Day 22 - Live it Baby - Daily Inspirational Verses from Real Life

Solid Rock Church - New Windsor, NY

Psalm 95:1-2 (NIV84): "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song."

Colossians 2:6-7 "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Recently we were driving to New York and went by our church away from church; were we go when we are visiting family in New York.  When we passed their sign, it was like I just listened to a bible study or sermon on what giving thanks is really all about.  

This statement, that living thanks is better than giving thanks is totally consistent with how we are supposed to live our lives as Christians.  The one complaint I always hear, and have read about through out history, the biggest stumbling block towards others accepting our faith for themselves, the one large obstacle to the unsaved becoming children of God is our behavior as Christians.  The word most often used is "hypocrite."

This sign gives us a solution to that problem.  Don't just say thank you with your words, but say it with your lives.  

Here are two solutions to this great problem that we can live starting today.

1) Sing with Joy to the Lord.  If for no other reason, because we are saved; the rock of our salvation.  

2) Express thanks in your daily walk with Jesus. Don't  complain about the darkness, but always talk about the blessings.  Be known for the light you bring into the room.  People will notice how the darkness is shut off in your presence. For more on what you can be thankful for, see day 20 - Wailing into Dancing.

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For information on be certain of your Status with God, overcoming your actions that keep you from God, and allowing you to accept his free gift of eternal life, Click Here.

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Day 16 -The Answer about Thankfulness - Daily Inspirational Verses from Real Life

Psalm 107:1 - (NIV1984): "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Some people will tell you that everything you have, you earned, without any help from anyone.  ~ They are wrong.

Some people will tell you that everything you have you had nothing to do with; that it was all a gift from somewhere else.  ~ They are wrong.

I once had a student that was sent to a Christian collage that disagreed with nearly every aspect of what he believed about Jesus.  He hated the rules. He hated the doctrine. He hated it all, and his parent's would not allow him to go somewhere else.  His fellow students from our karate school decided to send him some awesome gifts, including items, cash, food and the like.

A few months later one of our parents told me that she was really disappointed in this person's behavior.  When I asked her why, she said that he never thanked any of the 100's of people who contributed to his rescue package.  That shocked me, so I asked him about it.

His answer shocked me.  He said that he was ONLY thankful to God for that stuff.  God MADE those people send it too him, so he did not owe them any thanks.

God uses people in our lives all the time.  He sends them into our lives to rescue us, to teach us and to help us all the time.  Just because God sent them does not mean they had to answer the call.  Some of them answered it because they were Christians and knew the need for Charity when they saw it.  Some of them answered the call because they were grateful because this young man had made a difference in their lives.  (That happened because he was a Christian.)  Some of them answered the call because others were doing it too, and they always join the group.  The point is, God did not compel any of them to answer the call. They chose to answer the call.

His belief that God did it was valid.  His belief that people did not have a role in his rescue package was wrong.

What's the solution?  Thankfulness to God for supplying the way and thankfulness to the people for being the way is the solution.

God's love will last forever.  People's love will not.

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For information on be certain of your Status with God, overcoming your actions that keep you from God, and allowing you to accept his free gift of eternal life, Click Here.

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