LESSON 1:
Recently the Lord has directed my
studies toward the Bible theme of thanksgiving!
Naturally I looked for a Text, a
Passage of Scripture that highlights such a grand thing.
Here it is: "It
is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to
sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy
lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon
the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad
through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands."
Psalm 92:1-4
Those opening words are powerful!
"It is a good thing to give thanks unto
the Lord."
The adjective "good" is spelled "tob"
in Hebrew. It means beneficial, pleasant, favorable, happy,
right and even well!
God views the thanks of His people
positively!
That's why He largely dedicates one
whole Book of the Bible, Psalms, to the subject of thanksgiving!
The word "thanks" is found
twenty-three times is Psalms alone! Add then eight more times
when the compound "thanksgiving" is included!
The verb "to give thanks" is
picturesque also. "Yadah" literally means "to throw, cast or
hurl" something! It is as if when we give thanks to God we are
taking our words, more so our very hearts, and reverently
lifting them heavenward, praising God's dear Name! Honoring Him
with thanks!
That thought might give "lifting
holy hands" fresh meaning too!
One source suggests that "giving
thanks" grammatically implies throwing a stone or rock or arrow
... toward the enemy! Indeed, praise fights the devil
powerfully!
But to Whom do we give such thanks?
The Lord!
Spelled only with four consonants,
something like "yhvh," we are here handling the root of God's
very Name Jehovah! We of course immediately need to be reminded
of Divine Redemption and Love, so graciously exhibited to the
sinful Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, by Jehovah, the LORD
God of all!
Jehovah saves!
The Jehovah of the Old Testament is
the Jesus of the New Testament!
And there friends is the basis of
our thanksgiving, he saving Grace of God!
Do something good today!
Spend your time in gratitude!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
Oh, yes! It is a good thing
to give thanks unto the Lord! Then my mind kept asking me, "What
other activities does the Bible label as "good things?"
Here's the list!
Paul in Hebrews 13:9 says,
"It is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace." Let's be "grace" people!
Amazing Grace! Some day Jesus will be worshiped like this:
"He shall bring forth the headstone
thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto
it." That Headstone Zechariah 4:7 just mentioned is a
picture of Jesus! In the future we shall all fall before our
Lord, shouting "Grace, Grace" unto the Lamb that was slain ...
but is now alive for evermore!
Here's another good thing!
"Whoso
findeth a wife findeth a good thing,
and obtaineth favour of the LORD." Proverbs 18:22 says
so. Have you told your wife yet today what "a good thing" she
is? What multitude of blessings she brings into your life?
Here's what a godly wife is worth, "Who can find a virtuous
woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10
Then Paul suggests that once we have
discovered God's "good things," we are to get busy doing them!
"But it is good to be zealously
affected always in a good thing, and not only when
I am present with you." Galatians 4:18 uses a verb, "be
zealously affected," that is dramatic! "Zeloo" literally means
"to be hot, to boil, to burn within!" Fervently we are to praise
God, vigorously love and serve our wives, and enthusiastically
major on God's good Grace! Give such activities all your effort!
Amazing!
LESSON 2:
A study of what the Bible says about
thanksgiving need not wait until November!
Every day should be filled with
appreciation and gratefulness! It's amazing but the Apostle
Paul, even with all his suffering, said this:
"In every thing give thanks: for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1st
Thessalonians 5:18
The Text God laid on my heart, still
about giving thanks, is the first paragraph of Psalm 92. Here's
verse one: "It
is a good thing to
give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O
most High."
Notice how the Holy Spirit places
side by side the giving of thanks ... and the singing of
praises! Both of which are directed straight unto the Lord God!
There must here be linkage, some
association between these two heart-felt activities.
Scripturally speaking, I believe the
one, thanksgiving, always leads to the other, songs of praise!
The first is primarily thought of as
being verbal, just speech. The second of course is musical.
The giving of thanks, just like so
much else in the Christian life, cannot abide alone! It will not
remain static! Or dormant! It seeks friendship, companionship
... among the other Christian graces!
Note ... it appears that thanks and
praise are cousins!
Speaking of God's many benefits and
singing of His Glory are nearly twins!
The verb used for "sing praises" has
a real word history. "Zamar" initially means "to play a musical
instrument." Well, here's it background. At first a farmer's
term, "zamar" suggested "trimming vines," likely grape vines!
Then it came to mean "plucking something with one's fingers!"
Next, "to touch the strings" of a musical instrument! Then,
subsequently, voice and singing were added by implication!
"Zamar" here is in Hebrew a piel
infinitive. That means the action is on-gong, constant and
durative! Plus this, it is dramatic vigorous singing!
