STAND

STAND = S tand every morning to thank the Lord for what He has done T hrough the evening our praises let's sing A lways rejoice & trust His mercies N ever doubt He will keep His Word D o believe His plan is the best for us GIVE THANKS! ================================================================= Sabtu, 1 Desember, 2012 Changed Through Thanksgiving - Part 3 - Stand with Us in Thanksgiving: By Daniel Kolenda "A true heart of thanksgiving and praise will instinctively, 'STAND' with an insatiable desire to take action." In I Chronicles 23:30, David exhorts us to, "Stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise, in the evening." Often we think of thanksgiving and praise as lip service; lyrics in a worship song or words on a thank-you note. But, the kind of thanksgiving being described here is not passive feelings of appreciation. Rather, it is an active and energetic response to God’s goodness; "STAND" David says, to thank and praise the Lord! Standing is the way we naturally respond when we are genuinely moved by something. At the end of an emotional performance we stand. When our team scores the winning goal, we stand. When we want to express honor or respect, we stand. When Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was being stoned, Scripture says that he saw Jesus "standing at the right hand of the Father." When a person is truly moved, he cannot sit quietly and nod in stoic affirmation, but rather he will be compelled to demonstrate his gratitude through action. Someone told me, "I don’t have a burden for any particular nation." In their minds this disqualified (or excused) them from evangelism and missions. But, when we consider the price that Jesus paid for us, how can we just sit back quietly contemplating our good fortune. A true heart of thanksgiving and praise will instinctively, "STAND" with an insatiable desire to take action. "Freely you have received" Jesus said, "Freely give." Notice that David specifically says that we should "STAND" to give thanks at two strategic times: at the start and finish of the day. While thanksgiving and praise are always appropriate attitudes of the heart, there is something special about the beginning and ending; be it of a day, a year or any season of life. Right now we are in one of those strategic moments as one year is drawing to a close and another year is just beginning. Looking back we have so much to be thankful for, and the grateful heart will be moved to stand in thanksgiving and praise to the One Who has been our Provider, Sustainer, Preserver, Helper, and Comforter. Why don't you take a moment to pause and reflect on God's goodness to you throughout the past year? In the "evening" we look backwards, thanking God because of what He HAS DONE, but in the "morning" we look forward, thanking Him because of what He WILL DO! When we thank the Lord in the morning, it is an expression of faith. We know that the same God who helped us yesterday will also help us today and in that confident assurance we "STAND." Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." As you look ahead to the coming year I want to encourage you to thank and praise the Lord in advance for what He is about to do in your life, your family, your ministry, and to express that praise with your actions rather than just your words. The Children of Israel practiced this preemptive praise through the offering of "First Fruits." They brought an offering to God, thanking Him in advance for the full harvest that they were about to receive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Changed Through Thanksgiving - Part 2 - Thanksgiving Opens the Gates: By Daniel Kolenda "Thanksgiving releases faith and faith always brings breakthrough." As we approach the season of the year that we call Thanksgiving, people get very busy with plans of travel, entertainment, shopping, and a host of other activities. Unfortunately, some people only think of Thanksgiving as being synonymous with a holiday also known as "turkey day" where people eat like gluttons and then watch non-stop football for days afterward! For others, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Christmas buying season which begins with the "Day after Thanksgiving" sales at the mall. For other people in these difficult economic times, it can be a painful reminder of all the things in their lives that they don't have anymore. It may be a time of sadness over the loss of a job, a home, a marriage, or the death of a loved one that is going to be missed during this traditional family holiday season. Whatever the case, Thanksgiving is here again. Yet few people really understand the true significance of all that "thanksgiving" really means. It is far more than just another holiday. It is a lifestyle. The concept of thanksgiving is deeply rooted in scripture. The word "thanksgiving" and its derivatives are found in 137 different places spanning the entirety of the Bible. It represents a powerful spiritual force, that for the most part, is largely overlooked by most people. Living a lifestyle of thanksgiving and gratitude to God can actually become one of most effective spiritual weapons that has the potential to release the richest blessings of God in our lives! In Psalms, we have a powerful example of this truth. The Bible says: "Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSIVING and into His courts with praise. Be THANKFUL TO HIM and bless His name." - Psalm 100:1-4 When God asks us to live a lifestyle of thankfulness and gratitude to Him, like everything else God asks of His people, it is always for our blessing! This truth can be easily overlooked. I believe that giving thanks to God is one of the most powerful weapons of spiritual warfare that has the potential of bringing great spiritual breakthrough in the midst of any circumstance. Thanksgiving releases faith and faith always brings breakthrough. Verse 4 begins by saying, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving." What kind of a mental image do you get when you hear the word, "gates?" "Gates" are points of entry and always attached to some type of walls or boundary. Walls are usually built for the purpose of preventing people from entering into a place which probably contains something of great value or something that needs protection. Therefore "gates" become a potential point of entry that enables people to go beyond a boundary and enter into a place of sanctuary where others are unable to go. Psalm 100:4 says, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise." This is a small scripture that carries a profound message! It is the revelation of a great spiritual principle which gives us the secret to entering into God's treasure house of blessing! Thanksgiving and praise to God literally opens the barriers that separate the realms of Heaven from the realms of the earth and allows people to move into the presence of the Lord and all the blessings of God that entails. Most people pray out of a place of need or deficiency in which they are petitioning God to come and do something to change their present set of circumstances. Many people pray only out of fear and worry. Many more pray out of discontentment. If we really want to be honest about it, the prayer life of many Christians could best be described as a time of complaining to God about all the things in their lives that they are not happy about! This was the essence of the trial of the hearts of God's people Israel while they were in the wilderness. The visible, manifested presence of God was hovering over them as a cloud by day and fire by night but that wasn't enough for them! Heaven's manna fell every morning for them to eat yet they whined for the cucumbers and melons they had eaten while they were slaves in Egypt. Fresh, clean water, something most had never had before, was supernaturally flowing from a rock, yet that was not enough to satisfy them either. God was taking them to a land of their own, but they constantly complained about their circumstances and accused Him of doing them wrong. Because of their heart attitudes most of them died in the wilderness. Their complaints and dissatisfaction against God aborted what He intended to do, which was to take them to a wonderful place that had already been prepared for them! They never made it to the place God had prepared because their lives were void of gratitude, thanksgiving, and praise. Their whining and discontent, which was actually an accusation of injustice against all that God was doing in their lives, ultimately closed the "gates" to all the promises intended for them that went back to the time of Abraham! It's an incredible blessing when we realize that God really LOVES everyone! He passionately LOVES every person whether they love Him back or not. His LOVE is unconditional! But, even though God LOVES everyone, He doesn't necessarily LIKE everyone! You understand this. There are probably people even in your family that you love, but you really don't like. God is the same way. He loves everyone, but He really doesn't like whiners, complainers, and people who are continually dissatisfied with everything in their lives. He doesn't like people who don't appreciate Him. He will listen to the prayers of the whiners, complainers, and the dissatisfied who are essentially accusing Him of injustice, but He seldom answers and almost never blesses those who approach Him continually in such ways! He LOVES everyone, but He blesses those who live their lives with gratitude and thanksgiving being expressed to Him because of His goodness. God LOVES everyone, but He saves His best blessings for grateful people! We must ask ourselves these questions. "How much of my prayer life is spent in thanksgiving to God for everything that He has ALREADY done and given to me?" versus "How much of my prayer life is spent begging God to change the things in my life that I really don't like?" The percentage that we can assign to those questions will, to a large degree, determine the amount of peace, joy, blessing, fulfillment, and victory or the lack of these things in our lives! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------