Latest / 4-Freedom Podcast / 99. Summer Sermons - The Subtle Power of Thankfulness - Jon Hollifield

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99. Summer Sermons - The Subtle Power of Thankfulness - Jon Hollifield · 4-Freedom Podcast

• 0:04
  Welcome to the For Freedom Podcast I.
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  Found my freedom in you. I found a joy.
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  I can't lose. And thank God it's true.
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  You wrapped your arms around me, and heaven broke through from
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  the moment she found. Me.
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  I found my freedom in you. This podcast exists to bring the
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  freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with
• 0:38
  everyday issues. Now here are your hosts John
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  Hollyfield and James Seifert. All right, you can take your
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  Bibles and open up the first Thessalonians, Chapter 5.
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  Our nursery workers are heading out, so if you would like to
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  utilize that, that is more than welcome to.
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  You don't have to, but they're leaving now and we're going to
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  go to 1st Thessalonians Chapter 5.
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  My heart was sort of geared towards this topic last week as.
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  God gave me something while I was mowing.
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  I listened to messages and that type of thing while I mow and
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  and it just really encouraged me and and helped me.
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  And then I knew that this is the direction I was going to be
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  going this week, this Sunday. And so as I I worked on this and
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  prepared this and meditated on these thoughts.
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  I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but it seems
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  that whenever you work on something or you know you're
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  about to present on something, that seems where you have the
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  most challenging week in that area.
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  And so I say that because I say that as I come to this, this
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  Sunday, this, this time, this hour to present this message to
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  you, I feel like that I'm probably the most unworthy to do
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  so this morning, because the very topic that I am presenting
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  this morning has also been something that I've struggled
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  with. This week, and you won't
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  understand this because I am going to be giving a story to
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  explain a little bit of that. But I'm reminded of the pastor
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  that I had growing up used to tell a story of an old preacher
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  named Vance Havner who got up in front of his congregation 1
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  morning and said if you really knew who I was, you would not
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  stay a moment in your seat to listen to me.
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  But hold up, Hoss. Before you get up and leave, if
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  I really knew who you were, I wouldn't waste my time.
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  So if we can all just accept the fact that we are all in process
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  of growing more like Christ, let us go to God's word this morning
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  And this thought. I'm going to begin with this
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  verse and then we're going to look a couple of ideas.
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  First Thessalonians chapter #5. And here in First Thessalonia
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  chapter 5, Paul preaching or giving his letter to this group.
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  He is finishing up the letter and giving some exhortations to
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  the congregation there at Thessalonica.
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  And he says many things that you've probably heard several
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  times. And he says that verse 15 see no
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  one renders evil for evil and to anyone.
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  But always pursue that what is good both for yourselves and for
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  all, he says in verse 16, Rejoice.
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  Always he says in verse 17, pray without ceasing.
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  And he says this in verse 18. In everything give thanks, for
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  this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you and
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  everything give thanks at everything.
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  Give thanks, thankfulness, Thanksgiving.
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  Or maybe we could say gratitude may just be the most neglected
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  power. Provided for the Christian
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  today. I really do believe that as I've
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  studied this, as I've understood this topic so progressively over
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  the last two years, I really think that this is neglected.
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  A lot of things are hit, but we tend to just really relegate
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  this to Thanksgiving time, right?
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  You hear your Thanksgiving message in November, and that's
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  about it. And so we thank for thank.
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  We've sort of categorized it for the 11th month of the year and
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  then Oh yeah, we're supposed to be thankful, but never really
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  understanding and utilizing that as how it's supposed to be a
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  part of our everyday life and seeing how it transforms our
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  heart to grow more like Christ. Significant emphasis is given in
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  the scriptures for the role of giving thanks.
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  In the believer's life and the impact that it can have as well.
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  Before we dive into this, however, we need to set a
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  foundation for where we are going.
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  The very term itself suggests a few things, Thanksgiving or
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  thankfulness, and it must be understood.
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  It suggests #1. There is someone to offer this
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  gratitude towards. Get that?
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  To say that you're thankful or giving thanks or Thanksgiving or
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  thankfulness, it suggests that there is someone that you were
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  sending this idea of thanks to #2.
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  There is something for which you are offering your gratitude for.
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  In other words, let me explain it this way.
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  There is an object of the Thanksgiving and a subject.
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  For which you are thankful for. So just to say I'm thankful we
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  can't say this empty minded right.
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  We can't just say oh I'm thankful for that.
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  Well, who are you thankful to? And what?
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  Are you thankful for? Because this has become such a
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  part of our culture, I think that even nonbelievers,
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  Christians say all the time they're thankful.
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  And it has always made me curious.
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  To whom are they thankful? And for.
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  What are they? Thankful.
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  This week, while I was in Murphysboro at work, I I stopped
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  over at Barnes and Noble. I know, not a treasure trove of
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  jewels, right? But I was looking for something.
