"Being Thankful" By Jesse Rairdon November 9th,
2014
You
may be seated. I’d
like to have Sister
Lena come up and share a testimony.
Brother
Terry, if you could just lead her up here, and then lead in prayer. LENA:
Good
morning, church. First
of all, I’d like
to thank each and every one of you for your prayers when I lost my
sister a few
weeks ago. Thank
you for bringing my family
up before the Lord. Your
prayers were
surely answered. I
just want to tell you
a few things that happened during our travel.
We had to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. That’s where the funeral
was. We had a
beautiful trip down, as best as
could be expected under the circumstances.
On our way back, we had a few problems.
Anyone that has ever traveled on dark country roads
will know how dark that
can be. We were on
our way—we left the
hotel at about 1:30 A.M. in the morning, and we got about fifty miles
down the
highway—my husband was driving—and, all of the sudden we heard
something going,
“clak, clak, clak.” I
said, “Oh, no,
what’s this?” My
husband said, “I think
it’s the road.” I
looked at him, and I
said, “No, I think you’ve got a flat tire.”
He said, “Well, roll your window down and see if it
is,” because I was
in the front passenger’s seat. I
rolled
the window down, and I said, “Yes, you do have a flat tire.” So, he pulled over; we got
out of the car—out
of the van—and, my husband got out, and all of the sudden, he started
staggering. I’m
saying, “Oh, my
goodness,” you know, Thank the Lord for this flat tire, because his
blood sugar
was acting up, and he was in no condition to drive.
So, a flat tire, you usually say, “Oh, my
gosh, I hate this,” but, under these circumstances, I thank the Lord
that flat
tire happened. That
meant that me and my
sister had to change that flat tire.
Well,
the Lord knows I had never changed a tire.
I didn’t even know where the spare tire was. So, we had to dial up
Enterprise, for the
lady to talk us through it. So,
she told
how to get the spare tire from underneath the car.
We did that.
We got it on the car, and, come to find out, it was
one of those little
donut tires. Of
course, you know you
can’t roll too far on one of those things.
But, we got it changed, and I got under the wheel,
and we got it out
again. We were
going to come up to
Asheville, North Carolina in all those mountains, and, of course, you
know both
of us were mindful of that little donut tire on there.
So, we stopped and got some gas just before
we got in there, and we asked the guy, “Is there any place around here
where we
could get a tire repaired?” He
pointed
us to a place about ten miles off the highway.
We went over there, and when we got there, the man
said, “Your tire
cannot be fixed.” I
thought, “Oh, no,
this man is going to charge us an arm and a leg for a tire; he’s just
trying to
sell us a tire!” Come
to find out, the
guy sold us a tire for twenty-five dollars!
Look at the Lord work!
Look at
the Lord work! In
less than ten minutes,
he had that tire on, we were on our way, and there were no more
problems
until—yes it was, we ran into a Winnebago that had caught on fire. We were in the mountains
at this time and it
was just stop and go, stop and go.
I
can’t help but to believe that the reason that we were in that Traffic
jam was
that the Lord was keeping us from something bad, because He worked so
many
miracles throughout this trip. So,
I
just thank the Lord for how He took us there and how He kept us—even my
mom. She will be
ninety-five, come January; she
took the trip. So I
thank the Lord for
getting us there and back safely.
Thank
you, guys, for all your prayers. TERRY: Isn’t
Jesus a wonderful, wonderful Father, and great Deliverer? I sure many of us have
found ourselves in
similar circumstances and He’s delivered us from it, so, we’re grateful
for His
grace, and mercy, and His Word, which He gives us to know Him by. Let’s bow our heads for a
word of prayer. Lord
Jesus, God, in Your wonderful Word that
we have to live by, God, we love You and thank You for it, Lord. Father, the message that’s
about to be
delivered to us, from Your son, Jesse, Lord Jesus.
God, I pray that every ear is attentive, and
every heart is receptive to receive from You, Lord Jesus, and Your
precious
Word. In Your name,
Lord Jesus, Father,
I pray. Amen. Amen. How
to
go about being thankful. A
few things
from last week's message. Parrish
talked
about, 3 points he covered: First
point
was, “What part does giving thanks play in our relationship with God?” He talked about the ten
lepers and all of them
were healed, but only one came back and gave thanks and, because of
that, he
was made whole. His
relationship began
with God. God was
looking for that
thanksgiving. “Where
were the other
nine?” That was His
question. When
you’re looking for somebody, or when
you’re looking for something, you’re going to ask a question like that. “Where was this person?” So, He’s looking for us to
be thankful. Point
number two was, “Unthankfulness comes
from the devil.” Be careful, and the point I really liked was this: Be careful not to give God
a cake-type
thanksgiving for when He’s delivered your soul from sin. Pride comes in and that is
the opposite of thankfulness. That’s
what the devil had, and he’s the
father of it. The
third point was, “There
are different levels of giving thanks.”
