Thanking God for Everything

We are to thank God even in difficult times.

Matthew Henry, a famous Bible Scholar of 250 years ago was robbed one day of all his money he had in the world. He wrote this in his diary afterwards, “What reason have I to be thankful to God, that having travelled so much, yet I was never robbed before now.” "Life of the Rev. Matthew Henry", in Christian Biography (1799), p.66

Helen Keller, a blind and deaf Christian, wrote, “I thank God for my handicaps. Through them I have found myself, my work and my God.” The Preacher’s Commentary: Luke; Bruce Larson; Thomas Nelson Publishers

Those are examples of having an God-honoring attitude of gratitude through a difficult experience.

At a minimum level of thanking God we are to do so out of obligation to thank Him as our Creator and the source of blessings.

Ps. 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Heb. 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

God is worthy and deserving of our praise and thanksgiving.

As we mature in thanking God we thank Him regardless of our circumstances.

1 Thess. 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

At this level, in every situation, we can always find something to be thankful for. We can look away from what is negative or wrong and focus on what’s right and give thanks. When the glass is half empty remember to be thankful for the half full part.

At our most mature level of thanking God we can thank Him for everything.

Ephesians 5:18b, 20 ..be filled with the Spirit, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

At this level we are being thankful to God in all things. This is when you trust God knowing that God knows best and He cares about you, loves you, and ultimately provides for His people. What seems bad to you, you still thank God for it, even things you would not chose for yourself to experience like a health crisis, great sorrow, or huge need. We acknowledge to God that this is the very thing right now He is using according to His will even if we don’t understand it all but we know He loves His redeemed and we trust Him and thank Him even for this thing that seems so negative.

We are to have an ongoing attitude of gratitude that honors God. I want to point out three biblical principles related to gratitude based on an encounter Jesus had with ten lepers.

Luke 17:11-14 ESV On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

1) Jesus is Merciful and Gracious to People.  

Some lepers noticed Jesus walking by and they cried out to Him for mercy, for compassion toward them, for they were in great need. Jesus saw them and told them to go get checked out by the priests. It was the task of the Jewish Priests to examine people to determine whether they were lepers or not. Infected people were isolated and could not return to normal society unless declared cleansed.

Jesus told these men to go show themselves to the priest and on the way they were healed. I’m not sure about the faith of all these lepers (the faith of one of them is highlighted by Jesus later in this passage) but they did what Jesus told them to do. When they started in the direction of the priests they were physically healed of their skin disease. Wow! They each received an incredible grace gift from God. The healing was not something earned or paid for. Jesus healed them according to His grace.

Luke 17:15-16 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

One of the ten healed lepers was pumped up with genuine gratitude toward God, toward Jesus. And notice this man’s humility, returning back to and presenting himself at the feet of Jesus. And this man was a Samaritan, as well. Jews and Samaritans mostly hated each other, yet this foreigner was the one who thanked Jesus, a Jew, in person.

Many people don’t realize that God’s common grace is blessing everyone; things like sunshine, gravity, oxygen, food supplies, a beating heart, etc…And then there are moments like in this passage, when God extends His special grace. We have much to thank God about on a regular basis and we don’t need to wait for some sort of sensational miracle to take place to do so but when such a thing does occur we should give some serious shout out praise and thanks to the Lord God Almighty!

Only when we acknowledge God as the merciful and gracious provider of blessings in our lives, do we begin to comprehend our need for God in a more personal way and begin to express a greater living faith in Him and deeper gratitude toward Him.

Paul basically wrote in Romans 1 that God created the universe and within the heart of every human is a basic awareness of the reality of God and apart from thankfulness awareness of God will be suppressed. In vs21, Paul wrote….they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

At the heart of those who reject God is a resolute unwillingness to thank Him. May we not reject God and may we not be unthankful to God. We have so much to thank God for. Jesus is merciful and gracious to people.

2) Jesus Notices Ingratitude

Luke 17:17-18 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

These questions were rhetorical. Jesus knew the answers and He didn’t like the truth that nine of the ten healed men showed no gratitude toward Him. That was outrageous considering Jesus just gave them amazing grace, dramatic healing.

The life of a leper back then was horrible. These lepers were outcasts with painful disease in which the Bible implies was incurable in Bible times without a miracle. You would have expected all ten men to run to Jesus and thank Him for a fresh new start to life, but only one did and he was not even a Jew.

