Give Thanks!

Sing unto the Lord O ye saints of His and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. Psalm 30:4

Dear Congregation,

       When you observe secular attempts at Thanksgiving the word thankful is used and is most often applied to visible and physical things. The more heart felt secularist may express a gratitude for the relations in his or her life. My question is, who or what are they thankful to? The expression of thanksgiving comes from a theistic world view and really cannot exist outside it. The Christian can marvel and thank God for the blessings and comforts he or she has been given, but even then a sense of merit may be lurking beneath the expression. The Scripture most often calls the Christian to give thanksgiving for God and His works. Thanksgiving for Grace is true gratitude. Psalm 30 redirects us towards this foundational exercise.

          When times are good and comfortable, Sing unto the Lord and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. When life is miserable, physical pain is overwhelming; family has abandoned you, and tomorrow could be worse, sing unto the Lord and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. The wonder of being an eternal saint is that when your life fluctuates, God does not and His holiness is still worth singing about.

          Because He is holy, He sent His son to live a perfect and holy life and accomplish salvation where we cannot because we can never achieve holiness. Because He is holy, He has brought us up from the eternal pit of hell and given us the status of son or daughter with everlasting life, joy, and peace! Because He is holy, we know that whatever hardship we are facing will eventually pass away and be remembered not more. Because He is holy we have more than temporary comfort to find security in. Because He is holy, you o saint can always sing His praise. A secularist may pretend at a brief shallow thanksgiving but you Christian can give thanks beyond any for Christ died for you. No matter what happens in this life, we can give thanks to Him forever!!

In Christ,

Pastor Basile

         

He Does What He Will

All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?” Daniel 4:35

Dear Congregation,

      These words were spoken by King Nebuchadnezzar after he been restored to sanity by the Lord and recognized that though He was the most powerful ruler in his known world, he still was not anywhere close to being God. Personally, I love this verse as it is a reminder to me that there is no event or circumstance that is worth panic, frustration, or anxiety. When we do panic, we are forgetting the purpose and force behind our reality. When I was in younger elementary school I was part of a little league baseball team. I think I mentioned before how I contributed little or nothing to the sport. However, in fourth grade, an event burned into my memory and stayed with me through life circumstances. I remember our team in the middle of a game losing badly. I remember sitting in the dugout watching the coach react to a particularly bad strike out. He began to bang his head against the cinderblock wall of the dugout in frustration. Even as a kid I recognized that this was not worth that type of reaction. Our understanding of God helps us to see our negative reactions in much this same light even when they appear to us as important.

          It is necessary to remember that Christian rest is not fatalism. The outsider may interpret it as such as we rest in whatever God sends as right. But in fatalism, humanity is trapped in a string of events without purpose or hope. The Christian not only knows there is purpose behind events but also personality. That personality is what gives us the satisfaction with God’s will. He has told us who He is, what He has done for us and where we will be going. He has told us that he loves us. He has sent His Son to live like us and die for us so that we have become His Sons and daughters undeservingly. This can never be said about cold empty fate.

          So the question for our hearts is still why does life frustrate and scare us so much. The Gospel teaches us to love Christ more than wealth, parents, children, siblings, health, safety, food, or any earthly provision. When we come to a place of knowing God and loving God so well that none of these things matter, then we find our true rest because our only satisfaction is in Him. We can love our family without fearing their loss because we love God more. We don’t have to worry about loved one’s salvation even though we pray for it. He does what He plans on doing and no one can stop Him or even dare challenge Him by asking what He thinks He is doing. We bow the knee, we trust, we obey, and we find our satisfaction totally in Him and His instruction. We have peace even when we do not get the results we would like in life. Enjoy Him alone, Glorify Him alone, rest in what He ordains, for Hi alone is right.

In Christ,

Pastor Basile