“Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.”
(Psalm 100:1-5)
THANKSGIVING, to be TRULY thanksgiving, is FIRST THANKS, then GIVING. How?
I – THANK HIM BY SERVING – “Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing”(Psalm 100:2). Serve the Lord with gladness at the peak of your life. Being young is exciting, but the excitement of youth can become a barrier to closeness with God because those things that most young people live for (sports, sex, popularity) become increasingly unimportant with old age.
Make your strength available to God when it is still yours – during your youthful years. Don’t waste it on evil or meaningless activities that become bad habits and make you callous. Serve God NOW!
Many people work hard to prolong life and improve their physical condition (better diet, proper exercise, excellent health care). Yet people don’t spend nearly as much time or effort on their SPIRITUAL HEALTH. How short-sighted it is to work hard to extend this life and not work equally hard to secure ETERNAL LIFE. Serve the Lord with gladness NOW!
II – THANK HIM BY SINGING – “Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing”(Psalm 100:2). Singing is expressing back to God our appreciation and understanding of his worth. It is saying “THANK YOU” for each aspect of His divine nature. Our INWARD ATTITUDE becomes OUTWARD EXPRESSION. Develop the practice of singing to God, and you will experience greater joy and strength to face any task. We sing because WE SEE HIS GOODNESS.
“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5) “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”(Romans 8:28). “All things work together for GOOD.”
God can bring good out of any situation. No problem in your life is too complicated for God if you are willing to allow Him to help you.
It is very simple to speak “all things work together for good” when things are going well. If my health is excellent. My income is flourishing. My friends are fond of me. It is not hard to say “all things work together for good” when everything is doing good; but what about when one’s body breaks down?
When I stand by helpless? When my partner is under pain? Despite all of our doubts, misgivings and mismanagement of our affairs, HE PICKED US UP and BORNE US back again in great tenderness.
Sometimes things happen to you that you may seem, horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart. “EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.” Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck.
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