“How grateful the men should have been for the providence of God that brought Jesus into their area, for the love that caused Him to pay attention to them and their need, and for the grace and power of God that brought about their healing.” Warren Wiersbe

The Bible Exposition Commentary; New Testament, Volume 1, Matthew-Galatians; Warren Wiersbe, David C. Cook Publ., p244

These healed men should have jumped up and down and formed an impromptu men’s chorus and sung some Psalms of thanksgiving and praise.

Thanklessness is all too common among people. Ingratitude is the way of sin, the way of the world, but God-honoring gratitude is the way of God’s people.

Before we look down on these ungrateful healed lepers, what about our attitude of gratitude toward God? How often do we take our blessings for granted and fail to thank the Lord? Too often we are content to enjoy the gift but we forget the Giver. We are quick to pray for help but slow to praise the Helper. Let’s not be ungrateful. Let’s thank the Lord.

Jesus is merciful and gracious to people.  Jesus notices ingratitude. And

3) Christ-centered Gratitude Goes Well with Saving Faith

Something additional happened to this one grateful healed man.

Luke 17:19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

All ten lepers were physically healed but only the one who returned to thank Christ had Jesus say “your faith has made you well.” The literal translation here in the Greek is “your faith has saved you.”

He was made well in a deeper way, I believe, a spiritual way. There is more going on here with this man than physical healing. The other nine were declared clean physically by the priest, no doubt, but this one grateful man was declared saved by the Son of God. I don’t believe this was saved from just leprosy suffering or living a shorter life because of leprosy, but saved spiritually.

While it is wonderful to experience the miracle of physical healing, it is even more wonderful to experience the miracle of spiritual healing in Christ. We don’t have all the details in the Bible text, but I believe this grateful man returned to Jesus not just viewing Jesus as the Master physical healer, but also the Master of all Masters, the Master of his salvation, the man’s needed Savior. And so, I think it is worthy to notice here the connection between Christ-centered gratitude and saving faith. Thanking Christ draws us to Him and His people are to thank Him often. Amen!

Having a God-honoring attitude of gratitude is a personal decision you and I have to make moment to moment in life.

Ps. 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Giving thanks to God is not blind gratitude. There is always much to be thankful for rooted in who He is and what He does. An attitude of gratitude is a life-changing decision. Notice the “Oh” at the beginning of Ps 107:1; something important is to follow. There is passion here. Give thanks to the Lord! Amen!

This grateful healed leper in Luke 17 came back praising God and yet he still had enormous problems. He had been an outcast and he had to integrate back into society, relationships, and routines. He is praising God even in the midst of his unsolved problems. Each of us likely has a problem right now. Let’s think about how we can praise God in that present problem.

Instead of complaining about and worrying about our problems, let’s focus, rather, on the belief that God is bigger than the problem and is present right now in the middle of this difficult thing we’re caught up in. Say, “God, I praise You and thank You. You are bigger than the struggle I’m going through.”

Here are three questions to ask ourselves, to help us develop an attitude of gratitude that is God-honoring.

1) Am I a grateful person, regardless of my circumstances and feelings?

2) Am I seeing the blessings of gratitude in my life? These blessings can be the acknowledgement of and experience of real joy, peace, and contentment in Christ.

3) Am I choosing gratitude over ingratitude and complaining?

Note: I adapted these questions and the three levels of gratitude at the top of the blog from “Lord, Change My Attitude Before It’s Too Late,” James MacDonald; Moody Publ.; Chp2

Let’s ask ourselves these questions now, moment to moment, and day by day. Let’s learn from God’s Word about who God is and what God has done, is doing, and will do and let’s thank Him and praise Him.  Try journaling what you are thanking God for.  Recognize God’s sovereignty in your life and give Him thanks in all circumstances for everything. This is biblical. This is God’s will. This is for the glory of God. Let’s cultivate an attitude of gratitude toward God. It will open our hearts to further blessings and it glorifies and pleases God.

On my office wall is a framed sign that includes the phrase “an attitude of gratitude.” Some Christian friends (the Salvatores) of our family heard me use this phrase so often at church that they thought of me when they came across this sign and wanted me to have it. It is a reminder, to me and others who see it, of the importance of having an attitude of gratitude. What do you have to remind you to have an attitude of gratitude?

