“Not as the world gives do I give to you.”
Do not be deceived! If you’re looking to the world to make your life better in 2021, you’ve already missed the mark! The world will NEVER be able to give you peace. Never!
Ps 118:24
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Barnes on Ps 118:24’s “This is the day”
“As if it were a new day, made for this very occasion, a day which the people did not expect to see, and which seemed therefore to have been created out of the ordinary course, and added to the other days.”
Learn to be grateful for the ‘now’!
God decided to save you.
Rom. 5:7-8
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jn 6:44
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
Ps 118:24
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Perspective
It truly is everything. Each and every day we wake up we have the chance to BE grateful.
“increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God”
God pours grace into our laps so that we realize how blessed we are. We must seize each moment for what it is - a grace gift. This is the essence of “being grateful” - it’s a status quo, a state of being, a mindset (vs. tallying and weighing the details) that glorifies God in time.
“He has delivered us”
Does this every get old??? How could it?
“rooted and built up in him”
Christ Jesus is the foundation of all that we are, all that we are grateful for, ala - “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1Co 3:11).
Lk 11:8-9
“I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Perspective This Day
We must learn to simply choose to BE grateful.
Perspective This Day
The holy, sovereign God of the Universe, Creator of all things, has adopted you into His personal family. Not a single person, thing, or circumstance will ever steal you from His embrace. How’s that for something to be grateful for???
Ac 20:35b
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” - Jesus
“It is more blessed to give”…what, though?
- Thanksgiving
- Time & energy
- Love & forgiveness
- “You!”
Ro 12:1
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Ro 12:1 [Amplified Classic]
I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
Grace is Action!
Grace is an expressive part of godly love. 1Jn 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
God’s Economy
God fills our cup with love (by grace) and our love overflows into the laps of others (by grace).
The Value of Discipline in the Family
A family without discipline is a cursed family.
Teaching Us Love
God uses godly families to teach children about His love, from a practical perspective. The divine institutions of marriage and family are actually the platforms God uses to teach others about His love. Godly families aren’t necessarily the end goal; rather, they are the vehicle - the context for love to shine.
On Marriage and Family
We believers are held to a higher standard.
