THANKSGIVING 2009

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND MAY GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE AND BE THANKFUL AND GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD!!!

The Miracle Berry

As I was reading I came across something I have never heard of called the "taste berry" so I looked it up and this is what I found out about the "taste berry." The Miracle Berry is an extraordinary tree fruit found in the West of Africa that has the ability to create an amazing sweet taste. The indigenous people of Africa used this taste changing berry in order to enable them to eat extremely bitter and sour foods in the African bush especially during hard times when more tasty foods were not available. After eating the miracle berry the tribesmen could then eat these usually less palatable fruits without experiencing a bitter taste - in fact the taste of these bitter fruits would be transformed to a delicious and sweet fruit. Take the bitterness out!
The effect of Miracle berry is made possible by contact with the tongue, not through digestion. The most pronounced effect can be achieved by coating the entire tongue with Miracle fruit for up to 30 seconds.  The effect will last from 10 minutes to 2 hours, depending mostly on what you eat. When the effect wears off, everything tastes as before (lemons are sour again).

Wow! Now that's something there is a berry that can take away the sour, bitter, remove the hot from the hot sauce and the yucky from anything we want to eat. Gratitude should be the "taste berry" of Christianity, so when our hearts are filled with gratitude nothing that comes our way would be unpleasant to us. Sorrowing heart, sweeten your grief with gratitude. Burdened soul, lighten your burden by singing God's praises. Disappointed, make your disappointment disappear by having a thankful spirit. Lonely, dispel your loneliness by making others grateful. Sick, grow strong by thanking God that He loves you and will never leave you even in your sickness. When that grumbler, the pessimist, and chronic complainer shows up in your life just get hold of that gratitude and be thankful!

Psa 95:2
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Psalms 100:4
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Philippians 4:6
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

On tomorrow when you get with your loved ones you will be thankful? I'm sure, but will they know it? Will they see it? Will they hear it? If you think you might have trouble grab hold of some gratitude before you see them and be ye thankful. Today I will go to a funeral of a lady of whom I have been friends with for the last 19 years; she just passed away from that awful disease - cancer. The last eight years of her life have been spent taking treatments, losing her hair, wearing wigs, scarves and stocking caps. She will leave behind a seventeen and a twelve year old daughter as well as her husband of 21 years. Not one time did I ever hear her say she was hurting or why is this happening to me or God must be punishing me; I'll never see my grandchildren, I will not be at my daughters graduation in June not even a hint of such complaining or grumbling. She was grateful for each day she had and very thankful for what she had and she impacted my life greatly by her actions as well as her attitude. I think she got into a bottle of GRATITUDE, what do you think?

 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving with your family and be Thankful! If you decide you must get out in the black Friday crowd be careful that you don't get beat on or ran over by some buy happy shopper that is racing for the next big deal. For myself, I think I'll spend some time with my family and then spend time with some of the greatest people in the world, those at Reformers whom God has made free from all kinds of addictions and over all I'll just be thankful and grateful for just being able to be around one more Thanksgiving. I'll be back on Monday November 31 with something exciting that the Lord has given me to share with each of you. God Bless each and every one is my prayer!

Loud Voice & A Thankful Voice

Yesterday we looked at how the disease of leprosy would cause ones voice to become weak. Today I want you to see a few more things. First notice Luke 17:14 And when he {Jesus} saw them, he {Jesus} said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

Jesus "saw" them! Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were yet sinners, Jesus "saw" us and "paid attention" to us ... and even died for us on Calvary! These men did NOT heal themselves!  It was something done UNTO them or FOR them!  An action taken UPON them!

Second notice Luke 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, He was sure it had happened! "KNOWING" you have been delivered ... is a "picture" of the assurance of one's salvation! Now! Can one really know for sure they are saved and on their way to heaven? You tell me here is what the Bible has to say about that subject. 2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. 2Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
Like this leper realized his leprosy was gone we should be able to tell something is gone.

1John 5:13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
John says that we can know we have eternal life.

Third notice Luke 17:16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. We "thank" Him for the things He has done!  We thank Him when He answers prayer and saves souls and lifts burdens. We are seeing in our day that mankind is failing to praise God, we have also lost much of the art of thanking Him too! We are becoming more and more ungrateful! Paul said that ungratefulness is one of the traits to expect ... in the last days on planet earth! 2Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous {difficult, dangerous} times {of uncertain} shall come.