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  And then I was walking through one of the book aisles and I was
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  just curious. Sometimes I get curious, like
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  what is on the shelves. And it was fascinating to me
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  that as I was walking through, I was noticing a lot of the titles
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  on this one shelf right here, and it was about narcissism.
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  And how to protect from a narcissism.
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  And how to How to help a narcissism.
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  And it's like all this. I was like, man, there's a lot
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  of books about narcissism. And then I turned around this.
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  Literally, I was. I almost busted out laughing at
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  Barnes and Noble. I turned around and on the other
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  bookshelf corresponding to that, it was book after book after
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  book on self love. How to achieve greater self
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  love. And I'm like look.
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  It's Make yourself a narcissist and then how to defend yourself
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  from a narcissist. It's like what the the?
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  Disconnect in our culture, but that is the message that is shot
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  out. I actually looked some of this
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  up to as as my curiosity grew in this and found this.
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  Literally this was what the website was.
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  The head of the article was a prayer of self gratitude.
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  Think about that. It is teaching someone how to
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  pray a prayer to yourself on being thankful for yourself.
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  I want to read it for you this morning if I can selfgratitude
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  is the acknowledgement. Well, it's not the prayer.
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  This is the explanation of what this is.
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  Selfgratitude is the acknowledgement and appreciation
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  of what one has as opposed to deserving.
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  I commented, The only thing you have apart from what God has
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  given you, is a depraved nature that desires to rebel against
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  the Holy God. I wonder what you have that you
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  should be thankful for. The definition of gratitude is
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  the quality of being thankful, readiness to show appreciation
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  for and return, and to return, kindness.
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  Therefore, to be grateful, one must first recognize what they
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  have. Self gratitude means
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  understanding and appreciating all that we have and the good in
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  our lives. Nothing you have that is good in
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  your life came from you. So therefore thinking yourself
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  is thievery. It is stealing the deserved
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  praise that should go to the one who has provided it for you,
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  they continue. It's a way to take control of
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  our thoughts about ourselves. Selfgratitude is not just about
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  what we do or how we look, but about who we are inside.
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  Well, Romans 3 gives us some instruction about that.
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  It says none is righteous. No not one, no one understands,
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  no one seeks. For God.
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  All have turned aside. Together they have become
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  worthless. No one does good, not even one.
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  Their throat is an open grave. They use.
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  They use their tongues to deceive.
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  The venom of ASPs or serpents is under their lips.
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  Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
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  Their feet are swift to shed blood, and their paths are ruin
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  and misery and the way of peace They have not known.
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  There is No Fear of God before their eyes.
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  Genesis 65 says the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was
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  great in the earth, and that every inclination on thoughts of
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  his heart was only evil continually.
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  I believe their concept of self thankfulness is bankrupt,
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  especially when we compare it to the truth of God's word.
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  But as we are delving into this subject of thankfulness.
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  And we approach this idea of biblical thankfulness.
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  I think after that we need a biblical cleansing, if you will.
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  So stay with me as I read some scriptures on the idea or the
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  truth of thankfulness or Thanksgiving from the word of
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  God. First Chronicles, 1680.
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  Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his
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  deeds among the peoples. 16340 Give thanks to the Lord, for he
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  is good for his steadfast love indoors forever.
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  Verse 35 Say also save us, oh God of our salvation, and gather
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  and deliver us from among the nations that we may.
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  Give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
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  Psalm 717 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His
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  righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord,
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  the Most High. Psalm 91 I will give thanks to
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  the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all your
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  wonderful deeds. Psalm 26 seven proclaiming
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  Thanksgiving aloud and telling all your wondrous deeds.
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  Psalm 28 Seven The Lord is my strength and my shield.
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  In him my heart trusts. And I am helped my heart exults.
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  And with song, With my song I give thanks to him.
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  Psalm 30, verse four, sing praises to the Lord oh you his
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  Saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
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  Verse 12. That my glory may sing your
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  praise and not be silent. Oh Lord my God.
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  I will give thanks to you forever.
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  Psalm 33 two, give thanks to the Lord with the liar, make melody
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  to him with the harp of 10 strings.
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  Psalm 44, eight and God, we have boasted continually, and we will
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  give thanks to your name forever.
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  Psalm 50, verse 14 and 15 Offer to God a sacrifice of
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  Thanksgiving and perform your vows to the Most High.
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  Call upon me, and the day of trouble I will deliver you, and
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  you shall glorify me. Psalm 50, verse 23 The one who
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  offers Thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.
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  The one who orders his way rightly.
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  I will show the salvation of God.
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  Psalm 54 six with a free will offering, I will sacrifice to
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  you. I will give thanks to your name,
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  oh Lord, for it is good. Psalm 57 nine.
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  I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the peoples.
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  I will sing praises to you among the nations.
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  Psalm 6930. I will praise the name of God
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  with a song. I will magnify him with
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  Thanksgiving. Psalm 75 One we give thanks to
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  you. Oh God, we give thanks.
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  For your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.
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  Psalm 7913. But we, your people, the sheep
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  of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever.
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  From generation to generation, we will recount your praise.
