Homepage Message: November 2008
’Tis the season to be thankful! November is the month to celebrate Thanksgiving, but should it not be more than one day a month? Surely you can find some thing(s) for which to be thankful every month, in fact everyday! Having a thankful attitude helps to part the gloomy clouds of disappointment, criticism and discouragement. Thanksgiving is not just for times and seasons when life is good. It is also for when life throws you a curve ball and you never saw it coming.
Perhaps you’ve been hurt through the melting economy, maybe your candidate wasn’t elected, and perhaps your health has taken a turn for the worse. Do you have a family member who is serving in Iraq or Afghanistan? Whatever the downside may be—and there always seems to be something—there is still reason to give thanks.
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” —Hebrews 13:5
Is our trust and security in earthly investments or in Jesus who promises to never leave you? Thank the Lord for knowing what you need and promising to provide.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ... So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” —Matthew 6:19-21, 33
We have a God who owns everything, loves you beyond your comprehension and demonstrated that love by hanging on a Roman cross where he took your sin and paid the penalty of death. We have a God who cannot be controlled by death but rose from the dead demonstrating what will happen to every believer when Jesus returns. Is this not reason to be thankful and rejoice? Yes, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel for God is faithful. We will be resurrected and ushered into heaven where disappointment, criticism, discouragement and death will not exist—forever.
The God to whom we offer the sacrifice of praise and thanks is also the God of justice. Sin and rebellion will not continue without discipline. The sins of a nation are not ignored by God nor dismissed. There is a price to pay, but even divine discipline is an act of love, for its purpose is to call us back to him, to return to obedience and love. However, if rebellion continues unabated, God’s discipline will intensify in order to catch our attention.
We can be thankful God is merciful and does all he can—short of forcing us—to receive salvation. So regardless of the political, economic, international and moral climate, God is still God and in control of all things. Not the smallest thing has missed his attention, including your every need and trial.
What does God expect of us? Come before his gracious throne with humility and cry out in prayer, seek God’s face, to draw near to him, turn from our sinful, greedy idolatrous ways then God will hear our cry for help, forgive our sin and heal our land.
This is truly our only hope for America. Give thanks to and for the God of hope.
Your comments are welcome.
Discover this month the power of Jesus’ love and forgiveness.