Category: Advent 2016 – Thanks

Are you enjoying this series of Advent devotionals on “Thanking Jesus”? Which message has impacted you most?

Isaiah wrote the longest book of prophecy in the Old Testament. Year after year, he passed along messages and visions he received from the Lord. Whenever I think of Isaiah, my dad comes to mind. Both of these godly men ministered faithfully before the Lord for over half a century.

Isaiah’s messages warned of judgment for sin, but they also included descriptions of a Savior. In Isaiah 25:1, Isaiah prays, “O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for You are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.”

Hundreds of years before Jesus ever came to a manger in Bethlehem, God had planned every detail of that birth narrative. Isaiah spoke of a virgin giving birth, a savior who would one day be called King of Kings, a light onto the Gentiles, and much more. Today, we can read the gospel accounts and see how God accomplished every one of those prophetic events.

God still does wonderful things. He has a design for each of our lives too (Ps. 139:16), a design that he planned long before we were born. Pause today and reflect on how God has led you to this point in time. Can you join Isaiah and offer Him honor and praise for what He has accomplished in your life?

We are over halfway through through this series of 24 Advent devotionals on “Thanking Jesus.” Thanks for joining us on the journey.

Hezekiah was a godly king of Judah. One of his first acts as ruler was to reopen the Temple of the Lord which had been neglected for over a decade. He repaired the doors and removed the defiled things from the sanctuary. In 2 Chronicles 29, we read that it took the priests over a week just to clear a path through the foyer of the Temple!

After the priests rededicated the sanctuary, the nation celebrated, but king was still not finished. He declared, “Now bring your sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the Temple.” (29:31) The grateful nation brought such an abundance of gifts that the huge piles overwhelmed the Temple grounds.

Years later, Hezekiah fell ill and lay at death’s door. When God healed him, the king again offered thanks. Isaiah 38 records his words: “The dead cannot praise You, they cannot raise their voices in praise. . . .Only the living can praise You as I do today. . . . Think of it – the Lord has healed me! I will sing his praises with instruments every day of my life.”

Don’t neglect God for decades or wait until you are on your death bed to offer thanks to God. It may be too late! Instead follow Hezekiah’s example and praise him every day of your life. Begin today!

Advent is quickly passing and here we are on Day 12, halfway through our series on “Thanking Jesus.”

Most of us remember the story of Jonah and the whale. This prophet is a melancholic character who seems borderline depressed and even wishes he were dead three out of the four chapters in the book that bears his name. He does not strike us as the type of person who expresses thanks to God. Yet, in Jonah chapter 2, while he is still within the belly of the whale, Jonah prays to his God: “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord. . . . Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies, but I will offer songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

Stuck inside the belly of the whale, Jonah had no hope. No one – no friends, no sailors – could rescue him. And indeed not even one other person was there to hear Jonah’s song of praise! Nevertheless, he turns to his God and offers his praise to Him alone.

Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah on a beach, and it did.

Are you stuck alone in an impossible situation? Are circumstances far beyond your control? Have you lost hope? Why not follow Jonah’s example and turn back to God with praise and thanksgiving. Perhaps God will deliver you, and, like Jonah, you will find yourself once again on firm ground.

Here we are again for day 11 in our Advent series on “Thanking Jesus.”

In the 1920’s, my grandfather had a severe case of tuberculosis. His doctor sent him away from his family and home in Massachusetts across the country to a sanatorium in southern California. He knew no one there. There was no known cure for his disease. Yet, a pastor prayed for him and God miraculously intervened and healed him.

Naaman was a commander in the army of Syria. He had success and a family but when he came down with an incurable disease, his ruler sent him far away to another country to seek help. There the prophet Elisha prescribed a course of baths in the Jordan River and, after a bit of protesting, Naaman followed the treatment plan. When his symptoms disappeared, Naaman was grateful and returned to the prophet’s home. “I know at last that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Now please accept my gifts.” (2 Kings 5:15)

Even though Elisha refused them, Naaman wanted to express his gratitude with gifts. When we have been blessed by God, we should want to pass on the blessings. To whom can you offer a gift today as a token of your gratitude for all God has done for you?

Welcome back to this on-going series of Advent devotionals on the theme of “Thanking Jesus.”

Solomon was the wisest ruler of all Israel. He accomplished amazing feats that expanded his nation’s borders and made him wealthy beyond all imagination.

One of his greatest accomplishments was to build a Temple to the Lord. God had promised Solomon’s father, David, that one day his son would build a permanent Temple to replace the tent that Moses had provided in the desert. David died before the promise came true, but Solomon saw it fulfilled.

After the Temple was complete in every detail and the priests dedicated the sanctuary, the king knelt and prayed, asking God to bless the nation. When Solomon was done, he stood up and shouted to the people, “Praise the Lord who has given rest to His people Israel, just as He promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises He gave through His servant Moses.” (1 Kings 8:56)

Throughout the scriptures, we find promises God has made to His people. Which ones mean most to you? Have you seen His faithfulness? Have you thanked Him for keeping His promises?

Welcome back for our ninth day as we review people in the Bible who left record of thanks to God. They are all part of this series of Advent devotionals on the theme of “Thanking Jesus.”

Asaph was a Levite, the priest whom King David put in charge of a very specific task: offering praise and thanks in the Temple.

