Transformational Thanksgiving

The Bible warns us that one of the signs of the last days is that people will not be thankful. Romans 1:18, 21 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness ….because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
God has so blessed us that we can begin to take the blessings of God for granted in our lives. There is a growing sense of entitlement in our culture that, if we are not watchful, can begin to affect our relationship with God. Paul warns us that the result of this lack of thankfulness is that we become futile in our thoughts and our foolish hearts are darkened. The lack of thanksgiving results in a world full of greed, and corruption to the point of self-destruction. The tragedy of it all is that our thoughts are so darkened we don’t even understand that we are destroying ourselves and the future of our children.
The cure to this self-destructive trend in our society is transformational thanksgiving in which we purposefully begin to publicly glorify God and give Him thanks for what He does in our lives and gives to us. When was the last time you thanked someone at work, at home or in the market place for something simple he/she did for you? When was the last time you publicly thanked God and gave Him glory for something He helped you with on the job or at home, or something He provided for you?
We need to cultivate an atmosphere of thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Don’t just give thanks when things are going well or for the special things or special occasions,, but in everything give thanks. Thanksgiving should become a lifestyle that just flows out of us in gratitude to God.
Psalms 100:4-5 exhorts us to “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” The gateway to entering into the transformational presence of God is through thanksgiving. We need to take our focus off of our possessions, which we think we cannot live without, and put our focus on God, His goodness, mercy and truth.
In this world filled with grumbling, complaining, criticism and anger, we need to be salt and light by developing lips that continually give thanks and praise to God. As we give thanks and glory to God, it will begin to change our perspective on life and will begin to affect others around us and transform our environment. Thanksgiving will produce love, joy, peace, longsuffering and patience in our lives.
Purpose in your heart today to begin developing a lifestyle of thanksgiving, and you will be amazed at what God will do.

Until an Opportune Time

As I was reading the Scripture this morning a profound declaration stood out to me in Luke 1:13 - " When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time."

Left him at until an opportune time. The devil lost the fight with Jesus in the wilderness, but Satan was not about ready to give up or call it quits. He would go away and wait for a more opportune time. Satan is tenacious. This is why so many believers have fallen over the span of history.

I Peter 3:17 - " Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position."

I Peter 5:8 - " Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

We are in a battle as believers. We will have our victories and defeats, but we must continually be on our guard and persevere to the very end.

I Corinthians 16:13 - " Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong."

The battle is ours as we continually yield to the power of the Holy Spirit. We must never call it quits. We must never let down our guard.

Hebrews 10:36 - "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

Equality

2 Corinthians 8:13-15 - "¹³ Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. ¹⁴ At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, ¹⁵ as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little."

I don't know how many of you have watched the show "Hoarders". In this show people are obsessed with accumulating more and more. Most of us would not go to the extreme that they do, but some of us accumulate more than we should. The apostle Paul says, that we should seek equality in the church. I don't believe that Paul is saying that we should all have the same amount of money and things, but we shouldn't have abundance while other lack the basics of life. 

In the United States there is a growing gap between the wealthy and the poor. The middle class is shrinking. This is true in most nations of the world. Yet, it should not be this way in the church. In the church there should not be a group of people who have accumulated many non necessary things or things they may never use or rarely use and those who struggle to make ends meet. In Haiti, a Haitian feels he has the right to ask or even take without asking something of yours if you have two of them. In his mind you have two and you don't need the other so what it the big deal if you give him one or he takes it without your knowledge. Not that we should condone this attitude or action, but they may have a point.

Applying the principle of equality is not an easy thing to do. It is hard to strike the balance between having to much and not having enough. How much is to much? How much is to little? These two questions may never be adequately answered. Yet, I find believers who are abundantly blessed often justify their abundance by saying God has blessed me. This is no fault of my own. I deserve it. You can't argue with God. He chose to bless me materially and not you. Sorry, I am not God. He does what he wills. All this to say, it is fine for me to live in the lap of luxury and I am not responsible for your lack of or suffering. 

I believe that Scripture would differ with you on this. We are a body if one part suffers all parts suffer. If on part hurts, we want to fix the hurt. We are a family. If one member of the family lacks something, we want to meet that need. We just don't say, tough luck, sorry, life is hard. I will be praying for you. We will do everything in our power to help the hurting part or hurting family member. If not, we are selfish and self-centered. We are no different than the world.

You may say I give and help others in need more than many other people do. The Bible says, we are not to compare ourselves with others or ourselves to justify our actions. Compare yourself with God who gave His all for us. Think on the great sacrifice Christ made on our behalf. Use Christ as your measuring stick. Also, it is not important how much you have given; rather, how much do you have left to give. Your giving is to be in proportion to what you have. You have much. Then much is required.

I am not indifferent to the challenges of equality. I live in Haiti where the majority are dirt poor and they look at me as very wealthy. Yet, we must wrestle with this issue daily and seek a greater equality in God's church.

Leader experince fear and discouragment.

In my morning devotions two words hit me in 2 Corinthians 6:5-6 - fears within & downcast. Paul is talking about the trials he faced in Macedonia. Paul the great apostle, and in some peoples minds the greatest apostle was fearful and downcast. Wow! This is an encouragement to me to know that even great leaders can experience fear and discouragement. I am not alone. Sometimes as leaders we think we should never have these feelings and may be ashamed when we do, but be encouraged, it happens. He goes on to say that I was comforted and my joy was greater than ever. Hey! We as leaders need people to comfort us. Oh and by the way, if you are fearful and downcast today be encouraged there is greater joy that is coming.

