Remember
I.
In the last days
unthankfulness will be prevalent-2 Timothy 3:1
A. People have no peace &
that’s the number one way we know that their not thankful
B. Believers are lacking
grace because they’re not thankful
II.
As believers we should be
marked by thanksgiving, the way we are to be marked by love
A. Psalm 18:49-The heathen
(unsaved) need to be hearing you and I say thank God
B. Psalm 79:13-We are going
to give thanks forever
C. Psalm 92:1-It’s a good
thing to give thanks unto the Lord
D. Psalm 140:13-Surely the
righteous will give thanks
E. The importance of being
thankful-1 Chronicles 16:8
1. 4-1 Chronicles 16:41,
23:27-30- Part of the Levites job along with keeping up with the temple duties
was to thank God; Thanking God must be important
2. 8-Part of giving thanks
is when God is good to you, you tell people
3. 9-You talk about how good
his been to you in your life
4. 12-Part of being thankful
is you remember what God has done
F. Psalm 26:7-The voice of
thanksgiving; Thanksgiving has a voice it has sound
1. The voice of thanksgiving
is one of joy, peace, and faith
a. The voice of thanksgiving
is light; it’s not dark and heavy and down
2. Ephesians 5:4-Put
thanksgiving in your mouth rather than filthy and foolish talk
3. Our songs should be
giving thanks to God-Psalm 147:7
a. Ezra 3:11-The didn’t sing
together about how hard it was, about their problems, or to draw people in
emotionally; they sang to give thanks to God
4. 1 Corinthians
14:16-17-You can give thanks in an unknown tongue
III.
Thanksgiving is a huge
part of our communication with God
A. Psalm 95:2-We are to come
before His presence with thanksgiving
1. This was written to the
OT people
a. We live in His presence;
he’s in us and we are in Him all the time and that’s why we are to have
thanksgiving on our lips at all times
2. As you practice
thanksgiving you are practicing His presence
a. Thanksgiving is a big key
in developing your relationship with God
b. Thanksgiving helps u to
be closer to him, more intimate w/ Him, more aware Him
c. Thanksgiving will develop
your sensitivity to his voice, to his leading
B. Psalm 100:4-Always
address God with thanksgiving; It’s scriptural to start with thank you
1. Colossians 4:2-Prayer
should be with thanksgiving and continue w/ thank you
IV.
We give thanks to God b/c
His is good & his mercy endures forever-1 Chronicles 16:34
A. 1. We give thanks to God
because he is good
1. Focusing on the goodness
of God will stir up thanksgiving in you
B. 2. We give thanks because
his mercy endures forever
1. His mercy is His
underserved love & grace & if it’s unearned we should give thanks
C. It doesn’t say give
thanks because he’s been good or merciful to you (even though he has); It says
give thanks because He is good and his mercy endures forever
1. That means whether it
looks like He’s being good to you or you’re seeing his faithfulness, kindness,
and love in your life give thanks because He still is good and his mercy still
endures forever
2. If that’s your motive for
giving thanks, you’ll always do it because God is always going to be good and
His mercy is always going to endure forever (That’s why I give thanks-there
will be times when you have to do it by faith)
D. Psalm 119:62-At the
darkest hardest points of ur life you should be
giving thanks to God
1. Never the less says David
I do not allow myself to sink into despair; rather precisely at this black
moment, I push myself to new heights of appreciation for your righteous
judgments and I sing your praises with renewed vigor and conviction
V.
A huge part of being
thankful is remembering
A. Psalm 30:1-12-Remembering
God’s holiness will bear the fruit of thanksgiving
1. 1-3-This is God’s
holiness
a. Psalm 97:12-Rejoice in
the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness
2. 12-Thanksgiving is not
silent
B. Psalm 105:1-45-He starts
this Psalm and finishes it with Give thanks and Praise Lord and in the middle
of those two bookends he’s spending time remembering
1. 1 of the major things
that’ll move u into thanks is remembering what God has done
2. When you’re unthankful
you’re forgetting
a. You’re forgetting, not
acknowledging all that the Lord has done in your life
C. Psalm 106:7-They weren’t
remembering the multitude of his mercies & they were unthankful at the Red
Sea
1. Exodus 14:11-12-They’ve
been delivered from bondage; they’re breathing their firsts breaths as free
people; they’re healed, they have Egypt’s sliver & gold & they r not
being thankful; The healed, they’re rich, they’re delivered and they’re not thankful
a. 12-They were thankful
after the fact only and that is not acceptable
2. 13-Forgetting and being
unthankful go together
a. Exodus 15:24-They
murmured when the water was bitter
b. Exodus 16:2-They murmured
when there was no bread
c. Exodus 17:3,7-They
tempted God
d. Exodus 32:1-I’m sure
complaining accompanied Moses being gone too long
e. Numbers 11:1-5-Complainig
does not please God
1)
5-They
were unthankful for the manna because they wanted meat
f.
Numbers
13-14:22-They tempted God
1)
14:2-They’re
murmuring and not being thankful because they have forgotten
a)
God’s
gotten them out of Egypt, they’re free people, they were all healed, all rich,
they made it through the wilderness, they’re on the outskirts of the greatest
place that their eyes have ever seen and they’ve been delivered time and time
again, they were fed food, they had water to drink, they had the cloud of God
by day and the fire of God by night and here they are inches away from the
dream land and they deserved none of it; the complained and murmured and didn’t
believe and yet God delivered them time and time again-That’s Grace
b)
They
should have been out saying Lord thank you; you have been so merciful, so
gracious, and so good to us, thank you; You’ve delivered time and time again,
we tried your patience and you were merciful to us; we needed water in the
desert and you gave it to us; we need food in the wilderness and you provided
it for us; we needed deliverance at the red sea and you delievered
us; Thank you; You’ve protected us and provided for us and in the middle of us
deserving none of it; and yet here we sit on the outskirts of the greatest
place we’ve ever laid our eyes upon; they should have been so thankful
2)
14:1-4-Unthankfulness
makes you dumb
a)
They
only way the made it through the desert, through the wilderness with food to
eat, water to drink, protected and preserved was by the grace of God and they
complained about how bad that trip was the whole time and yet now they want to
make the trip again to go back to Egypt; they want to travel through the same
wilderness where there was no food and no water
b)
Moses
told them over and over again why God brought them out of Egypt and they’re
still asking why did God bring us out of Egypt?
3. 24-They despised the
thing that they should’ve been thankful for; DANGEROUS
4. 32-45-After all this mess
they did he was so merciful to them
a. They should be thankful
D. Psalm 136:1-26-His giving
thanks “bookend” his remembering
E. Psalm
107:1,7,15,21,31-There’s not enough thanksgiving being given to God
1. The wise person will
consider observe these things; they’ll give thanks to the Lord and acknowledge
his goodness and mercy in their lives and as they do they understand the loving
kindness of the Lord