Being Thankful

I. We are to Shout To The Lord

Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

 A more accurate translation is to “Shout for God, every country!” This shout is what is done before an army engages in battle against the enemy. When the trumpet sounds to engage in battle, all the men raise their voices in a loud and thunderous yell as they run forward to fight. What makes this a bit of prophecy is that the call is to all nations to shout to God. This makes this a prophetic song giving us the goal of redemption. We are preparing for the day when we can join in the grand shout of all nations to God! What a day that will be!  The shouts of complete victory over evil and sin.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             II. Psalm 100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Joshua 24:16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods. God has been so good to us like no other has ever done. Who else deserves our service like God Himself ? Choose you this day whom you will serve.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Start every day with singing in the presence of the Lord. Sing at home, in the shower! In the car!    

III. Diligently Follow God! Psalm 100:3 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.

In Genesis 2:7 God “formed” man out of the dust of the ground. God there is Yahweh. To form is what a potter does with clay on a wheel. As the clay is spinning, the potter forms the clay into something that will serve a particular purpose, and uses the goal he has chosen as the pattern to follow in the design. God had a particular plan to which Man was formed and that plan was His own image and likeness.

But how did that lump of clay gain the likeness of God? It is not unusual for us to make clay silhouettes or likenesses of people, but the clay does nothing but lay where it falls.

 Genesis 2:7 Goes on and tells us that God then breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. Once God breathed of Himself into man, man can no longer die. He becomes an eternal being. Animals live and die and that is the end of them. But mankind comes to life and cannot die, even though the body may die.We are God’s people, and as such need to listen to God and obey Him. Ignoring God is no way to live. It brings a lot of attention for wrongdoing!

We are as sheep in God’s pasture. Every shepherd has to carefully watch over and provide for the flock. There are so many kinds of animals that want to harm sheep and goats, that almost constant supervision is needed. Nourishing food and drink has to be found and provided fresh each day.  A neglected animal will die from loneliness and lack of exercise even if it has an endless supply of food and drink. Shelter is also vital from the extreme heat and cold.God not only created us, but He cares for us and leads us along. The day we learn that only good can come from God is the day we can learn to be at peace with God and begin to enjoy the privileges He gives.

IV. We Are To Regularly Worship God! Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.Gates refers to any entrance to God’s presence. Praise is the human expression of honor and thanksgiving to God for his character and action. The spiritual person is one who can see the hand of God in things around Him and can see the incredible things that have happened so that praise can be offered to God. It is not natural for people to simply thank God for things, but something that has to be developed through constant exercise. It takes time to stop our minds and discipline them to consider His Word and to learn to see what is good from God. It takes more effort to learn to sing praises, when the world wants to sing about anything else.

God’s child is one that adores His Father and will make every effort to bring the proper honor to God, by learning to see things through God’s eyes.

V. We Are To Teach the New Generation Psalm 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.

When one considers the amazing history of God’s people, and how God’s faithfulness and truth have endured everything that has been thrown against it now for 6,000 year, it is a marvel. Even the Earth has undergone several changes, and yet God’s Word has not. It has remained the same since the beginning.

God is good. This means He is kind, benevolent, gracious, merciful, generous, proper, helpful, fruitful, morally correct, etc. What He does is pleasing and appealing to the one who wants to be holy.

God’s truth does not change. Human rules are constantly changing. Organizations change things too much, and not for the better. God, however, remains the same. His values remain unchanged, because there are no other values or ideals to adopt. What He does is perfectly timed and absolutely appropriate. Every generation can count on God being the same as He was in history and the same for ages to come.

INVITATION: If you don't know this amazing God of whom I speak  but you would like to, confess your sins to Jesus Christ right now. The bible says all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.( Romans 3:23)  Ask Him to forgive your sins against God and then invite Jesus to take charge of your life from this day forward. 1 John 1:9-10 (NKJV) 

⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.