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  Psalm 8612. I give thanks to you, oh Lord,
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  my God, with my whole heart I will glorify your name forever.
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  Psalm 92.1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord to seeing
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  praises to your name almost high.
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  Psalm 95 Two Let us come into His presence with Thanksgiving.
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  Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.
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  Psalm 9712 Rejoice in the Lord, oh you righteous, and give
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  thanks to His holy name. Then there's Psalm 100.
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  Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth.
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  Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with
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  singing. Know that the Lord He is God.
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  It is He who made us, and we are His.
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  We are His people and the sheep of his pasture.
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  Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with
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  praise. Give thanks to him.
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  Bless his name, for the Lord is good.
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  His steadfast love endures forever.
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  And his faithfulness to all generations.
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  Psalm 1O51-O Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name.
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  Make known his deeds among the peoples.
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  Psalm 1O61 Praise the Lord. O give thanks to the Lord for
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  his good, for his steadfast love endure forever.
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  Verse 47. Save us, O Lord our God, and
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  gather us from among the nations that we may give.
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  Thanks. To your holy name and glory in
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  your praise. Psalm 1071 Okay.
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  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good for his steadfast love
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  endures forever. If you have not caught on, that
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  is a phrase that is repreited very, very often.
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  What is one of the great reasons to give thanks to God?
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  Because his steadfast love endures.
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  How long? Forever.
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  Forever. Get a grip and get a concept of
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  that steadfast love of God. Psalm 1/07/22 And let them offer
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  sacrifices of Thanksgiving and tell of his deeds and songs of
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  joy. Psalm 108 Three I will give
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  thanks to you, oh Lord, among the peoples.
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  I will see praises to you among the nations.
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  Psalm 1/09/30 with my mouth. With my mouth I will give thanks
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  to the Lord. I will praise him in the midst
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  of the throng. Psalm 111.
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  One praise the Lord. I will give thanks to the Lord
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  with my whole heart and the company of the upright in the
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  congregation. Someone. 1617 I will offer to
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  you the sacrifice of Thanksgiving and call on the
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  name of the Lord. Someone 1810 Give thanks to the
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  Lord, for he is good for his steadfast love and doors
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  forever. 1st 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness that I
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  may enter through them with, and give thanks to the Lord.
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  And then verse 28. You are my God, and I will give
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  thanks to you. You are my God.
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  I extol you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for
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  he is good for his steadfast love and doors forever.
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  Psalm 122 Four, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the
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  Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of
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  the Lord. Psalm 136 One give thanks to the
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  Lord, for he is good, for steadfast love endures forever.
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  Verse two give thanks to the God of gods.
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  For his steadfast love endures forever.
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  Verse three give thanks to the Lord of Lords.
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  For his steadfast love endures forever.
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  Verse 26 Give thanks to the God of Heaven, For his steadfast
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  love endures forever. Psalm 138.
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  Verse one and two, I give you thanks the Lord with my whole
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  heart. Before the gods I sing your
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  praise. I bow down toward your holy
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  temple, and I give thanks to your name for the your steadfast
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  love and your faithfulness. For you have exalted above all
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  things your name and your word. Verse four.
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  And all the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
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  for they have heard the words of your mouth.
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  Psalm 140, verse 13. Surely the righteous shall give
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  thanks to your name. The upright shall dwell in your
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  presence. Psalm 142, seven, Bring me out
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  of prison, that I may give thanks to your name.
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  The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully
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  with me. Psalm 14510 All your work shall
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  give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your Saints shall bless you.
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  Psalm 147 seven sing to the Lord with Thanksgiving, make melody
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  to our God on the liar, 2nd Corinthians 214 tells us, But
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  thanks be to God. Why?
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  Who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and
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  through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him
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  everywhere? Wow, How many times have we let
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  that thought under get a hold of our minds as we go in public?
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  That is, we are going out. We are going out with the
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  presence of God, and we are taking the presence of God into
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  the public square. Oh, thank the Lord for that.
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  First, Timothy 4/4 for everything created by God is
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  good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with
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  Thanksgiving. Well, that's a lot of lot of
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  verses on Thanksgiving actually removed several.
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  I hope you understand now before we move to the next point, the
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  importance. Of Thanksgiving, how the Bible
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  has has put an emphasis at least.
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  We just looked at the songs, maybe a few verses here and
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  there from Chronicles and the New Testament.
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  We just looked at the songs and why Thanksgiving is vital.
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  Now I want to talk about the product of thankfulness.
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  The product of thankfulness. And these are just a few points
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  as I've studied this a little bit.
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  I don't think this is an exhaustive list.
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  I think that there is more things that you could.
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  You about the product now, I'm just going to go at it from a
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  perspective of spiritual truth. Years ago, I don't know if some
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  of you remember this, but Pastor Steve used to preach a message
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  on Thanksgiving where he actually had an entire section.
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  It's been about 15 minutes that that physicians have studied
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  this, that those who have a heart of Thanksgiving, those who
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  have that made Thanksgiving part of their daily life and the
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  effect that it had on their physical health.
