Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

PASTOR'S PENS 2008

November 16th “Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”    C. S. Lewis                 Joy is the second fruit of the Spirit. The word joy occurs 181 times in the Bible and the theme of thanksgiving is woven like a golden ribbon throughout the fabric of Scripture. While it is true that God wants to hear our doubts, fears, and questions, He especially desires our praise! We are commanded to be joyful and joy is a byproduct of praise. Joy is the fruit of the Spirit that makes our lives easier and also attracts lost folk to desire that which gives us this kind of joy. But when we do not have joy, we not only are miserable, we repel other believers and the lost.                 That was the case with Oliver Wendell Holmes. You may recall that he was a member of the United States Supreme Court for thirty years. His mind, wit and work earned him the unofficial title of “the greatest justice since John Marshall (the very first Chief Justice). At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career in law by saying: “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.” How tragic! So when is it appropriate to praise and thank God?                 a) Every morning and every night. According to Psalm 92:1-2, “It is good to praise the LORD...to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.” A day that begins and ends in prayer and praise won't easily become unraveled.                 b) At midnight. If you’re going to be up, why not praise the Lord? In Acts 16 Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God at midnight. We can do the same. Psalm 119:62 says, “At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.” If you wake up in the middle of the night with something troubling you, why not tell it to the Lord and then take that time to praise Him? If you’re having trouble sleeping, just start reading your Bible or praise the Lord, and Satan will make sure that you go back to sleep.                 c) Every meal. We have the opportunity to praise the Lord three times a day when we sit down to eat. Romans 14:6 says, “He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God.” Sadly, asking the blessing before a meal is a dying habit even among believers. But it’s a quiet reminder to those around us and a visible reminder to all of us that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above.                 d) Every time we pray. Biblical prayer is not just some spiritual shopping list, to let God know what we want. It should always be filled with praise and gratitude. We're to enter His gates with thanksgiving, which is the spirit of prayer, the very breath of prayer. “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2). If we would learn to simply say “thank you” with a smile for all favors done for us – especially saying “thank you” to God for every blessing – it would give us a whole new outlook on each day. Nothing brightens life like the spirit of thanksgiving.                 e) With every word and deed. According to Colossians 3:17, we're also to thank God in every word and action: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Learn to speak every word in gratitude and do everything with a thankful heart. Praise and thanksgiving are great barometers of one’s spiritual health.                 So whenever we awaken in the morning or retire at night, if we're sleepless at midnight, whenever we eat, every time we pray, and in all our words and deeds – all should be tinged with thanksgiving the way the morning sky is tinged with crimson.                 f) In time and in eternity. Finally, give thanks at all times both now and in eternity. In Ephesians 5, we're told that when the Spirit of God fills our lives, we'll be thankful to God in all present situations. And here's the capstone –  that's what we'll be doing throughout eternity.                 My friend, thanksgiving isn't going to end when heaven begins. Praise and thanksgiving just go right on out into the future. We won't have a worship service in eternity because every day will be a worship service. Every single time we see our Lord and every time we think about our redemption, we'll just break into praise.  Think about it – we're going to fill heaven's corridors with the sound of praise and thanksgiving throughout the endless, joyous, never-ending eons of eternity. Psalm 89:1 says, “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever.”                 This week, learn at least one praise verse, teach it to your children, share it with your friends. Practice it, and begin giving the Lord real praise and genuine thanksgiving every morning and night, whenever you awake, at every meal, and with every word and deed, whenever you pray, at all times now – and forever. We want God to know we adore Him. Praise the Lord with me and let’s exalt His name forever!