The Psalmist is excited, praising
God with thanksgiving!
The noun "name" is spelled "shem."
Just like the name of Noah's first son Shem, see Genesis 6:10.
In the Old Testament, as well as the New, one's name was an
indicator is his or her character. To sing unto the Lord's great
NAME is to glorify His very Essence, all He is! Everything
Scripture tells us about Him!
Then, as if He heard our
deliberations, the Holy Spirit gives us one of those great
Names! God is "most High!" Spelled "Elyon," the noun means
something like this: "uppermost!" Lofty! Elevated! Supreme! It
is derived from the verb "alah," meaning "to ascend, to arise!"
Good Name!
Here's the first time we hear of
Elyon. "And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of
the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be
Abram of the most high God, Possessor of heaven and earth:
and blessed be the most
high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy
hand." Genesis 14:18-20
God "Most High" is the Possessor of
heaven and earth!
God "Most High" is the Recipient of
blessing and honor!
And God "Most High" is the Deliverer
of His people!
I'll guarantee you this today. If
you will genuinely, from your heart, thank God for a few things
... your heart soon will be thinking or even quietly humming a
few words of some song you know, a hymn of praise to Almighty
God! And, especially if you're alone, watch out! You just might
break out into boisterous song!
The two just go together!
One leads to the other, thankfulness
yields praise!
Oh, yes, a proof Text!
Psalm 100 is all we need!
"Make a joyful noise
unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come
before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is
God: it is he that hath made us, and not we
ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his
pasture. Enter into his
gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name."
See it?
Enter with thanksgiving!
Continue with praise!
All the while singing!
Try it!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3:
It's on my heart to study about
thankfulness.
The Lord reminded me of Psalm 92,
the first four verses of which talk about gratefulness and its
by-products.
"It is a
good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing
praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy
lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon
the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad
through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands."
Psalm 92:1-4
These verses imply that our giving
of thanks to the Lord will glorify His Name! Beautify Him!
Uplift Him! To be more precise, "show forth His lovingkindness
in the morning, and His faithfulness every night!"
How so?
Because a true spirit of
thankfulness decentralizes mankind and magnifies the Lord!
Thankfulness demands the same kind
of spirit John the Baptist had when he said of Jesus,
"He must increase, but I must
decrease." John 3:30
We really must thank God for
everything! Nothing is ours on our own! Except personal sin that
is! Paul correctly asked, "What hast thou
that thou didst not receive?" In other words, "Name
something you own that God did not give you!" 1st Corinthians
4:7
And when we acknowledge our
insufficiency and thank Him for His gracious Provision, we
indeed "show His Kindness and Faithfulness!"
The psalmist has it right!
Lord, we thankfully want ...
"To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the
morning, and thy faithfulness every night." That's the
entire second verse of Psalm ninety-two.
The verb "shew forth" is spelled "nagad"
in Hebrew. It means, just as one would think, "to tell or
declare or announce or report." But also it carries this idea,
"to expound!" To elaborate on a theme! To give exposition! To
explain!
The noun "lovingkindness" is old old
friend "hesed." It means originally "to bow down" or "to stoop
down" to someone else's level! It's what God did when Jesus came
to earth to die for you and me! Condescension! Heaven came to
sin-cursed earth! The Virgin Birth! The Incarnation! That's just
how loving God is! The real definition of Love is learned at
Golgotha! That's what John 3:16 is saying.
Psalm 92 today is saying that when I
thank God for the many kind things He sends my way and when I
express gratefulness for His daily benefits ... I am revealing
His nature! Unveiling His lovingkindness! Praising His
character!
Then comes God's "faithfulness!" In
Hebrew "emunah" means fidelity or firmness or stability or
steadfastness or steadiness! That which is established!
Trustworthy! It's constructed on a root word that means "to
build, to support, to foster" as does a parent or nursemaid! God
is faithful, too!
Here's how faithful He is:
"Blessed be the Lord, that hath
given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he
promised: there hath not
failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by
the hand of Moses his servant." 1st Kings 8:56 ...
God has done ALL He promised!
Each time I thankfully acknowledge
God's good gifts in my life, the "handfuls on purpose" He drops
into my path ... I am preaching a sermon!
I am expounding a life text!
I am illustrating God's great
lovingkindness and faithfulness!
And this too must be added: God
expects our thanks often!
Perennially, constantly, incessantly
really!
Watch the capitalized words:
"It
is a
good thing to give thanks unto the
LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew
forth thy lovingkindness
in the morning, and thy faithfulness
every night."
Psalm 92:1-2, our Text again!
Give thanks every morning!
Give thanks every night!
