To Whom Are We to be Thankful?-God The Father (Eph. 5:20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/1/2019 8:01 AM

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  To Whom are we to be Thankful?—God the Father

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5:20

 

            Message of the verses:  “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;”

 

            Let us begin today’s SD by looking at Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”  We can see from this verse that it is God the Father who has given to us every spiritual blessing, and so that is why we are to give all genuine thanks to God the Father.  As I think about this I go back to before time began and think about how in eternity past that God the Father was the Person of the trinity who devised a plan to give a bride to His Son and thus when the time was right He sent His Son into the world: Gal. 4:4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.”  Then of course we can think about John 3:16 too “"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  These verses help us to understand what God the Father planned for His Son in eternity past, and thus the not only giving of His Son, but also the killing of the Son was all a part of God’s plan in order to provide a bride for His Son.  This is why as our verse instructs us that we are to give our thanks to God, even the Father.

 

            I would like to site one move verse in order to help us understand why we are to give thanks to God the Father:  “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17).

 

            John MacArthur writes “Even those things that come through others comes from God.  We should be grateful for what anyone does for us, and we should thank them for it.  But thankfulness to others will likely be little more than flattery if we do not acknowledge that the true source of the gift is God.”

 

            “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Rom. 1:21).  This verse shows us that the mark of the unsaved person is thanklessness to God, however the mark of the Spirit-filled believers is “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”  The Spirit-filled believer is “anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving [lets his] requests be made know to God (Phil. 4:6).  Not only that but he is “overflowing with gratitude” as seen in Col. 2:7) and he also continues to offer “up sacrifices of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” as seen in Hebrews 13:15.l

 

            John MacArthur concludes this section by writing “A city missionary in London was called to an old tenement building where a woman lay dying in the last stages of a terrible disease.  The room was cold and she had nowhere to lie but on the floor.  When the missionary asked if there was anything he could do, she replied, ‘I have all I really need; I have Jesus Christ.’  Deeply moved, the missionary went home and penned these words:

 

‘In the heart of London City,

Mid the dwellings of the poor,

These bright and golden words were uttered,

‘I have Christ.  What want I more?’

Spoken by a lonely woman dying on a garret floor,

Having not one earthly comfort,

‘I have Christ.  What want I more?’”

 

            There is one more small section to look at in this 20^th chapter of MacArthur’s commentary and I think that I will save it for tomorrow even though it may well be the shortest SD that I will ever write.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The story of the poor dying woman from London has moved my heart a lot.  This woman who had nothing of human value had the Lord as her Lord and Savior and that was all that she needed.  It reminds me of a song.

 

Give Me Jesus

Jeremy Camp

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
Oh, when I am alone
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

Jesus
Give me Jesus

When I come to die
When I come to die
Oh, when I come to die
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus

 

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  The woman in the story was certainly filled with the Holy Spirit and this means that she was a very humble person, something that I am trying to learn.

 

Today’s quotation is from Oswald Chambers who stated “Never compromise with those who water down the Word of God to human experience.”

 

8/1/2019 8:42 AM