And oh, by the way, the greatest thing to be thankful for is salvation in Christ. If you are reading this and you have never given your life over to Christ, there is great news and hope: God loves you with amazing love. He died for your sins to pay the penalty of God’s wrath for your sins to bring you to God. Praise God, the Son of God rose in victory over sin and death and wants you to be in relationship with God now and forever.

Respond to God now from your heart with faith upon Jesus. Give your life over to Jesus as your Savior and keep asking Him daily to help you live for Him as the Lord of your life according to Holy Scripture. If you have never made this life commitment to Christ, then why not right now, right where you are, within your heart, respond to God’s call to you to give your life over to Jesus Christ and live for His glory. Thanks be to God for His amazing gift of salvation in Christ. Here's a summary of the great news of Jesus: http://mikesmorals.blogspot.com/2013/09/great-news-gods-plan-for-true-life.html

And remember, let’s thank God for everything, in Christ, and let’s have an ongoing God-honoring attitude of gratitude.  

What are your thoughts about thanking God for everything and having a consistent God-honoring attitude of gratitude.

Mike

Broken and Poured Out; a Great Example of Loving Jesus

It’s getting close to that time of the year in the Christian calendar known as the Passion Week of Christ. Probably when you first think of ‘passion’ you think of feeling well in a good sense about something or someone, extra joy and excitement and fulfillment. Passion can also refer to suffering and this is how it is used in Acts 1:3. The Greek word ‘paskho’ is translated as ‘passion’ in the KJV and ‘suffering’ in the ESV.

This Passion Week of Christ is one of the most important moments in all of human history. Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem but later in the week was arrested, put on trials, beat and brutally punished, crucified, died for our sin, and then rose in victory over sin and death as the glorified Son of God.

During that week, before Jesus was arrested, a brief event occurred that demonstrated one person’s amazing love toward Jesus. God’s word teaches that God is love, that God demonstrates His great love toward us (especially through the Gospel of Christ), and we are called by God to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength as well as love our neighbor as our self.

In Mark 14, we read a great example of loving God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, and it’s on this passage I want to park in this blog because it’s important for Christ-followers to keep cultivating and growing our love for Jesus. 

Mark 14:1-11 ESV
¹ It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, ² for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” ³ And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. ⁴ There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? ⁵ For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” ¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. ¹¹ And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

What are we meant to remember and learn from a woman who broke an alabaster jar and poured out expensive perfume/cologne on Jesus? She teaches us how Jesus Christ and His message and ministry compels His true followers to love Him with an amazing love.

Here are four aspects of this woman’s amazing love toward Jesus?

1. She loved Jesus devotedly, vss3-9.

This woman’s amazing devotion of love toward Jesus stands in bookend contrast to the plotting of Jesus’ enemies to kill Him and the betrayal by one of His disciples.

Throughout the region, people were taking sides about what to do with Jesus. Even among His closest disciple followers, one was deciding to let his true colors of greed and disloyalty toward Jesus show and to side with the enemies who would bring about Jesus’ death. In the midst of growing tension and the impending actions of the religious leaders, one woman expressed her loyal love to Christ in a bold and unmistakable way. Her love for Jesus was not a passing emotion; it was marked by strong devotion.

I love the hymn, “I have decided to follow Jesus.” One lines goes like this: “Though none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back, no turning back.” This is how true Christ-followers love Jesus. They unashamedly express their loving devotion to Him above every other loyalty. They leave their comfort zones to express their love to and for Jesus. They show the world their love for Jesus. This woman loved Jesus devotedly.

2. She loved Jesus extravagantly, vss3-5.

John implied in his Gospel account that this woman is Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. John also wrote that the ointment was poured on the feet of Jesus which she wiped with her hair. This Mary popped up three times in the Gospels and each time she was at the feet of Jesus. Elsewhere she was eager to learn from Jesus and in another moment she was grateful Jesus raised her brother from the dead.

The nard plant was used to make perfume and it was probably imported like from India. The pure nard was very expensive.  This was probably Mary’s most precious possession. It was close to a year’s wages for the average worker. The average individual income in Lynchburg, VA is around $20,000 per year. Imagine a perfume worth $20,000 today being poured out on someone.

This was a stunning example of love, devotion, and worship. By custom, she would show hospitality and honor to a distinguished dinner guest by sprinkling His head with a drop or two of this stuff, but in this instance she poured it all onto His head and feet.

And then came the wet blanket followers of Christ who thought the value of this expensive perfume was wasted, that it could have been used in a more practical way. They scolded her, criticized her. John’s passage mentions that Judas Iscariot was the leader of this criticism and that he was a thief so his motives were questionable.

