SCRIPTURE: Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his loving-kindness continues forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his loving-kindness continues forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his loving-kindness continues forever. Praise him who alone does mighty miracles, for his loving-kindness continues forever. Praise him who made the heavens, for his loving-kindness continues forever. Praise him who planted the water within the earth,for his loving-kindness continues forever. Praise him who made the heavenly lights, for his loving-kindness continues forever: the sun to rule the day, for his loving-kindness continues forever; and the moon and stars at night, for his loving-kindness continues forever.....He remembered our utter weakness, for his loving-kindness continues forever. And saved us from our foes, for his loving-kindness continues forever! (Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26, TLB) OBSERVATION: I asked myself what are the reasons the Psalmist gives thanks to the Lord? 1. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. 2. Give thanks to the Lord, His loving-kindness continues forever. 3. Praise Him who alone does mighty miracles. 4. Praise Him who made the heavens. 5. Praise Him who planted the water within the earth. 6. Praise Him who made the heavenly lights. 7. Praise Him who made the sun to rule the day. 8. Praise Him who made the moon and stars to rule the night. 9. Praise Him who remembered our utter weakness. 10. Praise Him who saved us from our foes. INTERPRETATION: I asked myself why does the Psalmist reflect on everything the Lord has done? The Psalmist reflects on everything the Lord has done to give Him all the thanks and praise but more than that to remind himself that everything the Lord has done, it is because of His loving-kindness which continues forever! Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus! IMPLICATIONS: I asked myself what are the implications for my own life here? The implications for my own life is to reflect on everything the Lord Jesus has done in my life and pour out my thanksgiving and praise to the Lord for all He has done remembering He has done all this because of His loving-kindness which continues forever. Thank you so much Jesus. So, I decided to reflect upon what happened this past year to give my thanksgiving and praise to the Lord using the alphabet as a tool: A- All the computer accessories such as external harddrives, camera chips, pin drives that you Oh Lord were able to provide for me for Pittsburgh Standard, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus. B - Being able to go with my lovely wife, precious daughter Esther, and my mom to visit my younger brothers for Christmas break, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus. C - Celebrating Esthers 6-Month birthday and the New Year with my darling wife and family, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus. D - Doing the Valentines Day surprise for my beautiful wife Chandra you gave me, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus. E - Everyday being able to spend with my caring Chandra and our beautiful daughter Esther you gave us during the Spring Break and beyond, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus. F - For being able to celebrate with Esther her first Resurrection Sunday/Easter at Oakland International Fellowship, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus. G - Giving me the summer off to spend with my gentle Chandra and our precious daughter Esther including family, I am so thankful and praise you Lord Jesus. H - Having guided my sweet Chandra and I, to start Indian Game Night and dinner, with the diligent help of your wonderful servant Pastor Hugo, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus even as you have given my wife and mom, the strength and willingness to make all the dishes in love. I - I was able to clear out the entire garage packed with stuff with the non stop help of my loving wife Chandra so that we could save money monthly instead of renewing the lease on the garage. So, I thank you and praise you Lord Jesus! J - Jesus, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus for the wonderful time we were able to have in Washington, D.C. sightseeing and touring different places with my lovely wife Chandra, lovely daughter Esther, and family. K - Keeping our precious daughter Esthers 1 year birthday celebration at Oakland International Fellowship with all the friends and family you brought over , the precious gifts you provided for our daughter, the amazing food, and message we could receive on her birthday, we are so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus. L - Lord Jesus, I want to thank you so much and praise you for the prayers of Calvin, Pastor Hugo, Pastor Bucknell, and all those in Transformers small group who prayed for us that Obamacare will not result in me having to have parttime work status and lose our benefits so with your help Oh Lord, I have maintained full time status with benefits because by your grace, I was able to meet the 1560 hrs in a year needed reminding me He does not fear bad news nor dread of what may happen to him for he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him so he can calmly face his foes. M - My prayerful wife Chandras immigration papers to remove conditional residency, I was able to send during the 90 day period with all kinds of evidence with your help and the prayers of your people Oh Lord so for that I thank you so much and praise you Lord Jesus. N - Nicely remembering the true meaning of Christmas, I praise you and thank you Lord Jesus that we were able to celebrate with our precious daughter her first