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  I'm not going to deal with that this morning, but it is
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  beneficial to you. But the product of thankfulness,
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  first of all, our struggle of sin should produce thankfulness.
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  You think this is the thing that I should be most frustrated
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  with. I think you see that and Paul
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  enrollments Chapter 7. Romans Chapter 7, verse 14
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  through the end of the chapter. What is he doing?
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  He's sitting there talking about his struggle with sin and he's
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  saying he gets to the end of it and he goes what?
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  What does he say? He says, oh wretched man that I
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  am, you see frustration there, right?
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  But how does he end? Look at verse.
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  Romans 7 verse 25 says this Thanks be to God through Jesus
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  Christ our Lord. So then I myself serve the law
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  of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
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  Our struggle with sin should point us to the fact that this
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  is Christ's process of growing in us and it should spur us on
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  to thankfulness #2. Thankfulness helps defeat sexual
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  sin. I talked about this whenever we
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  covered Ephesians 5 last year and our study in Ephesians.
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  But let me just hit this really quick.
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  Thankfulness helps defeat sexual sin, visions 5, three and four.
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  But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must
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  not even be named among you, as is proper among Saints.
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  Let there be no filthiness or foolish talk, nor crib joking,
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  which are all out of place. All of those things put off.
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  What do you replace it with? But instead let there be
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  Thanksgiving. Let there be Thanksgiving.
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  What? What?
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  What is the the the concept there?
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  Think about that. Think about that.
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  What is going on in the heart whenever sexual sin is is
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  warring with us. It is the idea We call this.
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  We said something up in a word called lust, right?
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  And what is lust? What is lust?
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  Lust is I want what I don't have.
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  Well, how does thankfulness combat that?
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  I'm getting to my conclusion, so I'm trying to.
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  I'm giving it away already, All right.
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  Thankfulness says I am content with what God has provided for
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  me. #3 thankfulness cures anxiety.
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  What? Yeah, Thankfulness cures
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  anxiety. Philippians 4, Philippians 4-6.
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  Maybe you've heard this passage. Do not be anxious about
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  anything. You know that, right?
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  We could. Don't be anxious about anything.
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  Some of you probably said. I'm sick and tired of hearing
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  people say don't be anxious about anything.
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  We'll finish the verse but in everything.
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  So put off the anxiety. Put off the anxious about
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  anything. But put on what by prayer and
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  supplication. With Thanksgiving let your
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  request be made known to God. I was listening to just a
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  session by David Pallison on the they might mean something to
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  some of you, may mean nothing to many of you.
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  But David Palace and said, you know what anxiety is?
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  He said it is temporary. He said you have a mild case of
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  atheism and I laughed at that. He was like like say it like a
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  doctor. Do you have a mild case of
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  atheism? What it is, is in the moment
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  that we let that anxiety hit us. And I say we, because I've been
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  open about, even I struggle with that sometimes.
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  We let that going on at that moment and we forget completely
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  about who that thing has become. This in our eyes.
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  And we're not thinking those slew of Psalms that we just
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  read. Thankfulness cures anxiety #4
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  Thankfulness strengthens your faith.
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  Thankfulness strengthens your faith.
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  Colossians 27 rooted and built up in him and established in the
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  faith, just as you were taught, Abounding in Thanksgiving #5
• 23:59
  thankfulness helps me enjoy my liberty in Christ.
• 24:04
  That's an odd one, right? But as I was studying through
• 24:06
  this, I was fascinated by this passage that I got, and I
• 24:09
  studied that. I thought maybe this was saying
• 24:11
  one thing. At one point I studied the rest
• 24:13
  of the continent. I was like, oh, that's what it's
• 24:14
  saying. Thankfulness helps enjoy, helps
• 24:18
  me enjoy my liberty and Christ. 1st Corinthians, 1028.
• 24:22
  But if someone says to you this has been offered in sacrifice,
• 24:26
  then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and
• 24:29
  for the sake of conscience. Verse 29.
• 24:32
  I do not mean your conscience, but his.
• 24:36
  For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's
• 24:39
  conscience? It's a good question.
• 24:42
  Verse 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced
• 24:50
  because of that for which I give thanks?
• 24:53
  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, due all to the
• 24:58
  glory of God, you know that verse, don't you?
• 25:01
  But what is the context of it? What you had going on in this
• 25:04
  church where people that said we were saved and we, you know,
• 25:09
  we're pagans and we, you know, offered meat to idols when we
• 25:13
  were pagans and we ate it. And you had some in the church
• 25:16
  that were Jewish. And we're like, no, that's
• 25:18
  against the law. We can't do that.
• 25:20
  We don't eat anything that's offered to idols.
• 25:22
  So you're like, hey, will you come over to dinner?
• 25:25
  And so they're they're over there having a dinner.
• 25:27
  And they look around and they're like, where'd you get this
• 25:30
  chicken? It's really good.
• 25:31
  Oh, well, it was offered at the local gods down there, but they
• 25:34
  were selling it the next day. So we got it.
