Be Thankful

This is a Thanksgiving Day message. That's what I'm going to focus on. You know, we should be thankful every day but we we do set aside a special time once a year with our families to have Thanksgiving dinner and have a special time of Thanksgiving. Think about the first Thanksgiving and those kinds of things because often we're not thankful and we we take for granted many of the blessings that God has for us. So, it's good to be reminded.

I was reminded myself as I prepared the message. You know, I heard a story about a man who was lost in the woods and later, he describes his experience and he he told how he had even knelt down and prayed. And someone asked him, did God answer your prayer? And the man replied, oh, no. Before the God had a chance to answer, a guide came along and showed me my way You know, like this man, many people are blinded to the blessings that God daily showers upon them including us.

We get healed and the doctor did it. It. We have success and we did it. We avoid an accident and that's because we're a skillful driver. We win at something and that's because we're number one.

You know, whether a person is a believer in Jesus Christ or even an unbeliever, the fact is that God has indeed showered us far with far more blessings than we realize and even deserve. And it's important to understand how to respond properly to God's abundant blessings. And we must not be oblivious to the fact that is it is God who is blessing us. I gave a Sunday school lesson on the blessed life. You know, we could be greatly blessed with things, have blessings like homes and family and friends and lots of food and things like that but not be living the blessed life.

The blessed life is lived when we have our sin confessed and we put God first and trust him and when we fear the Lord and and we don't get sidetracked by the ungodly. That's the blessed life. That's talking about a life of walking in fellowship with the Lord and having hope and peace and joy in any circumstance. But on the other hand, you know, God does give us many, many, many blessings in life. And it's important that we don't take credit for the blessings as though we are the ultimate reason for our success in life.

The proper response is to glorify him with a thankful heart. Gonna read in the Bible here, Psalm number 100, one of my favorite Psalms, and I actually have several messages on this Psalm that I've done through the years. And so turn in your Bible to Psalm 100. There's an outline in the bulletin that you'll see where I'm going. And if I don't get through it all, you'll have it to take home with you, but I probably will get through it all.

Psalm number 100. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God.

It is he that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise, be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations. Let us pray.

Our father, we do thank you so much for your abundant blessings upon us, Lord, and we do acknowledge you and we acknowledge they come from your hand but we do need reminded, Lord, sometimes, especially some of the basic blessings that we sometimes take for granted and I pray Lord as a result of this message that you'll be exalted and everything that's said and done and I pray that all of us might be able to leave this place rejoicing in you and I also pray Lord if there be one here today that's never trusted you the Bible way and I pray that they'll make that decision even before they leave this place, even before I finish this message because it's the most important decision we'll ever make in this lifetime. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Well, the first thing, well, actually, I'm going to look at three things to be thankful for and there are many more. Thankful for the grace of God, thankful for the gifts of God, thankful for the goodness of God.

Verse three there says, we are his people. Now, of course, we're talking about if you're born again, you know, we're not automatically in his family. There has to be a point in our life where we repent of our sin and make a decision to trust him as our personal savior. So, that's what it's talking about. We're there.

We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. And probably that's one of the most comforting thoughts in scripture that we are the sheep of his pasture. And I often think of the picture of Jesus carrying a little lamb on his arm and that's a very real reality in the in the life of the Christian as the Jesus is our the chief shepherd and we are one of his sheep. Very comforting idea. Well, it speaks of grace in this Psalm.

Grace getting things from God that we do not deserve. You know, we don't deserve what we get from God. That's for sure. We're undeserving because we're sinners separated from him in our lives. I heard of a discussion between some Christian leaders one time and the question was, what makes Christianity different from all other religions?

And one of them said, well, that God became a man and even though that's true, another said that there are other religions that teach that. Another said, the resurrection and another said, other religions teach that too. And then a Christian leader entered the room and said, that's an easy question. And they all had, you know, they they were all ears and they said, what what what's your idea? He says, it's it's grace.

It's getting something we do not deserve and grace is the heart of the gospel. In fact, all other religions require some kind of a work or ritual to merit God's favor. It's not just the cults. You know, there are other so called Christian religions that require rituals and things like that to merit God's favor but the truth is God accepts us with no conditions when we trust in his atoning sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ. You see, we're helplessly, we are helplessly sinful and God in grace completely forgives us if we trust him.

Now, we don't leave out repentance and faith in his shed blood. You know, Luke thirteen three mentions repentance at least three times or Luke 13. So, we don't leave that out but grace is the only way that God deals with us as a people. We're not saved by moral character. Although, it's, you know, it's good to be a moral person.

We're not saved by works of righteousness. One of my older brothers, he lived sixty two years before he died. He died of cancer and it was up to two weeks before he died that he was trusting in his works. And then one time, I actually visited him shortly before he died and he still was not saved. And then a pastor friend visited him and he put his trust in Jesus because if he would have trusted in his works until the day he died, he wouldn't be in heaven today.