You know? You
give thanks for
your food, you give thanks for waking you up that day; I get another
day,
giving thanks for your salvation.
There’s
different levels of thanks. Amen? Another part that I really
liked was God’s
value system. God
values thankfulness. God
values it. That’s a
little different than saying God
likes thankfulness, or even that God loves thankfulness. God values it. When you value something,
you’re going to
hold it dear; you’re going to keep it dear.
Amen? Today’s message is going to be about being thankful. I’d like to give a thank
you, again, to our
active duty military who are with us.
Could
you please stand? All
of you standing
active duty in the military? Thank
you. Give the Lord
a praise for all of these who
have sacrificed for our freedom. Thank
you! Thank you! Amen; you may be seated. Not taking away from—you
did a wonderful job
(Editor’s note:
Earlier in the service there was recognition
made to the veterans in the congregation).
It was just on my heart to give thanks to those who
are currently
serving, too. That’s
important. Amen. 1.
Being thankful brings the victory. 2.
Being thankful in the difficult times. 3.
Being thankful is having the right perspective. 1.
Being Thankful
Brings the Victory
Our
Scripture theme for the month, and our
theme for this first part: 2 Corinthians
2:14
Now
thanks be
unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, [which always
causeth us to triumph in Christ]
and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. Being thankful opens the door to triumph or victory. You cannot have the
triumph or the victory if
you’re not even thankful, first. If
all
it is, is complaining coming out at first, that’s a little different
attitude. Sister
Lena said that the first thing she
noticed, you know, when they had the flat tire, was her husband wasn’t
able to
drive. Thank God he
didn’t stay behind
that wheel! Thank
God they had that flat
tire! They might
have wound up in the
ditch, or worse. I
don't always get this
right; I don’t always get thankful first.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m sometimes guilty
of this, too. Especially
in that work environment, they
call it the watercooler—the scuttlebutt in the Navy—you listen to
everybody
else complain, you start getting into that bandwagon, that boat of
complaining,
and they’re in that boat of complaining, and then everybody’s
complaining. This
series has really caused me to examine
myself, and how I view things first.
So,
instead of complaining along with the others, maybe bring something a
little
bit different into the conversation.
“Thank
God I have a job. There’s
probably a
hundred-thousand people that would love to be getting paid what I’m
getting
paid right now.” I’ve
got shelter over
my family, and food on the table, I’ve got clothes on my back… Try to be more thankful,
amen? Talking about being thankful brings
the victory. Israel
was in a battle; a much mightier army was before them.
So, they sought God, and we’re going to hear
the results: 2
Chronicles 20:13-22 And all Judah stood
before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives,
and their children. Then
upon Jahaziel
the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of
Mattaniah,
a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst
of the congregation;
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and thou
king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor
dismayed by
reason of this great multitude; for the battle is
not yours, but God's.
Tomorrow
go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and
ye shall
find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle:
set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the LORD with you, 0 Judah
and Jerusalem: fear
not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the
inhabitants of
Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
And the Levites, of the children of the
Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the
LORD
God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth
into the wilderness
of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me,
0 Judah,
and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall
ye be
established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
And when he had consulted with the people, he
appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of
holiness,
as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his
mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to
sing and to praise,
the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount
Seir,
which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. This is a great example of how—how would you like
to be a singer and go before the army, and see great army in front of
you, and
just sing praises and give thanks?
But,
God brought the victory. Sometimes,
when
you’re kind of in the battle, sing some praises; give some thanks. Stand still.
The battle doesn’t belong to you; it belongs to God. Let God bring the victory. I keep going back to
Sister Lena’s testimony. At
first, the first thought might have been,
“Oh, this guy’s going to overcharge us for this tire,” but God brought
the
victory. Amen? God has a plan. He sees it all in front of
you. He may have
stalled traffic so you won’t get
into an accident, and you won’t even know it.
He may have caused you a delay on your way to church
for some reason,
and you don’t even know it. So,
instead
of complaining, which, sometimes I do, because I like to be a lot
earlier… I set the
tone in my marriage. I
could be complaining on the way to church
because we’re running a little late, or I can be thankful and start
singing
praises and bring my family praising to the House of God. I set that tone, and I
haven’t always done that. I
tell you what, I’ve changed that attitude.