Jesus Journey

As you read in my devotional last week entitled “Jesus,” the only hope for our world that groans in the bondage of sin is the manifestation of the children of God, that is Jesus Christ in us the hope of glory. (Romans 8:17, Colossians 1:27) For God’s glory to manifest in us we must walk the Jesus journey.

 

The summary of the first thirty years of Jesus’ journey are written in Luke 2:52,

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Jesus is twelve years old and has gone to the temple with his parents, and Luke records in 2:47

“And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.” Though Jesus had revelation knowledge that surpassed the greatest teachers of His day, he spent His first thirty years growing “in wisdom and stature, and favor with God and men.” We can become so busy with life that we do not allow time in our journey for God to develop His character in us. When we watch the Olympics, we will see people who have spent a lifetime of discipline in developing the character and skills necessary to stand for a moment on the world stage. Whatever we do in life, our Jesus journey begins with the disciplines of a Christlike character in us. We do not live according to the values of this world but by the values revealed to us in His Word and developed in us by submission to our heavenly coach, the Holy Spirit.

 

The next phase of Jesus’ journey is recorded in Luke 3:22, “and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." Wherever our journey takes us, the voice of affirmation over our lives must come from heaven. While Jesus grew in favor with man, the affirmation of who he was and what he did came only from the Father. No matter what kind of work we do, our only measure of success and sense of fulfillment can come from God. God’s pleasure with His son did not come from performance, because Jesus’ ministry had not yet begun. God’s pleasure was with Jesus the carpenter who had learned to walk as a son in a love relationship of submission and obedience.

 

The Jesus journey continues with the test of identity and character in the wilderness in Luke chapter four. The repeated challenge of the enemy was “If you are the son of God,” then prove it. Jesus’ consistent response was “It is written.” Satan constantly tests our identity and our character through success and suffering. He constantly flaunts the world before us, tempting us to measure ourselves by those around us, what we see and what we feel, instead of the Word of God.

 

The conclusion of Jesus’ journey is in Acts 10:38, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” This can be the testimony of your journey when your identity and life is hidden in Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, you can do good works that God has ordained for you and bring healing to those around you.

Delayed Promise or Inheritance

Numbers 14:20-24 - "The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, ²² not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. ²⁴ But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.<sup>"

In these verses we see God's actions towards a nation in disobedience and his actions towards individuals who lived obedient lives. A nation may be judged by God for their disobedience, but in the midst of judging them he shows his love and kindness to those who follow Him completely. 

Those whom rebelled against God had been promised to receive this wonderful land. Yet, because of their disobedience they didn't receive the promise, but Caleb and Joshua received the promise. The promises God has made to us can not be annulled by the majority. The inheritance God has promised us can not be lost due to the disobedience of others. The realization of God's promise to us is solely dependent on God's faithfulness and our faithfulness towards Him.

Yet, here we do see that God's promise to Joshua and Caleb were delayed (40 years) due to the disobedience of the nation of Israel. In the same way, the promises God has made to us can be delayed do to the disobedience of those around and God's judgment on them. Yet, ultimately God's promise to us will be fulfilled as we remain faithful to Him and take hold of it by faith. Therefore, if your promise has been delayed, do not be discouraged because it is on its way. 

I think it is wonderful to know that God's goodness towards us is not thwarted by the sin of others or God's judgement on them. God punished the people of Egypt, but in the midst of their judgement, God spared His people.</sup> 

Enlarge Your Capacity

Last week I was lying on my bed about 11pm at night in my hotel room in Bungoma, Kenya, praying and meditating on what I was going to share on Community Transformation the next morning at the Leadership Conference, and the Lord dropped two Scriptures in my heart defining two essential elements to community transformation.

 

The first Scripture was Isaiah 54:2-3: "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.”

 

The first essential element to community transformation is to enlarge your personal capacity. The command is for you to enlarge the place of your tent. It goes on to say, do not spare, don’t hold back, go all out, and allow the Holy Spirit to stretch you and lengthen your cords. Do not settle for the status quo, but allow the Spirit to stretch your faith, your capacity to love, forgive, and to serve. Allow the Spirit to nurture, develop and sharpen your God-given gifts and talents. As you grow, drive down your stakes deep into God so that you will not be blown away by the tempests of life.

 

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Do not allow the temptations and cares of life to rob you of your potential in Christ. Your ability to resist spiritual mediocrity will not only enlarge your capacity, but also affect your descendents and their place of habitation.

 

The second essential element to community transformation is found in Genesis 5:5:

“Then He (the Lord) brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him,” So shall your descendants be.” What did the Lord bring Abraham outside of? His tent. For community transformation God not only needs to enlarge your capacity but also your vision. Because Abraham had left his country and laid down everything in his pursuit and obedience, God blessed Abraham beyond his wildest imagination. God had enlarged his tent so that he had over 800 servants who could fight and livestock beyond numbering.

 

However, at one hundred years of age Abraham had not received the son of promise, and God called him out of his tent to look at the stars and believe for the impossible, that he would be the father of nations. I don’t know where you are today, but God wants to do the impossible through you. First of all, you need to resist complacency, allow Him to enlarge your capacity, then step out of your limitations into His limitlessness and believe Him for the impossible.