SINS WE TOLERATE: Un-thankfulness

Last night we looked at pt7 of the series Sins We Tolerate with Un-thankfulness. Our toleration goes to show for how much this really is a problem in people's lives because it is so evident. Often times the first thing off our lips is the list of things that are going wrong in our lives or things that we feel God needs to change. When the fact of the matter is he deserves nothing but thankfulness from us. Adoration and praise should be the first words off our lips- for He is good, and his mercy endures forever. That alone is enough to command our thankfulness despite any circumstance we may be experiencing. Our toleration of un-thankfulness really inhibits our ability to worship Him whole heartedly like He deserves.  So, here's just a very small portion of the scripture that we looked at and some different quotes for you to chew on.......

Thankfulness:

 χαριστέωa; εὐχαριστία, ας f: to express gratitude for benefits or blessings. Thanks is often expressed in highly idiomatic ways. For example, in some languages one says thank you by saying ‘may God pay you.’ In other instances, thankfulness may be expressed as ‘you have made my heart warm.’

Deuteronomy 8:11-20 (NKJV)
¹¹ “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, ¹² lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵ who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— ¹⁷ then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ ¹⁸ “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹ Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. ²⁰ As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.

 

Romans 1:20-21 (NKJV)
²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NKJV)
¹ But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

 

Luke 17:11-19 (NKJV)
¹¹ Now it happened as He went to

Jerusalem

that He passed through the midst of

Samaria

and

Galilee

. ¹² Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. ¹³ And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶ and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? ¹⁸ Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Some various quotes......

 

“Life is full of events that delay us, inconvenience us, or obstruct or block some plan of ours. In the midst of these events, we should fight against anxiety and frustration. But when God does bring relief, or when we see Him deliver us from the possibility of such an event, we should make it a special point to give Him thanks.” Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins

“To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior desolation, to trust in the love of God in the face of the marvels, cruel circumstances, obscenities, and commonplaces of life is to whisper a doxology [prayer] in the darkness.” God on Mute, Brennan Manning, pg. 54

“It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart.” Author Unknown




There you have it.....listen to the podcast by clicking on "un-thankfulness" in the little box to the right of the screen-especially if you missed out last night. It's really some good stuff to dwell on!
Happy Thursday :)