So, you want the victory? Be
thankful; sing praises first. Giving
thanks should be the first thing that
comes to mind. 2. Being Thankful In the
Difficult Times.
I could have just let Sister
Lena come up and share her testimony for this whole part. That was powerful. 1
Thessalonians 5:18 In
every thing give thanks: for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In everything give thanks.
When Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane,
you know, He really didn’t want to face that, as a human. He said, “If Thy will be
done, let this cup
pass from me, nevertheless, Thy will be done, not My own.” That’s what we’ve got to
have; in everything
give thanks. It's easy to give
thanks when everything is
going well. “Oh,
praise the Lord, I got
a new car,” “…I got a new job,” “…I got a promotion,” “…I got to eat my
favorite meal.” How
about when you’re
travelling down the road, and you’ve just got a few ketchup packets,
and that
needs to sustain you to get where you’re going, because you just have
enough
money for the gas? Thank
God in those
times, too. How
about when you lose
someone you love? How
about when you
have more bills to be paid than there is money in the accounts? How about when your boss
treats you unfairly? How
about when it seems there is always
friction in your home, and you can’t seem to find a resolution to the
friction? How about
when you don't feel the love any
more from your spouse or children?
Can
you still be thankful? Be
thankful in
the difficult times. Philippians
4:6 Be
careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God. You should take them to God.
When you’re having these difficulties, when
you’re having these issues, take them to God, with thanksgiving. Why do you want to be
thankful? Because
you’re letting Him know, “I know You’ve done things in the past for me,
and I
believe You’re going to do it again.”
You’re claiming it in faith.
You’ve
got the victory, already, before the battle even starts. Or during the battle,
sometimes. Sometimes
the battle hits you so fast, you
don’t have time to react; just thank God.
“God, even if this takes my life, I’m thankful.” Psalms
100:4
Enter into his gates
with thanksgiving, and into
his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Sister Sonia mentioned that she even came in today,
how she felt the spirit of worship amongst the brothers and sisters. How she counts it a
privilege to come into a
group of people who love God, and are thankful to be here. How do I come to worship?
With thanksgiving
already on my heart, do I bring it with me? Or
do I have to wait for the singers and the
musicians to kind of pump me up, to get me encouraged? Does it take three or four
songs before I’m
even thankful to be here? We
set the
tone, church, we set the tone. I
set the
tone! Being
thankful is an attitude you
carry with you, all the time. All
the
time. Don’t wait
‘til—in Psalms 6:5, it
says, “In the grave, who shall give Thee thanks?”
You don’t have time to do it when you’re dead. Do it now, while you’re
alive; carry it with
you. Families, pray together, thank God together from
the time you wake up together; Let your children see this example. Some of us have fallen
short from this lately. We
need to get back on track with this.
The children need to see this from their
young age, up. They need to see this
example. Amen?
Give the Lord appraise, because I think that’s
worthy of a praise. Thank
God even for the food and the shelter.
I tell you what, this thankful series has
caused me to even like really thank Him for the basics of every day of
my life,
even more than before. God,
thank You
for providing for my family. Thank
You
for giving us a healthy baby. Thank
You
for waking us up this morning, and allowing us to call upon Your name,
and be
thankful. Thanking
You for letting me be
thankful, God. There’s
some people that
are unholy and unthankful. Don’t
let me
be one of those, but let me thankful.
Let
me just start with being thankful, right now.
Amen? We’re talking about being thankful in difficult
times. Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us
offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. Continually.
It’s an attitude we carry with us all the time. Let it become a good habit. Don’t let it become a
habit of complaining or
being bitter, envying someone else.
Someone
else may have a better house, or better car, might have a better job,
or a
better life, it seems, on the outside, but, when you come to the
sanctuary of
God, you start to realize what they don’t have that you have. Be thankful for that. Be thankful for that. Sometimes the world tries
to chew on us and
eat at us and beat us up about how much we’ve missed, or how much we’ve
been
cut short on this or that, but they don’t realize what we’ve got in God. They don’t realize that
there’s things that
God’s got for us that nobody can touch, nobody can steal, nobody can
take
away… I tell you
what, man, they don’t
know what they’re missing out on. Don’t
get caught up with the Jones’s, let them get caught up with you in God. Amen?
The grass is always greener on the other side, but,
my friends, you’ve got
to water it there, too. 3. Being Thankful Is Having
the Right
Perspective. As I was preparing this
message, it was on my heart to really call Pastor Paine. You know, get some advice
and counsel from
him, and some prayer with him. I
think
that’s good, every once in a while, to listen to God when He tells you
to do
that; actually every time He tells you to do that, you should do that. Amen?