According to 1 Chronicles 16:4,5, Asaph’s gifts included not only playing the cymbals, harp and lyre, but also composing songs for the congregation to sing. His name is attached to twelve of the psalms (50 and 73-83) we have in our Bible, though some of them may have been written by a later descendant having the same name.

Psalm 50 is one of the pieces written by David’s friend. Most of the psalm involves God speaking. The Lord begs His people to listen. “I have no complaint about your sacrifices . . . but I want no more bulls from your barns, I want no more goats from your pens. . . . What I want instead is your true thanks to God.” God asks for their obedience, for the people to trust Him. The Lord concludes by saying, “Giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

Asaph was gifted with musical talent. Playing his instruments and writing psalms were easy tasks for him, hardly a sacrifice. His natural gifts lay in those areas. But God demands more than just our talents. He wants our thanks when we face the tough tasks.

Where in your life do you sacrifice as you give thanks?

Welcome to any who are newcomers to this site! We are in the midst of an Advent series of devotionals on the theme of “Thanking Jesus.”

King David was one of the most thankful figures in the Bible. David faced many setbacks in life before he stepped onto the throne of Israel. Just as things looked like they were going smoothly – he had killed a giant, was a national hero, and had married the king’s daughter – Saul tried to kill him. David escaped to the desert and for over a decade lived the life of a nomad, always just a step ahead of Saul’s armies. Ten years is a long time to live the life of a fugitive.

During this time in the wilderness, David composed many of his psalms. In 1 Samuel 22 and recorded again as Psalm 18, David was in the pit of despair; the waves of death threatened to overwhelm him. Yet he writes, “You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies. . . . For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations. I will sing joyfully to your name.”

Later, in 2 Samuel 25, David was angry and his men were ready to attack Nabal, but the man’s wife, Abigail, persuaded David not to take revenge. He calmed down. “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today! Thank God for your good sense . . . for keeping me from murdering the man and carrying out vengeance with my own hands.”

As an old man, he looked back on his life and wrote in 1 Chronicles 29:10f, “O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. . . . O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!”

David experienced weakness and praised God for His help. He experienced strength and praised God for keeping him from abusing that power. God blessed him all his days.

Today, are you weak or strong? Are you barely holding on to the bottom of a fraying rope or are you standing in victory at the top of the cliff? God can help you wherever you are. Just remember to give Him thanks.

We are already a full week into our Advent series! Thanks for joining us again for this series on “Thanking Jesus.” Today we jump forward in history, now to the book of I Samuel. The story opens with a young woman who is struggling with infertility.

Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah. The other wife is a fertile myrtle, each season giving birth to yet another child. Hannah is in despair and falls deep in depression, weeping and not eating. In a time of fervent prayer, she asks God to grant her a son. The priest mistakes her for a drunkard and reprimands her, but when she explains her request, Eli assures her that God will grant her petition.

Hannah responds immediately by giving thanks: “Thank you, sir!” Before she ever received the tangible answer to her prayer, Hannah gives thanks by faith. Then, a year later, when her son Samuel was born, she gives thanks again. In 1 Sam. 2:1, she prays, “My heart rejoices in the Lord! Oh how the Lord has blessed me!”

If you are at all like me, you often pray for needs of those you love. But how often do we thank God by faith, expressing our gratitude before we actually receive the answer to our prayers?

We are already on day 6 of our Advent series on “Thanking Jesus.” If you have missed any of the earlier devotionals in this series, they are all available here if you scroll down. Today, in contrast to the previous devotionals, we are going to look at a group of people who forgot to give thanks.

Like Moses, the people of Israel saw all the miracles God performed in Egypt. They saw the plagues of frogs, lice, and flies. They walked through the Red Sea on dry land. But unlike Moses, they quickly forgot all God had done for them.

Psalm 106 reviews the history and starts out positively: “Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise Him enough?” But quickly, the mood changes. The psalmist describes how the Israelites were not impressed by those miracles; they forgot God’s many acts of kindness. Again and again God rescued them, but again and again they complained and rebelled.

There are consequences for not giving thanks. The Israelites tested God’s patience and He sent a plague. They worshiped idols, and God planned to destroy the entire nation. When they rebelled again, God allowed other nations to capture Isreal. The psalmist ends by crying out to God, “O Lord, save us! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank Your holy name and rejoice and praise You.”

How is your memory today? What have you forgotten to thank God for?

Here is the fifth devotional in our 2016 Advent series on “Thanking Jesus.” I thank you for coming back to join us on this journey!

Yesterday, we saw how Joseph gave thanks to God for placing him in Egypt, but after Joseph’s death, new rulers in Egypt enslaved the Israelites for four hundred years until God intervened by sending Moses.

Moses had many opportunities to give thanks. After all, he was adopted out of slavery and into the home of royalty. He also saw God perform a multitude of miracles, beginning with a burning bush and continuing through twelve horrendous plagues. Yet, he leaves no record of gratitude during all this period. Only after the Israelites have crossed the Red Sea does Moses finally offer up a song of praise to God in Exodus chapter 15: “He is my God and I will praise him; he is my father’s God, and I will exalt him!”

His gratitude is infectious. When he finishes his song, his older sister Miriam takes a tambourine and all the women in the crowd join in on the chorus.

Words of appreciation are infectious. When one person gives thanks, people all around start changing their perspectives and join in. Whom can you infect with your thanks today?