I don’t have a lot of assets and money in our culture. Do you think it would be wasteful if I poured out something worth $20,000 onto Billy Graham or Mother Theresa in some sort of anointing ministry moment? How about onto my wife? And what if Jesus Himself was literally physically here this morning? Would it be a waste if I wanted to sacrifice so much to show my love to Him?

We see this sort of extravagant love toward Christ so rarely that, when in happens, it is almost scandalous. She loved Jesus devotedly and extravagantly.

3. She loved Jesus beautifully, vss6-7.

Jesus rebuked the rebukers. He stood up for Mary and noticed what nobody else in the room noticed or mentioned? He saw the beauty of her devoted and extravagant act of love. I love this phrase, “she has done a beautiful thing to me”. This is the God of the universe in the flesh acknowledging and commending Mary for this beautiful act of love toward Him.

Jesus was impressed by the sheer beauty of what she had done to him. He was about to experience a brutal, ugly, humiliating death and along the way He received some beautiful love. In the midst of angry conspiracy, harsh rebukes and personal betrayals, here was an act of love so obviously beautiful that it was like a rose growing in a garbage dump of sin. The ugliness of so many people’s sins make the beauty of her sacrificial love toward Christ even more meaningful. What do you say other than, “That was beautiful love given to our beautiful Savior”?

There will always be opportunities to minister to the poor in this world but how often do you have opportunity to minister to God in the flesh? Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was in the house – and only one person seized the moment and gave Him the kind of honor and worship He deserved. And she did it for no other reason than loving Him. She broke and poured out the best, most precious possession she owned. Beautiful! This was a physical expression of what was true in her heart toward Christ. She loved Jesus devotedly, extravagantly, and beautifully. And lastly,

4. She loved Jesus gratefully, vss8-9.

Jesus connected the woman’s act of love to His coming death on the cross. Did Mary intend this all along? Some think she did and others think she didn’t. If she did, this was tremendous spiritual insight. What matters is what Jesus thinks about our acts of love toward Him.

This was the only anointing His body received before His death. In spite of the many times Christ had warned of His suffering and death, perhaps Mary was one of the few to take Him seriously. She was the sister of Lazarus who had heard His powerful life-transforming teaching and witnessed Jesus bring her dead brother back from the tomb, miraculously alive. She had personally experienced the grace and saving power of Jesus. Her loving act was fueled with gratitude for His unmerited favor.

Doesn’t it make sense that those who experience gospel grace be filled with loving gratitude toward Christ? We have spiritual hindsight now that Christ has already gone to the cross for our sins. In the eyes of Christ, her loving act was looking forward to the Savior’s atoning work, to the centerpiece of God’s redemption plan for humanity. Praise God! Thank God for Jesus Christ and His Gospel ministry.

Jesus commended her by saying, “She had done what she could.” That is all that God has ever asked any person to do.

In response to her love, Jesus etched her amazing display of love toward Him into a lasting tribute that will extend through and around the world wherever and whenever this gospel is proclaimed. Twenty centuries later, as these words are being shared right now, here, her memorial shines once again. It still fills hearts with its sweet aroma, even in our day, that this Christ-follower loved Jesus devotedly, extravagantly, beautifully, and gratefully.

I’m wondering how well we are doing at loving Jesus in such ways. What precious thing in our lives have we broken and poured out lately before the Lord as a sacrificial love offering to Him? How are we doing at loving Jesus devotedly, extravagantly, beautifully, and gratefully?

What does such love toward Jesus look like in our lives today? That depends on how the Spirit is leading you and me. Maybe, it means you and/or me are to sell a lot of our possessions or give them away to people in need for the kingdom of Christ, for God’s glory. Maybe God wants you and/or me are to downsize our spending for the sake of being more generous. Maybe, God wants you and/or me are to serve Him differently with our time, giftedness, and resources. Maybe, God wants you and/or me to go to a place that is unreached with the Gospel. Maybe, God is calling you and/or me to stop following the American Dream of materialism and instead live ‘all in’ for Jesus Christ to advance His kingdom purposes. Maybe God is calling you and/or me to be more outwardly passionate and public about our love for Christ and His kingdom purposes through us.

What do you think about this woman’s example of loving Jesus in Mark 14 and what I’ve written about it here and what are your ideas on how Christ-followers can show such amazing love to Jesus these days?

Mike