The Sweet Cycle of Giving

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”  2 Cor 9:15 

Today is the last day of November, and tomorrow we move from a season of giving thanks to one of giving gifts.  The transition should not be difficult.  Gratefulness and giving just go together—kind of like Snoopy and Charlie, Mickey and Minnie, peanut butter and jelly, chocolate and…anything!  But actually gratefulness and giving are better described as a cycle than as a couple, for when we are given something, the blessings which bring gratitude should naturally result in generosity.

Try taking this angle as you approach this time of gift-giving.  As you look down your Christmas list, instead of seeing names of people you have to buy something FOR, see them as those you have been blessed BY, and let your present be a gift of gratitude.  God had graced our lives with family, friends, and acquaintances (even the boss who lets us keep our jobs, the carrier of our mail, or the leaders at our church), and these people fill our lives with much joy, comfort, and delight.  As a thanks to God and as a thanks to them for who they are and what they do, we should share who we are and what we have—which, by the way, is also a blessing from God that often comes through the very people to whom we are giving. 

As the Apostle Paul encouraged his friends in Corinth to send gifts to needy Christians in another city, he reminded them that “this service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God…Because of your gift, men will praise God for you and in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you”(2 Cor 9:12-14).  See the cycle?  God had blessed the Corinthians with money for which they were grateful and which they were willing to share, and though those who were needy could not give back material gifts, their gratitude for the generous blessing resulted in thanksgiving and praise to God and in prayers being lifted up on the behalf of the ones who gave.  (Remember that quite often, the best gifts can’t be bought!)

This progression of blessing, gratitude, and giving should be repeated often, for the attitude of our hearts should be shaped each morning by the words Paul used at the end of his instruction.  “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”(2 Cor 9:15).  Everything we give can be described and explained, but the love and grace of God that showed up in a manger and shouted at on the cross cannot be fully expressed.  He is indescribable.

As thanks-giving rolls into gift-giving, remember that you’ve been blessed to be a blessing.  Be grateful.  Be generous.  And be blessed again.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”(2 Cor 9:15). 

Good Eats

“Give thanks to the Lord…who gives food to every creature.”  Psalm 136:25

I’m still thinking about Thanksgiving, and today I’m grateful for good food!

When we’re at home, my family sits down three times a day to eat.  Since I do most of the cooking, I won’t say there’s always good food on the table, but there is always food—food for which we are thankful, and so we say so.   Jesus started this practice back in the Bible when He picked up His lunch and paused to say thanks.  “Taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks”(Matt 14:19). 

Funny that the first time in all of Scripture where someone speaks in gratitude to God before a meal is the very time when there surely didn’t seem to be enough to go around.  Perhaps that’s the point.  Just as thousands of hungry tummies could only be filled that a day by a miracle of God’s grace, so our tables can only be filled day after day by His same providing power.  “Give thanks to the Lord…who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever”(Ps 136:1,25). 

God’s unfailing love for His creation and His children prompts Him to provide what we need—whether it be a five-course meal or a simple fish sandwich.  And, oh the delights of His provision!!  The sweet juiciness of a tree-ripened peach.  The hearty comfort of meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  The spicy tartness of a kosher dill.  The buttery crispness of a fresh Ritz cracker topped with, well, almost anything—or nothing at all!  And did I mention chocolate??

The variety of foods available for our consumption seems unending, and if our cupboards are bare, a quick run to our grocery of choice soon stocks the shelves.  We live in a land of staggering abundance, but don’t feel guilty; feel grateful.  Say thanks, share with those in need, and savor the many flavors. “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things”(Ps 107:8-9).

The dinner bell is ringing, but don’t just “say grace.”  Let each meal be a reminder that you have received it—and be thankful for it.

 

 

 

Giving Thanks~Always

“Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20 

Happy Thanksgiving!  I know the official day of national gratitude is past and that the turkey has long been camouflaged in various forms of leftovers, but before we pack up the pilgrims and unwrap the angels, let’s say thanks again.  And again.  To be honest, our gratitude should never lessen or let up, for God’s abundant grace and blessings compound in our lives daily.

Physically, He provides the very breath that gives us life and then supplies jobs, homes, food, clothing, transportation, and communication.  Emotionally, He places us in families and surrounds us with the love of friends and the community of church.  And spiritually, He Himself has become our salvation and is our eternal life(John 17:3).

