Thanksgiving

Ezra 3:11
They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: "For He is good; His faithful love to Israel endures forever." Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord's house had been laid.

Psalms 69:30
I will praise God's name with songand exalt Him with thanksgiving.

Psalms 95:1-3
1 Come, let us shout joyfully to the Lord,shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;let us shout triumphantly to Him in song. 3 For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.

Psalms 100:4
Enter His gates with thanksgivingand His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

Philippians 4:6
Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Revelations 7:11-12
All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

As the majority of us have a magnificent feast of some sort and enjoy an extra long weekend, I hope we remember to whom our Thanksgiving is due and why. Have a marvelous Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,
Deborah

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit God's kingdom? Do not be deceived: no sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, 10 thieves, greedy people, drunkards, revilers, or swindlers will inherit God's kingdom. 11 Some of you were like this; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

My past slapped me pretty hard a couple of weeks ago. My daughter is pregnant and found out her blood factor is Rh-. We were both under the mistaken assumption that for this to be the case, one of the parents had to be Rh-. I knew that both her father and I were Rh+. For about 10 minutes I was pretty hysterical. No, I had not been having an affair, but I had to admit that with the drug and alcohol induced haze in which we lived, anything was a possibility. A quick bit of research on the Internet assured me that a recessive gene was entirely possible and her dad's looks, dimples and ugly feet clinched the deal. It was a very sobering few minutes though.

However, after the shock of the first horrifying realization wore off, I ran smack dab into the redeeming quality of Jesus Christ. You see, I'm not like that anymore! I don't have to live a life wondering what happened when I was in a walking blackout. I don't have to wake up and wonder why I taste like an ashtray when I "don't smoke". I don't have to wonder where my next bag of weed will come from. I've been washed! I've been redeemed! That is why I praise Him! People might think my Pentecostal worship is a little "emotional", but I can guarantee you it's not nearly as emotional as trying to figure out who the father of your 21 year old daughter might possibly be! It's not nearly as emotional as the screaming, yelling fights and chaos that comes with a life of drugs and alcohol. You see, I have more than just a little praise to give Him. He didn't just change my life, He saved it. Thank God for the cleansing power of the Blood!

In His Service,
For His Glory,
Deborah

Ephesians 2:10

Why do we have such a hard time living an overcoming life? We know from Ephesians 2:10 that we are created to do good works. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (NKJV) We know that the only prayer request recorded from Jesus in the Bible is to send people into the harvest field. Luke 10:2 Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. (NKJV) We know that we have the power to do miraculous things in Jesus’ Name. John 14:12 "I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. (NKJV) So what's the problem?

For too many of us, its simply this; we have bought into satan’s lie that we cannot serve God or work for God if our life is not perfect. We think we will be a “hypocrite” if we spout all this stuff to other people and then go home and give in to our weakness. While I am not condoning sin, the fact of the matter is that every single one of us has one or more areas in our walk with God where we are weak. The “great” apostle Paul, (who by the way started his ministry by killing followers of Christ) put it this way: Romans 7:15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. (HCSB) John put it this way: 1 John 1:8&10 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (NKJV)

Now if Paul had given in to that attitude that he was not “good enough” to work for Jesus Christ, ¾ of the New Testament would not have been written and hundreds of churches would not have been started. If John had given into that attitude, we would not have had 5 books of the New Testament and would never have known what heaven will be like. But, the apostles knew one thing: Romans 8:1 Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (HCSB) God does not condemn us! When God chose you to come into the kingdom, he knew where you would struggle. It does not surprise Him when you are overtaken.

This is a fine line. Let me make it perfectly clear; God hates sin! It is not ok to simply say “This is the way I am” and leave it like that. We are to continually strive to become more Christ like. We should hate the sin in our lives and continue to work to remove it. We should be convicted by the Word of God and that should create a desire in us to change. (The difference between conviction and condemnation is this; conviction is the feeling that what you are doing is bad and needs to change. Condemnation is the feeling that who you are is bad and can’t change.)

However, we know that we can change. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (NKJV) All leaves nothing! Any behavior, any thought process, any destructive pattern in our life can be overcome! Here is the key: 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (NKJV) All we have to do is repent and have a desire for change! The most exciting thing about this is there is no limit to Gods mercies. Lamentations 3:21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. 22 Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (HCSB) Every time we ask for strength God will give it to us. Every morning, we start out with a clean slate and fresh mercies. This should make us leap and shout for joy!

My challenge for you this next year is twofold. First, identify one weakness in your life and truly work on overcoming it. If you feel comfortable, let at least one other person know what it is so that you will have a prayer partner for this. Second, make a commitment that you will not stop working for God even if you do not overcome this weakness just yet.

In His Service,
For His Glory,
Deborah