it sometimes seems impossible to be thankful under certain circumstances, there’s always something to say “thank you” to God for. Matthew Henry, the famous scholar, was once accosted by thieves and robbed of his purse. He wrote these words in his diary: “Let me be thankful first because I was never robbed before; second, because, although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Ephesians 5:20

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Psalm 105:1

Just say it: “Thank You!”

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 21, 2024

The Psalmist tells us to “sing out your thanks to Him…” (Psalm 147:7), but they also tell us to say it. Psalm 105:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him.” In the book of Philippians, Paul tells his readers to pray about every concern in life and trust God to deal with it. Then, he says, “Tell God what you need, and thank him for all He has done.”

The Supreme Court in 1963 banned prayers in public schools. The following prayer by kindergarten children was declared illegal: “We thank you for the flowers so sweet; We thank you for the food we eat; We thank you for the birds that sing; We thank you, God, for everything.” The woman who was instrumental in getting prayer removed from public schools wanted it banned also from outer space. Madelyn Murray O’Hair, after hearing words of prayer radioed by the three astronauts as they circled the moon, said, “I think that they were not only ill-advised but that it was a tragic situation. … ” The noted atheist said she would register a protest with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which, she declared, had prompted the three test pilots in scheduling the prayer. Something happens to the heart of an unthankful, ungrateful person. Paul says, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).

In “God Is Inescapable,” Dr. David Soper suggests that the difference between a prison and a monastery is just the difference between griping and gratitude. Undoubtedly, this is true. Imprisoned criminals spend every waking moment griping; self-imprisoned saints spend every waking moment offering thanks. Dr. Soper says that when a criminal becomes a saint, a prison may become a monastery; when a saint gives up gratitude, a monastery may become a prison.

“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful…Avoid such people.” 2 Timothy 3:2-5

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Psalm 16:11, 147:7, Matthew 15:8

Gratitude from the Heart

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 20, 2024

With the Thanksgiving week approaching, I’m thinking about how we say “Thank You” to God for all He’s done for us and for all He does for us daily. It has been the calling of God’s people throughout the ages to “give thanks” to Him for all things. The scriptures teach us that there are many ways to say thank you to God. One of those ways is by singing His praises. Psalm 147:7 says, “Sing out your thanks to Him; sing praises to our God.”

As it was for Israel in the Old Testament days, it is for the Church in our age. We are to be the worshiping community that announces our faith in our God to the world. We sing “How Great Thou Art” with hearts full of gratitude. That’s what Paul instructed the Colossians to do whenever they came together. In chapter 3, verse 16, he writes to them, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Psalm 100 also calls for us to “come into His courts with thanksgiving… come before Him singing with Joy.” You see, the deepest longing of man’s heart is for God. As the deer pants for water in the wilderness, man’s soul longs for connection and communion with God. The Bible calls it pleasure, joy, and delight, but these words fall short of true communion with God. It’s the truly one and only all-time unspeakable experience. “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).

Singing our praises to God is one legitimate way of saying “Thank You” to Him for all His many blessings. But please don’t miss the focus on the “heart.” John Piper writes, “Without the engagement of the heart, we do not really worship. The engagement of the heart in worship is the coming alive of the feelings and emotions and affections of the heart. Where feelings for God are dead, worship is dead. True worship must include inward feelings that reflect the worth of God’s glory. If this were not so, the word hypocrite would have no meaning. But there is such a thing as hypocrisy—going through outward motions (like singing, praying, giving, reciting) that signify affections of the heart that are not there.” I’ve argued that we should thank God even when we don’t feel like it. The intent is that the expression of thankfulness might align our hearts with our words. More than anything else, God wants our hearts.

“These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” Matthew 15:8

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Genesis 31:29, 32:7, Romans 8:31

God is For US

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 19, 2024

In Genesis 31, after Jacob flees from his father-in-law’s control, Laban pursues him with the intent to do him harm because he has taken his daughters, grandchildren, as well as his household idols. When he catches Jacob, in Genesis 31:29, he says, “It’s in my power to do you harm.” In this world, I’m sure you know people who have the power to harm you. We all have them. But God, who is called in this chapter “The Fear of Isaac,” shows himself to Laban, speaks to him on behalf of Jacob, and warns him against any ill intent he might have. God makes it clear to Laban that He is the one who has the real power to do harm. In this chapter also when Jacob confronts Laban about why he’s chasing him down with an army, Laban argues that Jacob stole his household idols. It’s interesting to notice that Laban is chasing after his stolen gods while the one true God is actively protecting the ones who worship Him.

Jacob fled from Laban in fear. But God interceded to protect him from harm. Jacob then continued on his journey to his homeland. Genesis chapter 32 begins with an interesting phrase. It says, “Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is God’s camp.'” After the problem with Laban is resolved, Jacob sees God’s protective presence in the angels and rejoices. It’s always easy to see How God has delivered us through our problems when we look back. It’s going through them at the moment that’s the real challenge.

Jacob, however, like me and you, wasn’t through with being afraid of people who might do him hard. The very next thing is that Jacob gets word that his brother Esau whom he cheated out of his birthright, was coming with 400 soldiers. Genesis 32: 7 says, “Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.” My mother was right. “There is always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.” You get over one difficulty, and you face another one. You get through one fear, and there’s something else facing you. There’s always something else to be afraid of. It’s harder to see God’s presence in the problems before us at the moment than it is to see God’s presence in the issues behind us. This is how God teaches us to live by faith and not by sight. Romans 8:31 teaches us, “if God is for us, who can be against us?” No one’s ill will or intent to harm you or me, real or imagined, can reach us. Even though as undeserving as Jacob was, and we often are, God is on our side!

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Genesis 37:1, Job 25:2

God is in Control

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 18, 2024

Genesis 37:1 begins the story of Joseph. Next to Christ Himself, he is the best example of a godly man in the bible. I don’t believe Joseph was perfect. We see his pride in dealing with his older brothers. We also see him struggle with revenge. Yet, we cannot miss the similarities between him and Jesus. Many refer to him as a type of Christ. Like Jesus, he was sold, he was envied, he was hated because of his dreams and his words, and he was abused, mistreated, falsely imprisoned, but ultimately elevated to a glorious position.

Joseph teaches us many lessons. From Joseph’s life, we can learn how to Overcome envy, remain loyal to rightful authority, reject peer pressure, face adversity, handle prosperity, resist temptation, see the good even in the bad, plan for the future, forgive those who wrong us, trust God in every situation, care and provide for our family, handle power, live a holy life in a pagan environment, see God’s hand through all circumstances, overcome grief, handle rejection, and the list could go on. The most interesting thing about Joseph is that he saw God at work in his life, even in his dreams. To Joseph, nothing was a coincidence. God’s hand, His presence, dominated every area of Joseph’s life. He never forgot that God is in control over everything. We need to remember that also.

Max Lucado says: We need to hear that God is still in control. We need to hear that it’s not over until he says so. We need to hear that life’s mishaps and tragedies are not a reason to bail out. They are simply a reason to sit tight. Corrie ten Boom used to say, “When the train goes through a tunnel, and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not! You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.” …Next time you’re disappointed, don’t panic. Don’t jump out. Don’t give up. Just be patient and let God remind you he’s still in control. It ain’t over till it’s over. Joseph will help us remember that God is in control.  Job also confirms this truth. The New Century Version of the bible translates Job 25:2 like this: “God is the one to fear because God is in control and rules the heavens.”

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