Christmas at 3 months old. O - Our finances you have continued to provide for us and helped us to help those in need so I thank you and praise you for that Oh Lord Jesus. P - Precious birthday of my loving wife Chandra, I was able to celebrate with family to give her a surprise so I am so thankful and praise you for that Lord Jesus. Q - Quiet Times that I have been able to have with you my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ being in your Word and praying, I thank you and praise you so much for that Lord Jesus. R - Redeeming us by dying for our sin on the cross, shedding your precious cleansing blood for us, and coming back to life to save us, I thank you so much Lord Jesus for making our family your children so I am so thankful to you with praise Lord Jesus, for your loving kindness goes on and on forever. S - Singing worship songs to you in Malayalam, Hindi with the help of a dear sister Kristen on the worship team as she introduced new songs by my sweetest Chandra, so for that I am so thankful and praise you Oh Lord Jesus. T - To be able to meet weekly with Pastor Hugo Cheng of Oakland International Fellowship to mentor me and counsel me on different issues as we contemplated starting game night for Indian students that you Oh Lord have helped us sustain through the months providing them a place to hang out and eat homemade dinner so for that I thank you and praise you Lord Jesus. U - Unto you Oh Lord being able to direct our precious daughters tv time, reading time, and video time as Esther loves to listen to songs about you Oh Lord Jesus, I am so thankful and praise you Lord Jesus. V - Very patiently with lots of love how much my mommy and my brothers take care of and play with our precious daughter Esther, I am so thankful to you and praise you Lord Jesus. W - With all the months you have helped us raise our loving daughter Esther to praise you, love the Lords prayer, and grow spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally, and mentally, I thank you so much Lord Jesus, you created all the delicate parts of Esthers body and knit her together in her mommys womb making her so wonderfully complex that your workmanship is so marvelous. You were there while she was being formed in utter seclusion and saw before she was born. All the days of her life have been written in your book. How precious are your thoughts towards her Oh Lord. I cant even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards her and us and when we wake up in the morning, you are always thinking of us. For that I thank you and praise you Lord Jesus. X - Xcited to have gotten an XBox Kinect for my birthday, gift cards, precious greeting cards that are priceless, and an awesome coat for which, I am so thankful and praise you Lord Jesus. Y - You Oh Lord are our Good Shepherd who is watching over our daddy with you and have blessed us to have a wonderful thanksgiving with our family so I am so thankful and praise you Lord Jesus even through the times of hardship that we have gone through. Z - Zealously, you Oh Lord have looked after us and guided us through the days of joy and sadness giving us Your Word to hold our faith and promises on so I thank you and praise you for being there for us and answering our prayers. In Your Precious Name I Prau Oh Lord thanking you and praising you Oh Lord Jesus! Amen! These are only 26 of multiple areas of my life that I am thankful and praise the Lord Jesus for. I am glad to have reflected on what the Lord Jesus has done in my life saving a foreigner like me and that His healing and blessings are not limited to a particular race or ethnicity but Jesus offers Himself to the world to all who would receive Him and come to Him. For He promises, To all who received Him, He gave them right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent but from the will of God (John 1:12) It is in thanksgiving that we recognize that we are nothing on our own and all the things we are blessed with come from Jesus Christ, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. When I give thanks, I am recognizing the One who gave Himself for me with His sacrificial death on the cross coming back to life on the third day to save. When I give thanks, I am figuratively throwing myself at the feet of Jesus to show that I am nothing without Him. He alone is the One who has cleansed me of all my sin and daily transforms my life by His grace. It is His blessings that reveal His unconditional grace. Having an attitude of thanksgiving takes the focus off me and puts the focus on the One who came to change my life around. I ask you now dear friend, what are A - Z things that you have witnessed that you can give T.H.A.N.K.S.G.I.V.I.N.G to the Lord for? Dear friend, the place you give thanksgiving in your life will determine if it is a one day in November thing filled with feasts of food with family and friends or will it be a daily 365 day event filled with the Creators presence in your life and all the blessings He has showered upon your life. Friend, there is excitement to celebrate thanksgiving with family and friends eating a feast but when we focus on the gift alone instead of the giver then we have missed the true meaning of thanksgiving. So when we celebrate Thanksgiving with a feast let us be thankful for all that the Lord Jesus has done in our lives. I know it should not just be confined to the last Thursday of November but daily. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:16-17, NIV) Jesus wants us to always be thankful and that is His will. Yet, so many times we forget to give thanks and that makes Jesus sad. I dont want to make Jesus sad but remember all that Jesus does for me each day. What has been awesome for me to do in the past was write down 5 things that I have been thankful for each day not duplicating any response during the week, otherwise it just becomes a routine and I would write the same things each day. Before the Thanksgiving meal, take time to write 26 things you are thankful to the Lord for this past year using the alphabet A-Z as a guide. Your focus should be on the Lord Jesus for these 26 things. The place we give thanksgiving when that place involves the Lord Jesus Christ will make us well spiritually too as Jesus promised the Samaritan: Then he said to him, Rise and go; your faith has made you well. When we are thankful and grateful remembering what the Lord has done for us, it is also a reflection of our faith. There is a positive correlation between being thankful and our faith. How appropriate is this passage on this day of Thanksgiving 2013 so we do not forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Thank you Jesus for all you have done in my life. I love you Lord Jesus. Let us remember what the Pilgrims did when they came on the Mayflower as their hearts were filled with gratitude and thanks for how the Almighty Savior rescued them and brought them through the harsh times in a new land. Thank you Jesus. This is supposedly the origins of Thanksgiving. I also believe our health and joyfulness in life is tied to thanksgiving! No wonder Jesus says, Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:16-17, NIV) What is giving of thanksgiving anyway than praying continually to the One who is the Giver of all things daily in our lives. Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus. May you remember this day that Thanksgiving is more than just turkey, stuffing, parades, and football but the essence of Thanksgiving is JESUS CHRIST. Amen! The purpose of todays devotional is to understand the importance of being thankful for the things the Lord Jesus has done in our lives instead of taking things for granted knowing there is a positive correlation between being thankful and our faith. Thankful Heart Always Nurtures Kindly Souls, Giving Immanuels Victorious Inspiration Now Graciously! (T.H.A.N.K.S.G.I.V.I.N.G)/What are A-Z things you have witnessed that you can give T.H.A.N.K.S.G.I.V.I.N.G to the Lord for? Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for everything that you have blessed our life with. Help me to be specific each day Oh Lord to thank you and count my blessings in this life you have given me. Thank you so much Jesus. Thank you for all that you have done for our families. I love you Lord and need you. Thanks Lord as we celebrate Thanksgiving, it does not have to be a one day event but a daily event for you are the Giver of all Gifts and the Source of life for us. Thank you so much Jesus for this time and being our Lord and Savior to all who turn their lives to thee because you have given an invitation at the cross of Calvary. Thank you for that invitation which is a free gift of your grace. Thank you that you want us to be thankful in all circumstances so please help us Lord. I love you Jesus and need you. Take me as I am and use me for your honor and glory. Help me live for you Jesus. Thanks so much Jesus for dying for my sin to cover me in your precious blood and coming back to life to save me. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Lord Jesus, You are my all in all. You are my Prince of Peace, Rock, Savior, and Friend. You are my Holy Father guiding me through to live a life of righteousness, holy righteousness. Oh God, I need you more than ever. I need to feel your hands around me holding me tight. I need your love to surround me so that you can glow in my life. Help me please Jesus. I desire in your presence. Thank you for guiding me to live a life of righteousness. Oh God you love me more than ever. You hear my voice when I cry out to you. When I seek your face, you fill me up. You are my all in all. Thank you Jesus so much for your help no matter what I face, your grace is available and you take my case. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN! (Most of the prayer is from a vineyard song called “All in All”) If you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim Gods promises for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You dont have to wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as you pray the prayer below, meaning it in your heart. Prayer: God I am a sinner. I am invaded by this deadliest virus. Many times I feel so guilty and yucky inside. I need forgiveness. I am so sorry for my sins. I have not obeyed you with my whole heart! I have gone my own way and done my own things. I struggle with sin. I need you Jesus in my life so I can receive forgiveness and a new beginning. In the process, I can forgive others as you help me to. Thank you so much Jesus. I accept the antidote you have sent me. I believe Jesus you died for me and your cleansing blood will cleanse me from all my sins. You came back to life to save me. Thank you God I am set free, free from the bondage of sin. Hear my cry Oh Lord. I accept you Jesus into my heart. I make you my Lord and Personal Savior of my life. Thank you Father God for giving me Salvation. Thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. Thank you for being my Lord and personal Savior! I can live a life of peace with you on my side. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me! In your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN!...... The entire devotional with previous devotionals can be found online at pittsburghstandard/NOV2013/EXPRESSIONS/DEVOTIONALS/THANKSGIVING112813.htm
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 17:19:08 +0000
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