• 25:35
  Isn't it great? What?
• 25:39
  I'm so offended. And these are the types of
• 25:41
  things that was going on within the church.
• 25:43
  And so Paul was like, let me help you out here.
• 25:46
  And so he's given some basic guidelines and how to deal with
• 25:49
  those who are have a sensitive conscience, a weak conscience
• 25:52
  and a strong conscience. And this is not the message to
• 25:55
  go into all of that. But he gets to this point and he
• 25:59
  says this. He says, by the way, for those
• 26:02
  of you who have a strong conscience and your liberty is
• 26:06
  not invoked, your your liberty is not infringed upon by eating
• 26:10
  that meat. Why?
• 26:14
  What is the motivation there that you should be able to have
• 26:17
  a strong liberty in Christ? And he says it's because of
• 26:21
  thankfulness, because if you can eat that and you can genuinely
• 26:26
  give thanks to God. For it by all means partake.
• 26:34
  Now he gives instructions about not offending the one with the
• 26:36
  weaker conscience. And then he says what?
• 26:39
  He sums it up with what 1st, 31. So whether you eat the chicken
• 26:48
  that you think is really bad. Chicken or you drink juice or
• 26:53
  wine. Not going there?
• 26:56
  OK, whatever you do, do all to who?
• 27:02
  The glory of God? What does he say?
• 27:06
  When it comes down to it, it all boils down to where is your
• 27:09
  heart? In the area of thankfulness.
• 27:14
  Thankfulness helps me enjoy my liberty in Christ.
• 27:16
  I got two more Generosity will produce thankfulness.
• 27:21
  Generosity will produce thankfulness. 2nd Corinthians
• 27:24
  9/11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in
• 27:28
  every way which through us will produce Thanksgiving to God.
• 27:34
  If you look at the whole of that passage in 2nd Corinthians 9
• 27:37
  from verse one all the way to verse 11, what is the
• 27:39
  instructions of the passage is all about giving and generosity
• 27:43
  within the church. And he says This is why you
• 27:46
  should be a generous believer. You should be a generous member
• 27:49
  in the church, because what does it do?
• 27:51
  It will produce Thanksgiving in your life.
• 27:57
  Grace is the last one I have, and I've lost track of the
• 28:00
  number. Grace increases Thanksgiving.
• 28:04
  This is the products of thankfulness.
• 28:06
  Grace increases thankfulness. Second Corinthians 415 For it is
• 28:10
  all for your sake. So that as grace extends to more
• 28:14
  and more people, it may increase Thanksgiving to the glory of
• 28:20
  God. All right, so this is where I
• 28:23
  want to move. So I wanted to give you a
• 28:24
  product of what thankfulness can do in your life.
• 28:27
  And so here's where I'm going to deal with the Rubbermaster Rd.
• 28:29
  This is .3. Or application?
• 28:31
  I don't know. It's a little bit of a
• 28:32
  homolytical mess, if you will. Okay.
• 28:35
  But here we go. This is what I call this really
• 28:37
  bad title of this point. The Connection of Thankfulness.
• 28:40
  The Connection of Thankfulness. I didn't know what else to call
• 28:42
  it, but go with me here. All right?
• 28:45
  Thankfulness is directly connected to contentment.
• 28:52
  Thankfulness is directly connected to contentment.
• 28:57
  The roller coaster of life always brings with it the subtle
• 29:00
  temptation to wish that things were different, does it not?
• 29:07
  Think about it. Whether it's the big things or
• 29:10
  the little things, when those things happen that we wish
• 29:14
  didn't go that way, we begin to think, why did it happen this
• 29:19
  way? Whether it's a massive family
• 29:22
  decision, where it's a family mess up, whether it's this
• 29:24
  person doing this thing, whatever it is, or whether it is
• 29:27
  smoke detectors just not doing what they're supposed to do, I'm
• 29:31
  going to get to that in just a second.
• 29:33
  That frustration begins to work within on side of us.
• 29:36
  A subtle temptation to think I want things to be different
• 29:43
  instead of as they are. That whatever trial, hardship,
• 29:50
  difficulty or inconvenience we are going through at the time,
• 29:53
  we wish it were different. This type of thinking sows the
• 29:57
  seeds of discontentment in our hearts, which grows
• 30:00
  unthankfulness or ingratitude in our lives.
• 30:06
  This is the address where our struggle with Thanksgiving
• 30:09
  lives, the area of contentment in our heart.
• 30:15
  Why 2 passages 2 passages I read one first Thessalonians 518 and
• 30:24
  everything. Give thanks for this is the will
• 30:28
  of God in Christ Jesus for you. Another one is Ephesians 520,
• 30:31
  Ephesians 520, giving thanks always for all things to God the
• 30:37
  Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 30:40
  Now one of these two verses point out that exposes what
• 30:43
  we're talking about. Here it is, one little word in
• 30:47
  the features, 522 words and 1st Thessalonians 518.
