What to Be Thankful For

Series:

Leslie Basham: What do you have to be thankful for?

Speaker One: Oh my family; my health.

Speaker Two: The best husband in the world and a wonderful family and a cute little house.

Speaker Three: I'm thankful for my husband. He has taken care of my children all weekend while I get away with the girls.

Speaker Four: I'm thankful that the Lord saved my soul. I'm thankful for the air I breathe and the sun that shines everyday.

Speaker Five: I'm thankful for my son because he's a joy to me and especially when we play music together.

Speaker Six: I'm thankful for my salvation--very much so. It's a new life and the one I had before was definitely disappointing.

Leslie Basham: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss. It's Friday November 22nd.

Over the last several days, Nancy has been leading us in the study called "The Attitude of Gratitude."

We've heard about the difference this attitude can make in our lives and in our outlook. Nancy has also challenged us to express our gratitude, not just to feel thankful. But the substance of being a thankful person and being one who expresses things begins with simply knowing what we have to be thankful for.

Here is Nancy to help us get started.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: One Thanksgiving Ann Landers published in her column a list of things to be thankful for that had been sent to her from someone else. Here is how that list read:

*"Be thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snuggly because it means that you have enough to eat.

Be thankful for the mess you clean up after a party because it means you have been surrounded by friends.

Be thankful for the taxes you pay because it means you are employed.

Be thankful that your lawn needs mowing and your windows need fixing because it means you have a home.

Be thankful for your heating bill because it means you are warm.

Be thankful for your laundry because it means you have clothes to wear.

Be thankful for the space you found at the far end of the parking lot because it means you can walk.

Be thankful for the lady who sings off key behind you in church because it means you can hear.

Be thankful when people complain about the government because it means we have freedom of speech.

Be thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means you are alive."

Well we have so much for which to be thankful. And today we want to talk about what we should be thankful for, what are some of the things for which we should give thanks.

We have said that we have all the reason in the world to have an attitude of gratitude--for we were guilty and God poured out His grace upon us. And gratitude is our reasonable response. Guilt, grace and gratitude, that's the Gospel of Christ.

Now we've got to start by saying (according to the Scripture) that we are to be thankful for everything. And that includes, well, it includes everything. In Ephesians 5:20 Paul says "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Now what are some of those things that fit under "everything" for which we should be thankful? Well today I want us to look at thanking God for physical and material blessings and thanking Him for spiritual blessings.

First physical and material blessings. Now let me hasten to say that those are not the most important blessings, but they are often the ones that come to mind first and that get us started as we are trying to express gratitude to the Lord.

God's Word says that "every good and every perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17). God is the giver. We don't have anything good that we came up with ourselves.

Every gift we have comes from God. First Chronicles 29 is an account of the praise service, the thanksgiving that took place after the Jews had brought all their offering that was going to be used to build the temple.

And when all the offering had been collected King David lead in a prayer of thanksgiving. He thanked the Lord for the material and the physical blessing that He had provided for the Temple.

David said in this wonderful song of praise, (v. 12) "Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all." (v. 13) "Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name."

David was saying, "All that we have comes from You. It's all a gift from You. Even what we give to You, You've given to us to give back to You. We don't have anything that didn't come from You so we give You thanks."

And so we need to thank God for those things that we often overlook--health, a home, food, clothing and those tangible material blessings. I think of how often Jesus gave thanks before partaking of a meal. Thanking God for our food reminds us that we have so many other things for which to be thankful.

But then we have not only physical and material blessings, God has loaded us down with spiritual blessings too numerous to count. And I find it so good for me to make a list of some of these blessings and to stimulate my memory and my mind about all the things God has done for me in the spiritual realm.

Let me just list here some of the things that, as I was studying the Scriptures, some of the verses that spoke to me about spiritual blessings for which we are to be thankful. Psalms 75:1 says "We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near." Giving thanks for the nearness of God's presence.

You know that in the Old Testament era, the time of the Old Covenant until Christ came and died on the cross, the Jewish believers could not approach near to God. There was a thick veil that separated them from the holiest place where God's presence dwelt. But when Jesus died that curtain was torn from top to bottom. And we were given access into the presence of God. We are invited now to come near to God.

I got an e-mail last week from a woman who said that at a recent women's retreat, they had a life-size model of the Tabernacle. And they were given an opportunity to walk through the Tabernacle.

