Friday, November 1, 2013

Being thankful in the season of thanksgiving.


“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15, ESV).

  Sometimes we don’t understand the gift of love upon us because we don’t have the capacity to comprehend its fullness.  Sometimes we can’t appreciate the protective qualities love brings to our lives us because we bristle as it contains our desires of independence.  Sometimes we cannot distance ourselves from the falseness of the lies making love about ourselves that abound in our culture.  God loves us and His love is upon us.   Still we are limited in our capacity to grasp the vastness of His love.  We may resist the rules of His commandments and pathways often forgetting His precious desire for us to prosper following His ways.  We may stumble around a-bit as we let our selfishness rule in our hearts but none of this, changes God’s love for us.

     May we remember Christ earnestly desires to bring us under His care even after our failure and sin much as He longed to shelter the people of Jerusalem against the impending danger before them (Mt. 23:37).  May we understand His protective love is still upon us even as we selfishly rebel against His Word and His Spirit.  What a powerful thing to be covered by God’s love as wings that would cover us (Deuteronomy 32:11, Ps 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7; 91:4) and protect us even as are like scattered chicks lost in the storm because we think there is no danger.

     May we cast aside selfishness and see the blessed perfectness in the sacrificial love of our Lord.  May we love Him with all our heart, soul and mind instead of being in love with the world, realizing the pursuits of the world pass away but the love of God is eternal (1 Thessalonians 5:21-24; 1 John 2:15-17). May we mature in our understanding to go beyond childish feelings … to understand God’s steadfast love, beholding in wonderment the endless reality of His love being is indescribable and eternal (Ephesians 2:17-21). May we realize His love is upon the whole world and everyone in it. May we be generous with others remembering His great generosity to us.

     All that God gives to us, is multiplied in our generosity to others.  We do not give to others desiring praise but out of our thankfulness in knowing God’s love.  When our giving is selfless and unto God, we are blessed and our lives are enriched by His love and presence (1 Corinthians 4:6-14). 

     Realizing any of this should make us truly thankful during this season of Thanksgiving. Is there any greater thing in the world than to be thankful for God’s love through Christ in making us His children? Is there any greater thing than to give unto others out of His great love and share with them in their needs when God has so richly blessed us?

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1, NKJV)

Suggested Reading ... 2 Corinthians 9

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