• 30:51
  We can sum it up this way, giving thanks what always for
• 30:57
  all circumstances. Our struggle is between the
• 31:00
  already and the not yet finding contentment and the all
• 31:03
  circumstances of life, whether it's the little things and the
• 31:08
  big thing. So I want to talk to you first
• 31:10
  about the contentment and the little things.
• 31:12
  Philippians 411. Paul says here not that I am
• 31:15
  Speaking of being in need, for I've learned what did you learn,
• 31:21
  Paul? That in whatever situation I am
• 31:24
  to be content. I know how to be brought low, I
• 31:30
  know how to abound, and any and every circumstances I have
• 31:35
  learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance,
• 31:42
  and need. Before I finish the point here,
• 31:45
  let me give you 2 encouragements of what Paul's saying here so
• 31:48
  you don't get too discouraged about where you're at.
• 31:52
  Understand what Paul says #1 He learned this.
• 31:59
  This tells us two things. Number one, that Paul had
• 32:02
  achieved it in his spiritual walk with Christ.
• 32:05
  He had achieved this contentment #2.
• 32:08
  He had to. Learn it.
• 32:12
  Which I don't know about you. That is encouraging to me
• 32:16
  because it tells me this. There was a time in Paul's life
• 32:19
  where he wasn't there, and so if I feel like I'm not there, then
• 32:23
  I don't feel like I'm such a bad company #2 It encouraged me
• 32:28
  because it also says that Paul learned this.
• 32:31
  This means I can learn this attitude of contentment.
• 32:38
  Jeremiah Burroughs of Puritan, who wrote the book The Rare
• 32:41
  Jewel of Christian Commitment, said this in A clock Stop but
• 32:45
  one wheel, and you stop every wheel because they are dependent
• 32:50
  upon one another. So when God has ordered a thing
• 32:56
  for the present to be thus and thus, how do you know how many
• 33:00
  things depend upon this thing? God may have some work to do 20
• 33:07
  years hence. That depends on the passage of
• 33:10
  Providence that falls out this day or this week.
• 33:17
  What a God centered mindset. I struggled with that this week.
• 33:24
  There was a lot of things just happening.
• 33:26
  Like I said, I felt like everything was going on and and
• 33:28
  and this thing sort of happened. This thing sort of happened.
• 33:30
  And the whole time in the back of my mind, I'm like, you're
• 33:33
  preaching on thankfulness on Sunday.
• 33:36
  Yeah. And I'm just like.
• 33:38
  Her And it's like, no, you're you're going to be dealing with
• 33:41
  this. Are you going to be thankful in
• 33:42
  this? And it got the better of me
• 33:44
  because this thing happened. This thing happened and then the
• 33:47
  girls come down on our house, we have the girls are upstairs and
• 33:52
  our oldest girls, Madison and Kinsey, and they have smoke
• 33:54
  detectors in their room and they're, you know how smoke
• 33:57
  detector does whenever the battery goes low and it gets the
• 33:59
  chirp, really high pitched, annoying noise.
• 34:03
  Beep. And so I've I've been through
• 34:06
  this before. I know what's going on.
• 34:08
  OK. Batteries are they're like, Dad
• 34:10
  is bothering us and I'm like, OK, so we go, We get batteries
• 34:13
  for it. By the time it's bedtime that
• 34:15
  night, I go up there, I start changing out the batteries, I
• 34:17
  change out the batteries and every single one put it back in.
• 34:20
  There you go, girls, everything's good.
• 34:23
  You can go to bed 30 seconds later.
• 34:26
  Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I know these are brand new
• 34:29
  batteries. I just opened up the package
• 34:31
  when I got them back from Lowe's.
• 34:33
  So what is the deal? And it's dwelling up inside of
• 34:36
  me. OK, so I'm like, OK, YouTube has
• 34:39
  all the answers. So I go to YouTube and I'm like,
• 34:41
  why does my smoke detector keep chirping?
• 34:44
  And the the the video says, well, you have to drain all the
• 34:47
  power out of the smoke detector, the remaining power before you
• 34:51
  put the new battery in. And it showed me how to do this.
• 34:53
  So it says you press the button, hold it for 15 seconds, that
• 34:56
  drains it out, then you put the new battery in.
• 34:59
  So I'm like, OK, I can do that. I go up there, disconnect all of
• 35:02
  them. Pull the batteries out, press
• 35:04
  the button. Do it.
• 35:06
  All right, that one's done. Get it back in there.
• 35:09
  Press the other one. I do all of that.
• 35:11
  Get it back. They're all connected.
• 35:12
  I'm like, all right, girls, you can go to bed.
• 35:14
  You're good. I go downstairs.
• 35:16
  That is still chirping. I go back upstairs, It's still
• 35:25
  chirping. I'm like, well, which one's
• 35:27
  chirping? So we go stand under this one.
• 35:29
  We are the chirp down here. It's not this one.
• 35:32
  We go down here, we look under this one.
• 35:34
  We have a chirp down here. What's going on?
• 35:37
  I feel like I'm going insane. So they like we're.