Because of such glorious grace, all that we do should be done with thanksgiving.  “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”(Col 3:17).  And no matter our situation, sorrow, or struggle, we should “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”(1 Thess 5:18).  Though tears and trials may seem all too frequent this side of forever, by the blood-stained cross and the empty tomb we are assured of an eternity in the joy of His presence.  No wonder God’s Word and our words are full of gratitude.  “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!  Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”(2 Cor 9:15, 1 Cor 15:57, 2 Cor 2:14)

Because of God’s blessings, we should continually be “overflowing with thankfulness”(Col 2:7) and “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”(Eph 5:20).  But sometimes we forget to say thanks, we focus on what we want not what we need, and we find ourselves full of complaints, discontent, and envy.  When this happens, may I suggest two simple songs.  One I learned to sing when I was quite young in a small Baptist church in southern Alabama.  “When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,  when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. “  The other, Madam Blueberry of Veggie Tales fame finally learned to sing after realizing that stuff can fill your house but not your heart. “A thankful heart is a happy heart.  I’m glad for what I have; that’s an easy way to start.  For a God who really cares, who listens to our prayers, that’s why I say thanks every day.”

Both are good thinking.  Both are good theology.  And both are even better when we put them into practice. 

Happy Thanksgiving—today and always.

Praise Party

“On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy.”  Nehemiah 12:43

Some days just call for celebration!  And not a quiet one either but a whoopin’, hollerin’, dancin’ kind of celebration!  If you’ve lived somewhere around fifty years or less, you might be thinking of Kool and the Gang about now, and you’re probably moving to the to beat…

There's a party goin' on right here;
A celebration to last throughout the years.
So bring your good times
And your laughter too;
We’re gonna celebrate your party with you…

Celebration….Let’s all celebrate and have a good time.

Celebration…We’re gonna celebrate and have a good time.

I have no doubt that if disco had been around back in Nehemiah’s day, “Celebration” would have been the theme song at the dedication of Jerusalem’s wall.  Music was definitely the headline of the event, and Nehemiah “assigned two large choirs—under the direction of Jezrahiah—to give thanks”(Neh 12:31,43).  The ensembles paraded on top of the wall in opposite directions until they met at “their places in the house of God”(vs 40), and the praise party began.

Singers and musicians had come from the surrounding villages and regions to “celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps, and lyres”(Neh 12:27).  Sounds like a pretty good band to me!  And we know they were loud because “the sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away”(Neh 12:43).

 

Through all the trial, trouble, toil, and turmoil, God had been faithful to His people, and Jerusalem’s wall, once a broken and burned pile of rubble and rocks, had been rebuilt to its full height.  No wonder that “on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy”(vs 43).  It really was “a celebration to last throughout the years.”

This Thanksgiving let your praise be loud and long!  God rebuilds our lives from the rubble of sin, He gives us power and purpose for every day, and He promises our forever will only get better!  This surely calls for a celebration—a whoopin’, hollerin’, dancin’ kind of celebration!! 

Strike up the band and get the party started!

Good times praising God are the best!

Our Declaration of Dependence

“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”  Nehemiah 9:38 

In the summer of 1776, fifty-six men signed a paper declaring themselves and their thirteen colonies free from British rule.  Years of conflict with the crown over taxation without representation resulted in this “Declaration of Independence.”  The members of the Continental Congress who picked up the pen were so serious about the subject that they signed their names, leaving a public record of their protest and their plans.  With their signatures now in ink, not one of them could deny their commitment to the cause, and the revolution charged full-steam ahead. 

The men in Nehemiah’s day also signed a script, but their declaration was of dependence not independence and of recommitment instead of revolt.  A review of God’s faithfulness and their failures caused them to understand their current distress and the consequences of disobedience, so “in view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it”(Neh. 9:38).

Eighty-four men signed with their seals, and “the rest of the people…joined their brothers the nobles, and bound themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God…and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the Lord our God”(Neh. 10:28-29).

The people knew they needed God’s help, they knew obedience brought his blessing, and they knew that taking care of God’s house was a priority over their own, so they publicly committed to love God and live it out.  They were so serious about the subject that they “bound themselves with a curse and an oath” and promised to not let their daughters marry heathens, to not work on the Sabbath day or the seventh year, and to provide supplies for the temple.  “We will not neglect the house of our God”(Neh 10:39).  By stamping their seals on the scroll, the men and their families would now be held accountable by God and by others to keep their word—and His. 

These days we rarely sign our names to something spiritual, but recently filling out our family’s commitment card to help build a new outreach center at our church and then reading this passage today has started me thinking.  Perhaps there are times when, at least privately, we should review God’s faithfulness in the past and His promises for the future and should literally write down our recommitment to love the Lord our God completely, to love others unselfishly, and to live for His glory. 

Sometimes our signature helps make something more serious.  Search your soul, confess your sin, celebrate God’s grace, and sign away. 

In view of all He has done, how can we do less?

Revelry

“They reveled in your great goodness.”  Nehemiah 9:25

We should rarely stop smiling.

From the time we wake till we rest again—and even when we’re sleeping—we’re continually bombarded with divine blessings.  Air to breathe, food to eat, a place to lay our head, family to love, friends to cherish, freedom to come, go, worship, and work, and the unfailing and unending grace of our Heavenly Father.  No wonder our grins shouldn’t go away. Each day of our lives we should “revel in God’s great goodness”(Neh 9:25).