2Timothy 3:2
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, This leper had already left Jesus' presence ... but once he recognized that healing had come ... he returned to the Lord!  "Turned back" means "to twist back around" ... or to change one's direction! Then the man "glorified" God! Means to value one with esteem or great worth! GLO'RIFIED, Honored; dignified; exalted Luke 17:15
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, Luke 17:16
And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. There are 2-things that jumped out at me.

#1- "loud voice!"  This is proof that the leprosy is gone!  It always affects the human voice, rendering it weak and raspy!  These symptoms are now absent for sure!

#2- "fell down at Jesus' feet!"  The man recently cured fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks I would say that here was a sign of humility! 

The Psalmist tells us Psalms 106:1 Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Fourth notice "Where are the nine?"
Luke 17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? Jesus had just healed ten lepers ... but only one took the time to say "Thank You" to our Lord! Romans 1:21"Because that, when they (mankind) knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."  The Bible's greatest Psalm of Praise commands us to worship God with sincere thanks in our hearts! 
Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Yes, every time we step into God's House ... we should do so with hearts of gratefulness!
Luke 17:15
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, Luke 17:16
And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. Luke here equals "glorifying" God to "giving thanks" to Him! He, in the act of glorifying God, gave Him thanks! Only one of them returned to give Jesus thanks, does this mean that more people receive benefits from Jesus than thank Him?  More people pray ("Have Mercy," O Lord!) than praise the Lord (falling at His feet ... with thanks)!  More also are willing to obey rules (go to the priests) than ever express thanks! The priests, served as "inspectors" of leprous men.  Only the Jewish priest, a son of Levi, could pronounce a man "defiled" and banish him from society!  In fact, the last time these men saw a priest ... that's exactly what happened to them! So why not today just GIVE the Lord Thanks for all He has done for you!

Weak Voice

This is Thanksgiving week and I know we say we are thankful, but are we or are we just going through the motions? I want to look at something the Lord showed me in my devotionals; I'm sure you do them if not get started today and spend time with the Lord so He can start showing you things out of His Word. It all happened in Luke 17:11-19 in these verses we see ten men who were former husbands or fathers but their disease has separated them forever from their loved ones! 

Luke 17:12
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
What was the reason these lepers stood afar off?  They were required to do so by the Law of Moses!  Leviticus 13: 45-"And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. Leviticus 13: 46 All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be."  As I was reading about these lepers I noticed something I thought was important, these ten lepers that Jesus healed did not specifically ask to be healed from their dreaded disease. Rather, they asked Jesus for mercy! Just mercy! Luke 17:13
And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
The great British Preacher of bygone years, Alexander Maclaren, said of these sick men: "One symptom of advanced leprosy was the simple fact that the human voice was weakened.  Most lepers could not speak above a whisper!" When these men cried out to Jesus! Maybe their "sounds" were no more than attempted "squeaks" ... begging God for help! When calling upon Jesus, "have mercy" Mercy means to "show compassion" on someone "Grace" deals with one's guilt!  And "Mercy" deals with one's misery of course our misery is due to our guilt! Aren't you glad Jesus cares how we feel! God's Grace (through the Blood of Jesus) takes care of the guilt, so that God's Mercy (through His sheer Love) can care for our misery! The ten sick lepers asked for mercy! And you know what they got? Mercy! In the next chapter we see Mercy again as the publican asks for mercy. Luke 18:13
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

Luke 18:14
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified
rather
than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. I want to spend some more time here tomorrow for there is so much here I want you to remember what was said in Luke 17:13 how those 10 men lifted up their voices and remember what leprosy does to the voice; it weakens it.

