Nov 23, 2020

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2020-11-23-devotional-Be Thankful

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Thanks for joining me today for "A Little Walk with God." I'm your host Richard Agee.

Well, here in the United States, it's almost Thanksgiving again. It's probably a good time to stop and think about that psalm that's most appropriate for this time of year. And that's psalms 100. it goes like this:

Sing to the Lord, all the world!

2 

Worship the Lord with joy;

    come before him with happy songs!

3 

Acknowledge that the Lord is God.

    He made us, and we belong to him;

    we are his people, we are his flock.

4 

Enter the Temple gates with Thanksgiving;

    go into its courts with praise.

    Give thanks to him and praise him.

5 

The Lord is good;

    his love is eternal

    and his faithfulness lasts forever. (Psalms 100 GNT)

Thanksgiving preparations take a lot. perhaps we think about sending out invitations to family and friends. we have to make that list of what we're going to put on the table; the beverages that we're going to have, the appetizers that we're going to bring out before the meal begins or as the meal starts, maybe the meat or maybe two. is it going to be Turkey or ham or both? maybe some kind of fish, who knows? Vegetables. all the different desserts. my favorite is pecan pie. my wife's is pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream.

perhaps we have games in store. is it going to be football for the guys? is it going to be some kind of outdoor game for the kids? or do we have something lined up indoors if the weather is bad? and then we have to get the house ready. there's cleaning to do. maybe there's extra chairs we have to obtain. or maybe extra tables. What about the place settings? or are we going to use good China or everyday plates? do we have enough?

Well, all of those preparations we have to take care of, but this year it's a little, isn't it? there's going to be smaller numbers, perhaps. maybe not the big crowds that we're used to in the past because of the covid pandemic. in fact, some states say that we can't even have more than ten gathered for Thanksgiving even if it's in our families. some might be missing from that Thanksgiving table whether they are ill or quarantine because of the covid symptoms. or maybe some have passed away, and we're missing them because of that reason.

or maybe the Thanksgiving preparations will be short this year because of unemployment, food shortages, and essentials that just aren't there. it's going to be different this year that's for sure. and this year it's different because of the turmoil. I don't know whether it's the politics that has caused all of it. certainly, that's part of it. we don't yet know whether we have a president. no one's been declared yet, not until the electorate votes in January. not until all the lawsuits are over. not until all the craziness that's going on has ended, will we really know what's happened.

and the turmoil with the pandemic. is this the 2nd way the 3rd wave? is there another one coming? certainly, we are facing some dire times as our health care workers are really getting fatigued? and we're all getting exhausted with this separation anxiety? and what about our economy? as we have more lockdowns and more unemployment, our businesses just begin to crumble because of the lack of people going into our stores. and the turmoil that just continues to climb day after day.

and our social life, the turmoil that we see there. the separation just continues to eat at us a little at a time day after day. when we can't have the contact that we had in the past. we are social creatures. when we can't meet together, when we can't have that physical contact, when we can't touch and meet and be face to face with people that we love, with friends that we're usually in contact with daily, it affects us. and all of that turmoil together creates anxiety. it creates problems for us.

many people will ask, so what do we have to be thankful for? well, there is hope for Christians. we have the same hopes that we've always had. we have hope in Christ. we have hope for a home in the future. we know that this is not our home. our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. our hope is in something more than this place.

it's not a hope for just the beginning of a new year. it's not just hoping for a fresh start as 2021 starts and maybe a new beginning that a new set of politicians might bring to us. it's not hope for the government to do something that will bring change. or that new politicians or a new regime will finally fix everything. that won't happen. it's not hope that there will be an end of turmoil because the White House might flip. it's not hope that that might end the racial tension or that the economy will suddenly spring up.

Our hope is in Christ. we hope that he will change our hearts. and he does change our hearts. He gives us peace that only Christians can understand once they've been forgiven of their sins. once he comes and indwells us. that's when we understand what this is all about. what this Christian life is all about. can I explain it? can I understand how it happens? No. except that I understand that Jesus Christ forgives me, and it fills me with His peace and comfort and a joy that despite all that's going on, I can still know that there's hope for tomorrow.

so I can worship him. I know about the present. I know that God Reigns. I know that God is still in charge despite all the different things that are going on around me. I know that he protects his children. do we have suffering in this world? Yes, but this isn't what it's all about. it's life after life that creates our hope. it's what happens after this place that makes all the difference.

 that's why the apostles could be bold in their preaching. they could stand before the Sanhedrin. they could stand before Roman soldiers. they could give their lives because they knew that this wasn't all there was. they were different from the world because of what they knew about the present. they knew that this wasn't all there was.

we can worship because we know the end. we know that there will be a renewed heaven. there will be a renewed earth. creation will be renewed and made perfect again. we also know that in the end, they'll be a judgment and what we do here will be judged by the one who judges perfectly. it won't be our earthly judges that can be bribed or swayed by politics or caused to give different sentences or different punishments and rewards based on who they know or the wealth of the one they are facing. but will be judged by the one who knows our heart. the one who knows all about us. the one who created us and all there is. his judgment, his justice will be perfect.

we know the end. we know the present. we know the Lord. we know that he alone is worthy. he is our Shepherd. he is our savior. he's the sustainer of all there is. he's the creator. God alone is worthy of our praise and our worship. he alone is the one that is worthy of worship. so we go back to that 100th psalm. and as we approach this Thanksgiving season, it's worth listening to one more time.

Sing to the Lord, all the world!

2 

Worship the Lord with joy;

    come before him with happy songs!

3 

Acknowledge that the Lord is God.

    He made us, and we belong to him;

    we are his people, we are his flock.

4 

Enter the Temple gates with Thanksgiving;

    go into its courts with praise.

    Give thanks to him and praise him.

5 

The Lord is good;

    his love is eternal

    and his faithfulness lasts forever. (Psalms 100 GNT)

Enjoy this Thanksgiving. Worship God. We have a lot for which to be thankful. More than anything, else we can be thankful that he is God, and we or not.  

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn't, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

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Scriptures marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation®: Scriptures taken from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.