• 35:41
  This is my only thing I know how to do.
• 35:42
  I'm going to pull everything, disconnect it, and I'll stick it
• 35:45
  outside for 24 hours and let it just go completely dead.
• 35:48
  And that's what I'm going to do. Okay.
• 35:51
  Well, they sleep downstairs the next day.
• 35:52
  I get home from work. I do that.
• 35:54
  I pull them all apart. I stick them outside.
• 35:56
  They're down there. And then I take it back.
• 36:01
  No, all of the smoke detectors were gone.
• 36:02
  I'm like, there's no smoke detectors in there.
• 36:04
  They're all outside, so there's no noise.
• 36:07
  Go to bed. Mackenzie comes up.
• 36:10
  Dad is still chirping up. It's in your head.
• 36:15
  It's got to be in your head. Go back upstairs.
• 36:18
  Send your older sister down. Madison comes down.
• 36:20
  I said, Madison, is this still chirping upstairs?
• 36:23
  She's like, yes, Dad, the frustration is there.
• 36:28
  At this point, I'm just like, I'm done with it.
• 36:31
  So I go up there, I'm looking. There are no smoke detectors,
• 36:35
  There's just wires hanging in all three spots.
• 36:38
  And yes, I hear beep, I hear the chirp.
• 36:42
  So I call my dad. I'm like, dad, I got a stupid
• 36:46
  question for you. I said, if I have removed the
• 36:48
  entire smoke detector, there should be no noise coming,
• 36:51
  right? I mean, if it's not there at
• 36:54
  all, the wires shouldn't be chirping, right?
• 36:57
  He's like, what are you talking about?
• 36:59
  So I explained the entire situation to him.
• 37:01
  And he's like, you're telling me that the physical smoke detector
• 37:04
  is not in the house. It's just wires hanging and it's
• 37:07
  still chirping. I'm like, yeah, is it in the
• 37:09
  walls? Like, do we have a smoke
• 37:12
  detector inside the wall that we covered up or something?
• 37:15
  He's like, no, I was like, I don't know what it is.
• 37:17
  And this is what he tells me. He says, Son, go get Mary, tell
• 37:21
  her to come upstairs, get fresh ears on it and see if she can
• 37:24
  figure out exactly where it's happening.
• 37:26
  I said okay. So I'm like, I'm going insane.
• 37:29
  I'm so done with this. I'm ready to just like, burn the
• 37:33
  upstairs down. I go downstairs like, Mary, can
• 37:36
  you just go upstairs is all I want you to do.
• 37:37
  Just listen. Find out exactly where you think
• 37:41
  that Chirping's coming from. Just point at it.
• 37:44
  I may have to tear a hole in the wall.
• 37:46
  She goes up there. No lie. 35 seconds later she
• 37:50
  comes down. I found your problem.
• 37:53
  We had an old smoke detector that had been disconnected for
• 37:57
  at least a year, sitting in a box covered up by a bunch of
• 37:59
  clutter that had a failing battery in it.
• 38:02
  And it was just a chirp and and I totally missed it.
• 38:08
  And at that moment, I'm like, I'm thankful for my wife.
• 38:14
  But it's those moments, those moments of frustration.
• 38:19
  As soon as that sets in is precisely when my amnesia.
• 38:22
  Hits I have forgotten God. I have forsaken the one who
• 38:27
  never forsakes me and failed to see that he has brought the
• 38:30
  aggravation in my life to drive me to him.
• 38:34
  Because you know one thing I didn't do through all of it?
• 38:37
  I didn't pray. I did not pray.
• 38:41
  I did not see God. I did not seek his, his, you
• 38:45
  know and thank him for the house that we had.
• 38:47
  I was cursing smoke detectors. These are the little things that
• 38:54
  God has you uses in our lives. The aggravation whenever a
• 38:57
  machine just does not work after we've done everything to it to
• 39:00
  fix it. The things when wires are not
• 39:03
  connecting and and the the sound system just isn't doing
• 39:06
  everything we know it should be doing.
• 39:09
  These are the things that God has allowed and ordained in our
• 39:12
  lives to mold us more into his image.
• 39:17
  But those are the little things. What about contentment and the
• 39:21
  big things? Second Corinthians 12/10.
• 39:25
  For the sake of Christ then I am content.
• 39:30
  What is he content with Paul? What are you content with?
• 39:33
  I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships,
• 39:40
  persecutions, and. These are contentment in the big
• 39:47
  things. Again, I go to Jeremiah
• 39:50
  Burroughs, he says. If I become content by having my
• 39:54
  desire satisfied, that is only self love.
• 40:00
  But when I am contented with the hand of God, and I'm willing to
• 40:03
  be at his disposal, that comes from my love to God.
• 40:09
  Wow. In the 1800s, there was a
• 40:14
  Lutheran pastor in Sweden named Pastor Sandal, and he had a
• 40:19
  daughter. Her name was Carolina.
• 40:21
  A lot of people just called her Lina.
• 40:24
  She loved her dad. She, her and her dad were best.