That’s what God’s people did when He brought them into the Promised Land.  In Nehemiah’s prayer of confession and commitment, he recounts that in Canaan, the Israelites “captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance.  They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness”(Neh 9:25).

To revel means to take great pleasure and delight, to exult in merry amazement, to rejoice in boisterous festivity and celebration, to be so absolutely overwhelmed by something so incredibly astounding that all you can do is simply bask in the blessing.  That’s what God’s people did then, and that’s what God’s people should do now.  Yes, difficult times will come. Yes, the future will seem uncertain.  Yes, storms will blow and seas will rage.  Yes, we will face sickness and sorrow. The routine will be monotonous and menial.  We will be disappointed, discouraged, and feel defeated, but in the middle of all the mess and marvels of life, God’s constant goodness is cause for merry amazement, boisterous celebration, and grateful basking.

Today, and every day, rejoice in God’s grace, rely on His love, and revel in His great goodness!

 

Never Alone

“Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert.”  Nehemiah 9:19

Many times in life we deserve to be deserted in the desert.

Our refusal to walk in God’s right sets us on a path of wandering and waywardness, and we end up doing circles, getting nowhere fast.  Outright obstinance isn’t always to blame for the sand between our toes; often our carelessness and laziness cause us to ignore God’s Word and choose the easier and seemingly more exciting way of the world.  On occasion, our fear finds us shaking our heads at God’s call and His commands, and because we say no, we can’t go—and so we wander. But even in our rebellious drifting, “because of His great compassion, God does not abandon us in the desert”(Neh. 9:19).   

Repeatedly in Nehemiah’s prayer of confession and commitment, he acknowledges that God’s mercy and grace are what keep Him from casting His people away.  As Nehemiah praises God for His power in creation and then masterfully condenses Israel’s history from its beginning with Abraham to its current state of “great distress,” he admits that though God miraculously rescued the Jews from slavery in Egypt, revealed Himself to them on Mt. Sinai through His laws,  and promised to give them victory in their new land, “they became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands…They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them”(Neh 9:16-17).  This rebellion and lack of belief turned a two-year journey into a forty-year excursion, yet every day while they wandered in the wilderness due to their disobedience, God’s “pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire to shine by night…You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.  For forty years you sustained them…they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen”(Neh 9:19-21).

For four decades in the desert, God’s great compassion—His deep love and care for His people—caused Him to provide for their needs and to guide them with His presence, though they deserved no such grace at all.

Perhaps you’re in the desert right now and are experiencing a time of barren wandering.  Maybe your own choices brought you there, or it could be that the sins of others landed you in this wasteland (remember that lots of kids were born during those forty years who hadn’t rebelled against God).  However you ended up in desolation, don’t get down.  “Because of His great compassion, God does not abandon us in the desert.”  Though we deserve no such grace at all, God protects and provides.  He heals and He helps, and, day or night, He is always with us.

When you are truly His, you are never abandoned and you are not alone.

God won’t dump you in desert or desert you in distress; His great compassion keeps Him close and holds us close.

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise!”  Nehemiah 9:5

'Fess Up!

They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers.”  Nehemiah 9:3

If confession is good for the soul, then some of our souls might not be faring so well.  Since honest and humble admission of our faults and failures seems unpleasant, we often skip it or skimp on it—hitting only the highlights (or rather, the lowlights) but not acknowledging the true scope of our transgressions.

But we shouldn’t.  As God’s children, we are called and commanded to confess our sins, and God’s assurance of forgiveness awaits our admission of guilt.  “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”(1 John 1:9).  Over and over and over, without fail, God will forgive our authentic owning up.  Such complete and recurring cleansing is possible through the faithfulness of His character and the justice of the cross.

The importance of confession was so evident to Nehemiah and his fellow countrymen that they put it on the calendar. “On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together…They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers”(Neh 9:1,3).  As a physical reminder and indication of their contrition, the people fasted, dressed in rough sackcloth, and dumped dust on their heads.

There was nothing private about their confessions.  They all knew that they all had sinned, and they all said so—and even included the offenses of their ancestors.  For several hours, they poured out their hearts to God, acknowledging and agreeing with God about their wrong.  “They read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of a day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God”(Neh 9:3). 

They obviously had much to confess because they hadn’t kept current in their coming clean!  Don’t let sin sit too long before you say you’re wrong.  Our confession should be like the voting mantra of a corrupt Chicago mayor—early and often.  God already knows all we’ve done.  We’re the ones who are miserable trying to keep it in and cover it up.  Please don’t.  Confession isn’t comfortable, but it’s cleansing, so own up to your wrong, and let God make you right.

Schedule a time of confession, and make it today.