We're not saved by commandment keeping. Remember, we planted a church up in Surrey, PEI and it was a very religious town and I would do a survey and in that survey, there were about eight questions. How does a person get to heaven? And one of the trust questions one of the answers was trust Jesus Christ and be born again. And other questions were keep the ten ten commandments, be a church member, be a good person, be baptized, and you'd be surprised that most of them well, maybe not most of them, but the majority of them check keep the 10 commandments as a way to get to heaven.

Of course, that was a very needy area and we eventually planted a church there but that's the that's what they thought. We're not saved by church going. You know, we can never miss a service in all of our life and still wouldn't save us. In fact, we fail in all those things, and if it was up to those things, we wouldn't make it to heaven. It's not me and my and what I do, it's all of God.

And when we do nothing else but except God's total pardon, we receive the guarantee of eternal life. That's what it's all about. That's the grace of God. Titus chapter three verse five, not by not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy, he saved us. Now, mercy is not getting something we deserve which is hell.

Grace is getting something we don't deserve and that's the salvation that he gives freely. Ephesians two eight nine, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. You see, if it was our doing, heaven wouldn't be a very nice place. You know, if we got there and boasted that we're there because of our doing. See, grace is everything for nothing to those who do not deserve anything and that's you, that's me, that's every person.

In fact, I like the great hymn. One of the verses says this, marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe. You who are longing to see his face, will you at this moment, his grace received. So the first thing I want us to notice that we should be thankful for is the grace of God. Were not for the grace of God, I would stand no chance of spending eternity in heaven.

And what a hopeless existence that would be eternity without God. In fact, that's the condition of the lost. Every person that is not saved, they are facing an eternity without God. But because of God's grace, we can be saved. Because of God's grace, life can have meaning and purpose.

And because of God's grace, the future is bright for the born born again believer, and it's only going to get better for the person that has responded to the grace of God. And it's not a wonder that Psalm 100 speaks of joyful Thanksgiving. So, that's the very first thing I want us to notice to be thankful for, the grace of God. The second thing, look in verse three again, it says, know you that the Lord he is God, it is he that made us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

A little phrase in there, it is he that made us and not we ourselves. It is he who made us and not we ourselves. Have you ever thanked God for who you are? There's no such thing as a self made person. We should thank God because God doesn't make mistakes when he designs people.

Are you happy? Who who you are and how God has made you? We should be thankful because again God doesn't make any mistakes. He designs us the way he wants us to be. Even your personality, you know God has given you.

And that's an interesting topic. There have been a lot of studies done on, the personalities of people and, some secular people have done the study, some Christians have done the study and I put some stock in it because I believe it's true that every person is kind of a certain temperament and it's usually broken down to four different temperaments that people have and may be divided in other ways too. But I want to just share with you something about the personalities of people and you may agree or disagree but that's okay. And let me give you all the personalities and bring the summary to a conclusion before you jump to any conclusions. But there are four types of personalities they say and most people are a combination.

They're not like one only, a hundred percent one and nothing of the other. There's usually some kind of a combination but the first one that is written about is the sanguine personality. That's talking about an outgoing person, They're talkative, they're sociable and they're an extrovert. They live for the moment. They're everyone's friend.

They can be easily distracted, not always reliable. They're quick to volunteer but they don't always follow through although I know sanguine people that follow through and that's a good combination. They act before they think and often Christian writers will say that that's the way Peter was. You you think of Peter when you you you describe a personality like that. Then you have the choleric.

That's a no nonsense type practical person, hardworking, active. He gets the job done, plans quickly, sizes up a problem, goes to it. He doesn't sit around and discuss things too long. He wants to get the job done. He's kind of a born leader and he doesn't usually follow others easily.

He usually sticks with his convictions and plans. He's more action than discussion. They're not always they're not usually sensitive people or sympathetic as the other temperaments. They diagnose a problem and they give a solution even when you don't want them to. You know people like that, that you're working on something and they come up and they wanna tell you how to do it.

You know, you already know how to do it and they want to tell you what you need to do this, this, and this and they think that's the only way to do it when there might be five or six ways to do it. Well, that's a choleric type person. Who in the Bible does that sound like a little bit? Paul. So Peter is the outgoing one.

He speaks and we see that in Peter's life. He speaks before he thinks sometimes. Paul's the he wants to get things done. He's got a job to do. He's not going to take somebody along with him that's going to prevent that job from getting done as you remember with John Mark.

So you got the sanguine, you got the choleric, then you got the melancholy. That's an analytical person who labors over details, an introvert who's not very sociable. They wear their feelings on their sleeve and they don't always show it. They're prone to mood swings and depression. They're more likely to withdraw from people.

