Are You Thankful for God?
Thanksgiving is here and I don't know about you, but it feels like it arrives quicker and quicker with each passing year. Time waits for no one and it certainly never stops.
As I started to reflect on the Thanksgiving holiday, the general scene that came to mind was one of family, food and football. God is very rarely included in this time of thanks, even in the Christian home. This is a sad reality.
The question must be posed as we approach another opportunity to be intentionally thankful:
Are you thankful for God?
If you're a Christian reading this question, it may take you aback. 'What do you mean, am I thankful for God? Of course I am. I'm a Christian.' That's great, we should all be thankful for God.
But really ponder this question: Are we truly thankful for all of who God is?
We love Him for the blessings and of course for Jesus, but do we love ALL of Him? Are we thankful for ALL of Him?
Let's go to Psalm 90.
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.”
I want to offer 13 reasons to be thankful coming straight from this prayer psalm of Moses. Some of these reasons to be thankful for God may surprise you.
1) God is where we find our rest, comfort and peace in this life. (v.1)
2) God is the Almighty, everlasting Creator of all things. (v.2)
3) God holds life in His hand. (v.3)
4) God is not limited by time. (v.4-6)
5) God is the only Judge; His judgment is final. (v.7)
6) God sees all sins we commit. (v.8)
7) God follows through on His threat of judgment. (v.9-10)
8) God’s displayed judgment gives us perspective. (v.11-12)
9) God is coming back to get us. (v.13)
10) God is our gladness. (v.14-15)
11) God has given the world evidence of Himself. (v.16)
12) God shows favor to the faithful. (v.17a)
13) God gives us meaning and purpose. (v.17b)
God is infinitely more than a nice old father figure in the sky or a magic genie or a Santa Clause. He's actually none of those things. He's the Almighty Creator and Sovereign Ruler of all things. We praise Him and thank Him for the undeserved blessings, grace, mercy and love that He bestows upon us every day however, we must also be thankful for His judgments, corrections, disciplines, and admonishments. ALL of who God is is why we should be thankful for Him. If God were anything less than who He is and always has been, He would not be totally worthy of our worship. Quite frankly, He would not be God.
Are you thankful for God today?
As I started to reflect on the Thanksgiving holiday, the general scene that came to mind was one of family, food and football. God is very rarely included in this time of thanks, even in the Christian home. This is a sad reality.
The question must be posed as we approach another opportunity to be intentionally thankful:
Are you thankful for God?
If you're a Christian reading this question, it may take you aback. 'What do you mean, am I thankful for God? Of course I am. I'm a Christian.' That's great, we should all be thankful for God.
But really ponder this question: Are we truly thankful for all of who God is?
We love Him for the blessings and of course for Jesus, but do we love ALL of Him? Are we thankful for ALL of Him?
Let's go to Psalm 90.
“Lord, You
have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3 You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
4 For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
4 For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.
7 For we have been consumed by Your
anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Return,
O Lord!And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.”
I want to offer 13 reasons to be thankful coming straight from this prayer psalm of Moses. Some of these reasons to be thankful for God may surprise you.
1) God is where we find our rest, comfort and peace in this life. (v.1)
2) God is the Almighty, everlasting Creator of all things. (v.2)
3) God holds life in His hand. (v.3)
4) God is not limited by time. (v.4-6)
5) God is the only Judge; His judgment is final. (v.7)
6) God sees all sins we commit. (v.8)
7) God follows through on His threat of judgment. (v.9-10)
8) God’s displayed judgment gives us perspective. (v.11-12)
9) God is coming back to get us. (v.13)
10) God is our gladness. (v.14-15)
11) God has given the world evidence of Himself. (v.16)
12) God shows favor to the faithful. (v.17a)
13) God gives us meaning and purpose. (v.17b)
God is infinitely more than a nice old father figure in the sky or a magic genie or a Santa Clause. He's actually none of those things. He's the Almighty Creator and Sovereign Ruler of all things. We praise Him and thank Him for the undeserved blessings, grace, mercy and love that He bestows upon us every day however, we must also be thankful for His judgments, corrections, disciplines, and admonishments. ALL of who God is is why we should be thankful for Him. If God were anything less than who He is and always has been, He would not be totally worthy of our worship. Quite frankly, He would not be God.
Are you thankful for God today?
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