In so doing, you indeed manifest God
your heavenly Father, especially as being kind and faithful!
That word for "morning" is "boqer"
and means "to break" something! Here, daybreak is in
view! Thanking God when the sun rises!
And "night" is "layil," suggesting
that something has been "folded back" out of the way! It has,
daylight!
Some surprising benefits of thanking
God!
Maybe sometime we should just have a
thanksgiving meeting!
Of course we can do that driving to
work any morning, can't we?
Thank you, Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4:
It starts with thankfulness.
Soon it leads to humming a Gospel
tune or sacred hymn or even the words of a Psalm.
It gets habitual, morning and night!
Then, perhaps metaphorically,
musical instruments get involved.
And that's not all, not yet!
Another verse remains to be studied!
It starts small, but expands in a
hurry!
What?
The giving of thanks!
Gratefulness!
Gratefulness unto the Lord!
The spirit of appreciation!
Here's how Psalm 92 words it,
describing that gratitude set to song:
"Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon
the harp with a solemn sound." Psalm 92:3
Now every saint of God who is deeply
grateful cannot literally play such instruments!
King David of Israel could. In fact,
he invented several musical instruments according to Amos 6:5.
That's the same David who said, "O LORD my
God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever." Psalm 30:12
But ... and I merely suggest these
thoughts to you ... these instruments might be "types" or
"symbols" of the people from whom God seeks praise.
For example, the Hebrew word for
"psaltery" is spelled "nebel" and actually means a "skin-bag!"
That's right, an old piece of leather sewn together to make a
container for liquid, either water or milk or wine. It is
thought that those old skin-bags were shaped like the harps of
the Old Testament!
That's about as ordinary a meaning
as you can find in all the Bible, a "skin-bag! But isn't that
exactly whom the Lord wishes to praise Him, to thank Him for all
His blessings, to worship Him in Spirit and Truth?
Common folks!
Regular Believers in Jesus!
Just a bunch of "skin-bags," ready
to serve the Lord!
Then think with me about the word
for "harps!" It's spelled "kinnor" and means "to twang!" That of
course is what a harp does, only in tune and harmoniously
blending with the other instruments.
Twangers!
Listen to me, every saint is not
gifted musically! Not even all of us can sing very well!
Myself included!
Some laugh at the emphasis
"make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord,"
but I appreciate that verse so much!
I'm not a singer, but a "twanger!"
But I'll tell you this. I'm going to
"twang" for Jesus! I'm going to thank Him and praise Him and
adore Him with all my heart ... on tune or not!
Just wait until I get to Heaven!
Then there are the "instruments of
ten strings." The word is "asor" and it means "ten" or "tenth"
or "one of ten others," that kind of idea. This definition has
spiritual implications also.
No one string on that "ten stringed"
guitar or banjo or whatever it might have been could have done
very well, not by itself! Not much music there, not alone!
But, when combined with all the
other strings, and when touched by trained skilled fingers, what
beauty, what symphony flows gratefully upward unto the dear
Lord!
I can't do it alone!
It takes us all ... working together
... as a unit to properly glorify His Name! I, lacking
exceptional talent, can still go to Church, enter the choir loft
and SING my heart out ... expressing gratefulness to Jesus for
Who He is and all He's done in my life!
I, along with others, worshipping
our great God!
That's the lesson of the "ten
stringed" instrument for sure!
What do you think? These thoughts
are solely based on the basic meanings of each of these three
instruments. If you believe in verbal inspiration, then every
word is significant, Holy Spirit selected for a precise reason!
Let us all offer thanks today!
Be grateful to Him Who saved you!
Thank Him for the big things and the
little things and everything else as well!
Even if you're an old "skin-bag!"
Or a "twanger!"
Or just "one of many!"
The Father in Heaven desires to hear
your sounds of gratefulness too!
Thank you, Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 5:
The Holy Spirit, in Psalm 92:1-4,
develops the theme of "thankfulness." As we follow His
footsteps, some exciting turns are taken!
For example, while it's logical to
hear that "thankfulness" leads to "singing praises" unto God ...
it is not so logical to hear that it leads to "victory" in our
Christian lives! Yet that's exactly where we're headed!
But verse four of our Text also
opens with a pleasant stopover! "For thou,
LORD, hast made me glad." Psalm 92:4
It's a fact that self-centered
people are not often happy. At least not happy for long! But
when a man or woman begins to be grateful for things others
have given them, most especially God, egocentricity
begins to wane! And anyone knows that a life spend in service to
others ... or to the dear Lord, is always a fulfilled life, if
controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Jehovah God being addressed, spelled
in Hebrew "yehovah," reveals to us that the Psalmist, of course,
is a Believer! He is in covenant relationship with the eternal
God, by means of blood sacrifice. This fact is even more
strongly seen in the lives of us New Testament Christians. Since
Calvary, Jesus' Death and Burial and Resurrection, His Blood
having been shed ... we are indeed saved by God's good Grace!