They don't like large crowds and group gatherings. And then there's the phlegmatic, spelled with a p h not an f. You can spell it with an f if you want to. Phlegmatic, easy going, happy go lucky person. Generally, always happy, gets pleasure out of life, He doesn't get excited, doesn't get his feathers ruffled about much and they tend to sit back and watch rather than get involved, but they often can be a confident and efficient worker.

Now I mentioned this, you know, there have been a lot of books written and a lot of studies done by secular and by Christian writers. And I do I do think there's something to this. I mean it's not scripture but I do think there is something to this. We are a certain temperament and usually we're a combination of temperaments. But the point I want to make is that we are different.

Every temperament whether it be sanguine, choleric, melancholy or phlegmatic has strengths but every temperament has weaknesses too no matter who we are. And again, we're usually a combination of these. Now it's easy to look at others and kind of figure out. Oh, well, that person's a sanguine with a little bit of melancholy or that person's a choleric with a, you know, whatever. But it's hard to judge yourselves.

It's easy to figure out in others. But what I want you to see here is that God made us. He made various people with different temperaments, and you do have a temperament of some sort. That's his plan. He made Peter outgoing.

He made Paul, you know, a caleric to get the job done that he gave Paul to do. But here's the key. You know, you can figure out what you are if you want to. But here is the key. Ephesians five eighteen, be filled with the spirit.

You know what it means to be filled with the spirit? It means to be controlled by the spirit. Be spirit controlled. And every temperament has its strengths and weaknesses, but in Christ, there is strength for every weakness. And the point I'm trying to make here in saying all that is that we need to be thankful for the way God has made us.

And let us not expect everyone else to be like us. And let's not wanna be like someone else. Maybe you're calm and you don't get your feathers rustled ruffled and you're just relaxed and you'd rather be more outgoing. Forget it. You know, you're you're the way God made you but it's the the holy spirit that controls us that will take no matter what temperament we have And he'll help our strengths, but he'll also help us in our weaknesses.

For example, maybe a sanguine quickly volunteers but doesn't follow through while the holy spirit will help him follow through. You know, those kinds of things. But what I want you to see in this point, we need to be thankful for how God made us, not covet what somebody else is. Just be thankful for the way God made us and be thankful for the way God made other people, and we'll get along pretty good that way. And that's our temperaments.

Then I want to look at our talents which I include our physical characteristics, you know, our looks. You know, God made you to look the way you are. You might think that God has a great sense of humor. How how do you like how many of you like to maybe go to an airport and just kind of watch people? Anybody like doing that?

Watch people not not because you're kind of snoopy or anything like that. It's just that people are interesting. You see tall people, see short people, you know, you see all races in the airports. One of the things I enjoy at an airport is when I see a loved one coming down the ramp and their family meets them. Especially like to see that when soldiers come home.

And so I like to watch people and I notice in people there's a great variety. You know, the height of people, the eye color, the skin color, the hair color, the nose size, the mouth size, the mannerisms. You know, those are all made by God. And however you look, you need to be thankful that God made you that way because that's the way he wanted you. And we think of our abilities, you know, some of us have one ability or others have many.

You know, some people can fix things, others can't. You know, even in my own family, I have one son. He he's kind of a master at fixing things and figuring out and troubleshooting machines and and he doesn't like he never liked books too much. And I have another son that he loves books and studying and he's, you know, different. But they're both just as important, you know, that's the way God made them.

Some use their mind more than and others use their back more. And then the Bible speaks of spiritual gifts in first Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, and we each we each have at least one spiritual gift, and some of us have several. Romans twelve three says, for I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Romans twelve three and that's in the context of speaking about the spiritual gifts. You know, teaching and ministering and giving and hospitality and and management and and things there are there are a lot of lot of gifts mentioned in those two chapters.

And we're not to be jealous of others. Say, I have one gift and you have three gifts. You know, I ought to just pay attention to my one gift and sharpen it and use it for God's glory and not desire to have, you know, something you have. Whether it be three gifts or two gifts or even more than that. See, God has made us like we are because he wanted us to be this way and why not just accept what we are and rejoice with Thanksgiving.

That's exactly what God wants us to do. Even thank God for the way that he has made each one of us. Just appreciate one another. You know, that's what God wants. We have the same Lord.

We have the same holy spirit. We're in the same body of Christ And so when we talk about the gifts that God gives us, and part of it is our appearance and abilities and physical characteristics and temperaments. Thank God for who you are, what you are. Thank God for one another and you know, the marvelous thing about God when he puts a body of believers together, he often has a variety. You know, he brings it together and he has a variety of gifts so that we can use our gifts to serve one another.

That's the whole idea. So, we thank God for his grace. We thank God for his goodness or his gifts and then the last thing I want to look at, look in verse five. Psalm 100. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.