He shared
with
me about the right perspective, which really changed the whole third
part,
so… I asked, “Can’t
you just fly up here
and preach the message, Pastor?” because he was sharing so fast; I was
trying
to write things down… He
said, “I didn’t
mean to preach to you, Jesse, but I’m so excited about thankfulness. This is one of my favorite
topics, and I just
can’t slow down.” I’m
trying to write
notes as he’s doing all this… One
of the
points he shared was, he and Sister Debbie have the same style of
glasses. They look
the same, they’re the same weight,
and everything, except they’re a different prescription. So, sometimes Debbie will
grab his glasses,
on the way out the door, and put them on, and go, “Oh, no!” That’s a whole different
perspective. “I see things a whole lot differently.”
That’s kind of what I’m going to talk about today. Things might look the same
on the outside for
everybody, but when you’re going through something, it gives you a
different
perspective on being thankful. In
the movie,
Apollo 13, they were kind of stuck—it’s based on a true story—they were
stuck
out in space, and they were running out of oxygen, and they didn’t have
the
ability to create oxygen, enough to get them into orbit, so that they
could back
to earth safely. So,
all these engineers
are coming up with all these solutions with things that they didn't
have on the
shuttle. Finally
the head engineer gets
mad, and says, “All right. I
don’t want
any more solutions other than the things that they have on that shuttle. So, bring everything that
they have, whether
it’s spare parts, supplies, anything, bring it, put it on the table,
and we’re
going to come up with a solution with what they have on the shuttle.” So, that changed their
perspective. Some
things were square or round, and they
couldn’t quite fit them together, so they had to use some kind of tape. They came up with a
solution and brought them
back to earth. God
wants us to take what
we have, in an attitude of thankfulness, change our perspective, bring
it to
His table, and come up with a solution, instead of complaining about
it, and
worrying about what we don’t have.
What do
you have? What can
you bring to the table
of God? It’s like
the child with the toy
that’s broken. He’s
crying about the
toy, or she’s crying about the toy, but they won’t let the parent have
the toy
to fix it. Bring it
to God, and let Him
fix it. He will fix
it. Paul needed a perspective change, too; he
shared about this in his second letter to the church at Corinth. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
And lest I should be exalted above measure through
the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger
of Satan
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice,
that it might depart from me. And
He
said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made
perfect
in weakness. Most
gladly therefore will
I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. Therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's
sake:
for when I am weak, then am I strong. God changed Paul's
perspective. He had
this issue that he
wanted taken care of. Then
he asked Him
three times about it. How
many times have
you brought something to God and you feel like you’re not getting an
answer? How many
times? Sometimes
the answer is, “You already have
what you need. My
grace is sufficient.” Sometimes,
all we have in a situation is God’s
grace; that’s all we have, and that’s enough.
I’ve seen God do miracles and heal, yes, I’m not
discounting that at all. Sometimes,
God will not heal you. In
my own life, there have been situations
that God would not heal, and I’ve asked, and He said, “My grace is
sufficient.” I
accepted that, and walked with God,
according to the way that He wanted me to walk with Him, with this
impairment,
this illness that I have. Amen? Sometimes we just need to
get to the place,
and just shut out all the noise, and listen to that still, small voice,
so that
He can tell us, and give us direction.
Standing
in a place where a bunch of people are complaining is not the best
place to
hear from God. Sometimes
you’ve got to
step away from that environment, and sometimes just go outside, and
sometimes
in the restroom, if you’ve got to, just go inside and close the door,
and have
a little conversation with Jesus.
Just
have a little talk with Jesus. Have
Him
change your perspective. Amen? So, when Paul had more of
a thankful
attitude, then he could turn it and say, “When I am weak, then am I
strong.” Because
it’s the grace of God, it’s the power
of Christ in my life. It’s
not all about
my flesh; it’s not about what I know; it’s not about what I do, it’s
how I love
God. So, let God
take you to that
different perspective in your life, and let Him humble you, and show
you those
things. My last Scripture I’m
going to share with you today, as we prepare to close: Colossians
3:15-17
And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly in
all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. [Start to sing
praises. Start to
be thankful. Start
to think of the good things God has
done for you. Instead
of worrying about
your health, worrying about your situation, worrying about the problems
in the
world, start to sing the praises to God.] And
whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by
him.
Amen. Thank you for your
attention. God
bless you.
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