He's our Father, our Lord, our Protector, our Defender, our
Saviour, our soon coming King! "Yehovah" also means the God Who
"is!" Eternal! Always Present!
The verb "hast made glad" is "samach"
in Hebrew. It, at its heart, apparently means "to brighten up."
To be filled with glee! Joyful! Even merry! Cheerful! Its piel
stem here reveals the intensity and dynamic force that usually
accompanies such emotion.
Yes, this is clear today for sure.
Gratefulness yields gladness!
"For thou, LORD,
hast made me glad."
But, how?
What mechanism does God use to
convert my thankfulness into gladness?
The rest of today's clause:
"For thou, LORD, hast made me glad
through thy work." Psalm 92:4
"Through God's work!"
Now it's certain that we are to be
thankful for God's great world-wide actions! He created the
universe! "All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made,"
says John 1:3. He forgave Adam and Eve! He sent His Son Jesus to
die for our sins! He answers prayer! He gave us His Word, the
Bible! All these "works" of God should incite thankfulness in
our hearts! Thankfulness that morphs into gladness!
But perhaps even more so ... God has
done some mighty works on our behalf, personally and
specifically and individually!
He saved us!
He filled us with His Holy Spirit!
He protects us!
He meets each need!
He is faithful!
How thankful ... and glad ... that
should leave us! Just thinking about such things produces
wellsprings of appreciation and gladness!
The noun for "work" here is "poal"
and is relatively rare in the Old Testament, only appearing some
38 times. Its verbal root means "to do" or "to make," but in
this sense; repeatedly doing something! To practice it! Even to
ordain it!
Think today of the things God does
for you regularly!
Make a list!
As you do, the Holy Spirit will
produce gratefulness deep in your soul! Your spirit will
rejoice! Your very being will sense a gladness that is nearly
indescribable! Simon Peter knows! "Joy
unspeakable and full of Glory" he calls it in 1st Peter
1:8.
What has God done for you lately?
Have you properly thanked Him yet?
"Lord, help us to develop a
lifestyle of gratefulness!"
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 6:
I last week read the words of a
psychologist. He said that either optimists tend to be more
grateful ... or that gratefulness leads to optimism, looking on
the bright side of life!
He leaned toward the latter of those
two premises.
He actually believes that, even
clinically, if a person can teach himself or herself to be more
thankful, many benefits, both physical and psychological, will
occur!
The Bible says that too!
Here's the last benefit of
thankfulness found in our short Text, Psalm 92:1-4. Namely,
"I will triumph in the works of thy
hands."
Now that's optimism!
To become grateful one must,
absolutely must, take into consideration the things God has done
for him or her!
"Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from
the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning." James 1:17
Then each "gift" we receive into our
lives, including the air we breathe and the strength with which
we walk, is one of God's mighty "works" on our behalf!
That's why Psalm 92:4 also says:
"For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through
thy work."
Gratefulness concentrates on God's
works!
In turn, these works cause us to
"triumph" over issue after issue in our lives! Thankfully,
victory is ours! After all, "What shall we
then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against
us?" Romans 8:31
Yes, "I will
triumph in the works of thy hands."
The verb "triumph" is a translation
of "ranan." In the vast majority of its 52 appearances in
Scripture, it means something like "sing, rejoice, shout, shout
for joy and shout aloud!" Its root verb means "to creak!" To
emit a grating sound! But the Holy Spirit sanctifies the word
and it now means not only "to make a noise," but "to make a
joyful noise!"
"Ranan" is here a piel imperfect
verb too! Vigorous energetic action is thereby indicated! And it
had not yet finished when the Psalmist laid down his pen either,
ongoing joy and victory!
Here are two more times where "ranan"
is both in the piel stem and imperfect in its sense of timing.
"But I will sing of thy power; yea, I
will sing aloud
of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and
refuge in the day of my trouble." Psalm 59:17
And "Because
thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings
will I rejoice."
Psalm 63:7
The noun "works" in our half-verse
for today is spelled "maaseh." That's a different word than was
used in the first half of the verse! Let me show you with sets
of parenthesis. "For thou, LORD, hast made
me glad through thy work ("poal"): I will triumph in the works
("maaseh") of thy hands." Psalm 92:4
The first "work" or "poal" in Hebrew
means "something done systematically or habitually", a
"practice" in other words. The second "work," as we say "maaseh,"
means more generally "anything made or done," actually something
like a "manufactured" product. Three times in the King James
Text "masseh" has the idea of "artwork!" Something beautiful!