The Lord is good. You know, and I can't I can't thank him enough for the fact that he's put me in a free country. Place where I can worship freely, travel freely. I can make my own choices. I have freedom to speak.

I live in Largo which is a beautiful place, nice, safe place. It's it's often the case where people become discontent and dissatisfied, and they think the grass is greener on the other side, and I'll just move somewhere else, and everything will be changed and different. But it's not the change of location we need. It's the it's the fact that we need to change and we need to thank God for where he's put us, where he's placed us, even if it's in a dangerous place, even if it's on a mission field. You know, I haven't been placed in a dangerous place and I've been, as I've mentioned, I've been placed in a good place and these are the abundant blessings of God.

The place we live And I was riding back from Tampa with my wife a while back and I was, you know, just as I was riding along, I was just thinking, you know, after you listen to the news and all the war areas around the world and all the trouble and here I am driving down the road and just as safe as can be. Well, is there a shooting once in a while? Yeah. Is there a crime once in a while? Yeah.

But for the most part, we have a pretty safe area here. I live in a very safe park. And those are blessings. You know, we we must not take those little things for granted. And then our provision.

You know, basic things like sunshine and rain and food and shelter and health and body and mind. And I recall a story about a guard at a mental hospital. For fifteen years, he hauled patients back and forth to the mental hospital. You know, they had they had to take them for appointments and things like that. Then one day, from an upper floor, a patient yelled out the window, have you ever thanked God for a healthy mind?

And the guard began to think he never had but he did then. Those are the blessings of God. You know, that we take for granted sometimes and our place where we live, our provisions, and these three things and as I mentioned, there are a lot more that I could mention but these three things I see in Psalm 100, we should be thankful for God's grace For without it, we're hopeless. We should be thankful for his gifts. It's the way he made us.

No matter who you are or what your temperament is or what your talents are, God made you that way and God's goodness. He's so good to us. You know, day by day, he's so good to us, and we need to be careful that we don't take these things for granted. But it's true. When we meditate and appreciate these basic blessings from God, we will be lifted and encouraged.

We really will. We don't always thank God day by day, but I think I'm gonna challenge you with this little thing that try. Try it for thirty days. You know, when you get up in the morning, think about things that God has blessed you with and thank him and you'll be surprised after about thirty days. It might be just become a habit and it'll lift you and your spirits and you'll be a more content person because when we count our blessings, one by one, we are often surprised what the Lord has done.

As I mentioned in the beginning, you know, the little story about the a person that was lost in the woods. And he even resorted to prayer. Probably never prayed very much in his life but he knelt down and prayed and then he was asked if God answered the prayer and he said, oh no, before the God had a chance to answer the guide, a guide came along and showed me the way out. You know, ever so often, you know, we do that. We don't give God the credit.

We don't thank him when we should. If we get healed, it's ultimately God that does it. He doesn't have to heal us and he doesn't heal everybody to get sick. Some sometimes he takes him to to glory. If we're successful, we get we take the credit sometimes.

We think it's us. We did it. But really, we don't succeed unless God allows it. And if we avoid an accident, it's not our skillful driving necessarily. That's the ultimate reason.

It's because God spared us. And if we win at something, it's not because we're number one. In fact, I get a little sick of football games and sports, you know, places that if somebody makes a big play, you'd think that it was all because of them, and they're shouting I'm number one, and they take all the credit for everything and just shouldn't be that way with the with the Lord. We should have the proper response which is glorify him with a thankful Let's pray. Father, we do thank you for your word.

Thank you for this short Psalm which Lord we've been focusing on hymns about praising you and that's really what the Psalm is about. Praising and thanking you for the many many blessings that you have for us in life. Whether it be the grace Lord that we have from you. That enables us to be translated from wicked sinners to children of yours to sheep in your pasture or the way you made us, the talents, the personalities, the temperaments, the gifts, and all that's true about us. Lord, you made us the way you wanted us to be.

And we're all different. And we shouldn't covet what others have in that way. We need to be thankful to you. And then Lord we thank you for your goodness. You treat us better than we deserve, and we know you're good to us, Lord, in so many many little ways that we sometimes take for granted.

The air that we breathe, the sunshine, the friends, the families you've given us so many good things in life, The place we live. And we ask you Lord to to to help us. To glorify you with thankful hearts. Not just today but every day. And Lord if there be one here that's has a tendency to forget about giving thanks to you and and maybe they don't live the Christian life like they ought and I pray they might begin today to refocus their attention upon you and your goodness and your gifts and your grace and and thank you and begin a daily habit of doing that.

And Lord, I know that it'll change them. It'll change their attitude about life, and they'll have the peace and the joy and the contentment you that you desire your children to have. And I ask you these things in Jesus' name. Amen.