• 40:27
  She would, her dad would study in his office and as a little
• 40:30
  girl, Carolina would just sort of go in there with her dolls in
• 40:33
  his office and play next to his desk.
• 40:35
  She just wanted to be near her dad all the time.
• 40:38
  She loved her dad. As she grew older she saw her
• 40:41
  dad's devotion to Christ and this spurred in her devotion for
• 40:44
  Christ as well. And so she began at a young age
• 40:47
  and a teenager age and a young adult to begin writing hymns out
• 40:52
  of her honor for Christ. She wrote many songs, many hymns
• 40:55
  and and when she was in her early 20s about 25, her and her
• 41:00
  dad were on a a riverboat cruise and something had locked up with
• 41:06
  the engine as they were standing on the deck and her dad fell
• 41:09
  overboard and she witnessed as her dad perished in the water,
• 41:14
  she lost her dad whom she loved greatly.
• 41:19
  About 3 weeks later, Carolina decided to work through the
• 41:25
  healing of losing her beloved father threw a way that she many
• 41:30
  times took her struggles to Christ and that was writing a
• 41:33
  hymn and she crafted the words to this him that we sing in our
• 41:38
  churches today. He goes day by day and with each
• 41:43
  passing moment strength I find to meet my trials here I watch
• 41:51
  this trusting in my father's. Think about that.
• 41:58
  She called God, she lost her, but she called God, saw him as
• 42:03
  her father. What was it that she was
• 42:06
  trusting in him? He whose heart is kind beyond
• 42:24
  all measure, gives unto us each day what he deems best.
• 42:08
  His wise bestowment? I've no calls for worry or for.
• 42:34
  This is the part I underlined and put in bold print lovingly.
• 42:39
  It's part of pain and pleasure mingling toil with peace and
• 42:48
  rest. That's not what we want.
• 42:52
  But in his wise bestowment, that's what we need, Hearst,
• 42:59
  too, says. Every day the Lord himself is
• 43:02
  near me with a special mercy, For each hour all my cares he
• 43:10
  feigned would bear and cheer me. He whose name is counselor, and
• 43:16
  power the protection of his child and treasure, is a charge
• 43:23
  that on himself he laid as thy days thy strength shall be in
• 43:30
  measure. This the pledge to me he made
• 43:35
  first three says help me then, and every tribulation so to
• 43:41
  trust thy promises, O Lord, that I lose not faith.
• 43:46
  Sweet consolation offered me within what thy holy word help
• 43:55
  me Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, err to take as from a
• 44:01
  father's hand. 1 by 1 the days, the moments fleeting, till with
• 44:10
  Christ the Lord I stand. I think that she realized
• 44:18
  another aspect of thankfulness that is this, that it is healing
• 44:25
  thankfulness. Thanksgiving, a heart filled
• 44:29
  with contentment and gratitude heals in our moments of great
• 44:36
  trial. I conclude conclude this morning
• 44:42
  with this, that is the future of Thanksgiving, the future of
• 44:47
  Thanksgiving, Revelation 49 says.
• 44:50
  And where whenever the living creatures give glory and honor
• 44:56
  and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever
• 45:02
  and ever, what is our future? Behold, our future is an
• 45:07
  eternity of giving thanks to God for the Lamb who was slain, for
• 45:15
  the Lamb who was slain, for the Christ who gave his sinless
• 45:18
  perfect life on the cross for sinners and rose again on the
• 45:23
  third day. So we know we're going to be
• 45:27
  doing that in eternity. Let's be geared to that here in
• 45:32
  the already and not yet. Let's pray,
• 45:59
  Father, We thank you for so many things we readily recognize we
• 46:12
  do not deserve, and how quickly we are to forget
• 46:26
  them, to forget the reasons for our gratitude, to forget the
• 46:32
  reasons why and your wisdom. You have brought the things into
• 46:36
  our life that truly we need. Father, I pray for us this
• 46:47
  morning that you do the work that only you can do, and that
• 46:53
  is change our heart, change our heart and fill it with
• 47:05
  Thanksgiving that we can, like Paul, find in all things, in all
• 47:17
  circumstances, that we can give thanks we can be.
• 47:24
  Thankful, Father, as we come now to the portion of where we
• 47:32
  remember you, remember the sacrifice of Christ.
• 47:37
  On the cross, help us to be overflowing with a heart of
• 47:43
  gratitude for your dear Son. We love you and we give you
• 47:54
  praise in Jesus name. Amen.
• 48:00
  Found my new name. Found that good grace.
• 48:04
  Found that healing. And the tears fell down my face.
• 48:08
  When I found my beginning. That has no ending.
• 48:12
  Found that second chance. Found my best friend.
• 48:15
  Found my forgiveness. Found my happiness?
• 48:31
  Thanks for listening to the For Freedom podcast.
• 48:33
  If you enjoyed the content of the podcast, please do us a
• 48:36
  favor by liking, subscribing, or sharing the podcast on whatever
• 48:40
  podcast platform you listen to.