Many of the things God has done for
you are absolutely poetic!
God's "hands" are symbolic of His
mighty Power too! Spelled "yad" in Hebrew, the word also forms
the root, the very stem, of their word for praise, "yadah!"
What God's mighty hands have
done for us ... should immediately cause us to raise our
frail hands in adoration to Him!
"Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips
shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live:
I will lift up my hands
in thy name." Psalm 63:3-4
What started as simple thankfulness,
"It is a good thing to give thanks unto
the LORD," has now ended in victory,
"I will triumph in the works of thy
hands."
Glory to God!
Lord, make us more and more
grateful!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
Important: Do notice the spiritual "chain
reaction" that occurs when one begins to give thanks unto the
Lord! "It is a good thing to
give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O
most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and
thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings,
and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. For
thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph
in the works of thy hands." Immediately the giving of
thanks blends into the singing of praises! Thanks become praise
then glorifies God ... at two times, morning and evening,
focusing on two aspects of His Character, lovingkindness and
faithfulness! Thanksgiving is contagious also! Pictured by three
kinds of instruments, all sorts of Believers express their
gratitude harmoniously and congregationally! For example,
psalteries are shaped like "skin-bags," symbolizing us ordinary
people. And harps "twang," even being a bit off-tune
occasionally! And "ten" strings simply demand cooperation and
teamwork as we serve the dear Lord! One person can't do it all!
Then those grateful hearts become glad hearts, reflecting on
God's mighty Work! And appreciative people, singing people,
worshipping people become eventually victorious people too!
Isn't there a verse somewhere that might "link"
thanks and victory? Maybe so! Leave it to Paul for sure!
"But
thanks be
to God, which giveth us the
victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ." 1st Corinthains 15:57
Be thankful every day!
More is happening than you think!
LESSON 7:
For several days we've been studying
the great Bible theme of thankfulness. Our Text has been Psalm
92:1-4. By now someone is probably saying, "Enough, Preacher
Bagwell!" How important can this one thing be?
More important than many realize!
I thought it would be interesting to
notice the word "unthankful" in Scripture. That did not take
much time! It only occurs twice!
In both situations the "unthankful"
are grouped with some surprisingly vile people!
Look at Luke 6:35. Jesus is
preaching. "But love ye your enemies, and
do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward
shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for
he is kind unto the
unthankful and to the evil." See the
"unthankful" listed right beside the "evil" ones? And that word
"evil" is "poneros" in Greek, a particularly active and
spreading and malignant form of sin! Then, to our dear Lord
anyway, ungratefulness must have been quite bad!
Then in a longer Passage, Paul tells
us some of the traits of the "last days." These words are being
fulfilled before our very eyes too! "This
know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For
men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful,
unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof: from such turn away." 1st Timothy 3:1-5
obviously links "unthankfulness" to some pretty low-down
activities!
It must be more dangerous that we at
first realized!
But the real "clincher" is found in
Romans 1:18-32. There the Holy Spirit leads Paul to record the
downward "spiral" of sin!
Sin never stays static, or
stationary. It's always worsening, sliding downhill fast! The
New Testament puts it this way: "But evil
men and seducers shall wax worse and worse."
Sometimes the wages of sin, in
addition to being "death," is more of that same sin, vast
amounts more! Until a victim is addicted to the evil snare of
wickedness.
This digression into the state of
being "reprobate," practicing such things as once were
unmentionable, begins rather innocently it appears!
Watch!
"For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for
God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because
that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,
neither were
thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart
was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an
image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour
their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of
God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than
the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God
gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did
change the natural use into that which is against nature: and
likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working
that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that
recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder,
debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of
God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing
the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them
that do them."
Before reaching the lowest forms of
perversion, did you see where lost hell-bound mankind became
unthankful? I tried to carefully "mark" the words for you.
Paul, rather the Holy Spirit, is
clearly telling us that little old "innocent" ungratefulness
to God can contribute to all kinds of filth, ultimately
leading to death! And that's not just physical death either!
That's an eternity in Hell-fire!
Well, that is "enough" now!
Enough to cause some folks to want
to be "thankful" for the rest of their lives!
Are you among them?
Not to be grateful can lead to some
dangerous situations!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
SEVEN LESSONS,
AND MOST OF US STILL FELL THAT WE ARE JUST BEGINNING TO LEARN
ABOUT GRATEFULNESS! "LORD, WE WANT TO BE THANKFUL IN OUR
HEARTS."