 

O Taste

At the University  of Chicago Divinity School each year they have what is called 'Baptist  Day.' On this day each one is to bring a lunch to be eaten outdoors in a grassy picnic area. Every 'Baptist Day' the school would invite one of the greatest minds to lecture in the theological education center.  
One year they invited Dr. Paul Tillich. Dr.Tillich spoke for two and one-half hours proving that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection the religious tradition of the church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact never rose from the dead in any literal sense. He then asked if there were any questions. 
After about 30 seconds, an old, dark skinned preacher with a head of short-cropped, woolly white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium. 'Docta Tillich, I got one question,' he said as all eyes turned toward him.  
He reached into his sack lunch and pulled out an apple and began eating it.  'Docta Tillich.. CRUNCH, MUNCH 'My question is a simple question,....  CRUNCH, MUNCH... 'Now, I ain't never read them books you read..CRUNCH,  MUNCH..' and I can't recite the Scriptures in the original  Greek...CRUNCH, MUNCH .....' I don't know nothin' about Niebuhr and Heidegger....CRUNCH,MUNCH....  
He finished the apple. 'All I wanna know is: This apple I just ate, . . . . . . Was it bitter or sweet? 
Dr Tillich paused for a moment and answered in exemplary scholarly fashion: 'I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven't tasted your apple.' 
The white-haired preacher dropped the core of  his apple into his crumpled paper bag, looked up at Dr. Tillich and said calmly, 'Neither have you tasted my Jesus' 
The 1,000 plus in attendance could not contain themselves. The auditorium erupted with applause and cheers.  
Dr. Tillich thanked his audience and promptly left the platform.. 
Have you tasted Jesus?  


Jesus has risen... And He's coming back one day.. 

Psa 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

 

I Don’t Know

I read this and thought it was funny but the sad thing about it is many don't know. I overheard some four- and five-year-old children following their teacher in a familiar cheer. "Give me a J," cheered the teacher. "J," yelled the children. "Give me an "E" encouraged the teacher. "E," yelled the children. The teacher continued, "Give me an "S." "S," chorused the children. Their voices grew louder as the teacher led them to the final letters of "U" and "S." Together they said J-E-S-U-S! With excitement rising, the teacher shouted, "What's that spell?" A strange pause followed and one child finally answered, "I don't know." That reminds me that there are a lot of things I don't know. You may be able to get me excited and even cheer along with you just as those kids did with their teacher; but they didn't know what they were spelling. There are some things I do know. My wife can come into a room full of people and if I have said something or done something I shouldn't have with a smile on her face she can look at me and with her eyes she can speak words clearly understood by me. Why? Because I know her! I can see her coming in a crowd of people and recognize her; Why? Because I know her! I can also read my Bible and the Lord can speak to me loud and clear and I can understand clearly what He is saying; Why? Because I know Him! I can be talking with someone and the Lord can tell me to have a word of prayer with them and I can understand clearly what He is telling me; Why? Because I know Him! To know someone you have to spend time with them. If you don't spend time with your wife you'll never know her. If you don't spend time with your children you'll never know them. If you don't spend time in your Bible and Prayer then you'll never know Jesus either. You may be able to sing the song and know what it spells and still not know Jesus. Paul said it like this; 2Timothy 1:12
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

John said it like this;

1John 2:3
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1John 2:4
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Know what? We can only share what we know. I am so glad I know HIM but better than that I'm glad He knows me!

11:30

When I was a teen my Dad set a curfew; 11:30 not 11:31 but 11:30. I can never remember sitting on the front steps waiting for 11:29 so I could walk in the door right on the dot. But I must say I was there at 11:30 simply because I knew my Dad meant business and he was no three strikes and you're out type Dad, he was 11:31 and you're out and I knew that. There are those who like walking the edge. The problem with that is when we live life near the edge we can go too far before we realize it. Driving on the edge of a road is dangerous, because it can be easy to lose control and drive off the edge. The grooves on a road are there to warn you that you are getting too close to running off. The guard rail is there if you go too far off the edge to stop you and keep you from hurting others. God has put things in our Bible to help us stay on track! As a matter of fact He has given us 10 things to help us be better people. Here are a few Exodus 20:12
Honour {revere, respect} thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Want to live a long life? Sure you do! Then give reverence and respect to your Mom & Dad; that's only if you enjoy living and want to live a long life.

Exodus 20:13
Thou shalt not kill.

Exodus 20:14
Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:15
Thou shalt not steal.

Just be honest with the people you come in contact with each day. When people lose control they fly off the edge and began to make one bad decision after another and before they know it they are flying off the moral cliff. Stay on the narrow road and you will be so glad you did one day. Now go have a great day and don't push the envelope; for you want to win. If my Dad meant what he said how much more does God!