And she said, "I didn't realize how much stepping into the Holy of Holies would impact me. I was overwhelmed when I realized that I don't have to risk death when coming into God's presence as the Israelites did." Such a great reminder of how thankful we are to experience God's presence whenever and wherever we are--thanking God for the nearness of His presence.

And then Psalms 30 (v. 4) says we should "give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name"--thanking God for His holiness. Isaiah 12:1 says that we thank God for His mercy. "I will give thanks to You, O Lord, for though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me"--thanking God for His mercy.

And then Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9, we give thanks for Jesus. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift"(v. 15). I mean that's enough to keep us thanking God for all of eternity.

And then with Christ come so many other blessings. Colossians chapter 1 "giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light" (v. 12). "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin" (vv. 13-14).

What a package of blessings come with Jesus--thanking Him for His salvation, for His forgiveness, we give thanks for those spiritual blessings.

And then Paul said that he thanked Christ Jesus because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, the call to minister (v. 25). You say, "Well, I've not been called to minister. I have a regular job."

I don't know what kind of job you have, but I know that God has called us all to be His servants, to be priests unto Him, to serve Him and to serve others. And Paul said, "This is an incredible blessing."

I thank God for the privilege of ministering His Word both in group settings like this and one-on-one, just in the course of everyday life. That's a blessing, it's a privilege, it's something for which I am deeply grateful.

And then Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15:57 that he thanked God for victory over death and the grave. "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Death is an enemy but no longer a final enemy. Christ has come and broken the power of death and hell and sin and set us free from death and the grave.

And then Paul goes through that whole long piece in Romans chapter 7 (v. 15-25) where it talks about the problems that he has with wanting to do right but not always having the power to do what's right and the struggle that goes on within him because of indwelling sin.

And then we come to the end of that passage. And he said, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Who will deliver me from this dominion of sin? And then he says, "I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

(V. 8) "There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." What is he saying? "I thank God for deliverance through Christ from the dominion, the control of sin in my life."

And then Paul thanked God for the triumph of the Gospel. "Now thanks be to God " 2 Corinthians 2 (v. 14) "who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place."

This world may look like it's winning against Christ and against His kingdom, but the gates of hell will not prevail against the kingdom of Christ. His Gospel is triumphant and so the angels and the twenty-four elders in heaven thanked God for Christ's power and reign, Revelation chapter 11:17. "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and was and who is to come, because You haven taken Your great power and reigned."

We thank Him for His eternal rule and reign. He reigns this day and for all of eternity over all the kings and presidents and principalities and powers and rulers of this earth. He reigns over everything in heaven and everything on earth and everything under the earth. All the powers of hell are under His ultimate authority.

And so many other spiritual blessings, I thank Him for His Holy Spirit. I thank Him for conviction of sin. I thank Him for His Word. I thank Him for the Church, the Body of Christ and for what that means in my life personally and for the privilege of being a part of that Body. So we give Him thanks.

Leslie Basham: Nancy DeMoss will return in a moment and lead us in thanking God for all the ways He's provided.

Earlier in the program Nancy referred to an Ann Landers article and the things we have to be thankful for. If you would like to see a copy, go to our Web site at ReviveOurHearts.com and follow the prompts to related links for today's broadcast.

While there you may also want to order a copy of the Counting My Blessings Journal. It's a unique way to keep a written record of God's activity in your life and a great tool for helping you and your family develop an attitude of gratitude. You can order a Counting My Blessings Journal for a donation of $10 through our Web site ReviveOurHearts.com or by calling 1-800-569-5959.

And if today's program has helped you discover something new about gratitude, would you write and tell us about?

We hope you have a wonderful weekend and be sure to look for opportunities to express thanks to God and to others. Then join us again Monday for another lesson in "The Attitude of Gratitude." Here is Nancy.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Oh, Father, for all of eternity we will not have time enough to thank You for all the physical and the spiritual blessings that we have received from Your good hand. But our hearts are full; we are blessed. We are grateful and we say, "Thank You. Thank You, thank You, thank You, thank You." Amen.

* Taken from 11/22/01 Ann Landers' column, The Holland Sentinel, Holland, MI.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is a ministry partnership of Life Action Ministries.

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