Thanksgiving: A Great Refreshing Joy

“Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion.

Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception.

Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude.

Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and

    limps along the spiritual road.” 

John Henry Jowett

             The greatest virtues of life are the concepts that add meaning to life and offer to others the real you.   Giving thanks looks without oneself to acknowledge the grace someone has seen fit to offer you.  God offers us the experience of love and fellowship with others if we are willing to allow life to challenge you with the risk to enjoy companionship. 

     

Thanksgiving, giving thanks, making gratitude a priority, can you see that as a virtue?  Will you go limping along life’s spiritual road maimed and fumbling with no sure way?  God has given us the model of His only Son to help us experience the grandeur of friendship, brotherhood, comfort and fellowship.  Thanksgiving is an experience that is meant for knowing and expressing the best of life.  Giving thanks allows someone to joy in the pleasant things that you enjoy.  God has connected us that way.   Accepting thanks is a way of being humble and strong enough to help another human-being, life resonates between us that way.  And you say, “Your are welcome”, because grace demands a response.

           

            Living a life without thanksgiving leaves too much time to think about what is wrong and not enough time for the consideration of what is already right, good and pleasant.  The life of a person of passion will be filled up like an inflated balloon offering joy to the little child who receives it but the life lacking thanks will be flat and miss out on the joy of a refreshing attitude.  We like the company of someone who will offer words that lift us up, not miss the pleasant things in life and will never ever ignore the opportunity to say, “Thank You very much.”  Be that person and allow others to be refreshed in your acquaintance.  

Looking up to say thanks offers a refreshing gift to God one that will return an excellent attitude and rebound in a certain refreshing of yourself.  That is why Thanksgiving is offered in Scripture to those who believe.

I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.  ( ^NLT Psalm 116:17)

Offering a praise to the Lord cannot be done without reflecting on the blessings that God’s grace has brought.  When we muse on the good that we have experienced, we take in spiritual oxygen and enrich our soul, try it today.  The believer in God above must think positively upon the world in which we live and find where in this life can I look to be thankful.  

        Are you living with real love and a passion for life? 

        Do you have a hope that is lined with fine perception?

        Does your faith have strength and fortitude?

Try making it a point to say, “Thank you very much” to someone and wait for the happy response you will receive.  Try it several times because ‘Thanks’ is becoming a rare expression to our broader society.  You will probably surprise the person you are addressing.  Try a life of thanks and God’s gracious response will fill you up so that return of being welcomed and free will refresh you, creating  another experience to look to and know that refreshing the soul really begins with you.

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.  

         Chaplain Horace E. Cutter

When Darkness comes around

 

Many people are upset with the wickedness that happened in Las Vegas this week.  Some people who just wanted to be entertained among friends and others that like country music came for fun and enjoyment.  But the darkness came out that night. 

 

   Times like these are perfect for us to look at the words of scripture to help us understand the ups and downs of life.  As many of you know, life is not a bed of roses and we are critical of the person that tries to convince otherwise.  We know that from time to time, there will be someone who actually allows the darkness to use them to make history.  The man who planned and made this evil act happen was probably a nice guy at some time just like you and me.  But along the way of life just one detour down a selfish path can bring us to believe that darkness is our destiny. 

    Who do we turn to when darkness comes around?  Who will comfort us right in the middle of trouble?   Well, we do know one man that was not directed, influence nor was he emboldened by the likes of darkness. 

     Jesus Christ the Light of the World    

“In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it.” John 1:4  (NIV)

 

      The life of Jesus is so full of times when he confronted darkness that we can only say that he was the very opposite.  Not cowering to it, he overcame darkness because He is the light.  The darkness of this world is so very dark and God wants us to know this deep down in our souls.  The Bible begins with God proclaiming light into the world and making all of the world very good. Yet upon the disobedience of the first man, darkness came around. 

       Do you know that the darkness is so influential that you or I can be duped into thinking that we are doing God a favor when we follow the rules of darkness.  Remember Cain the son of Adam and Eve, thinking he was justified in killing his brother because his own sacrifice was selfishly offered.  The influence of religion is a powerful thing and still affects the turning of the world today. 

   

     We have many other events that reveal how dark the darkness can be but we must turn to the light and follow the one who is for us.  

     Slavery all over the world through the centuries

    Incarceration of Jews in Europe

     Genocide in Rwanda

    Apartheid in South Africa

    The bombing of Pearl Harbor

    The terror attack on the twin towers of NY and Washington, D.C.

and now...

    The massacre of Las Vegas

When the darkness comes around it is so prevalent that we are mystified about the existence of evil itself.  Contemplating how this could happen in such a nice world. But the many occasions that history offers us is evident that the way of the world is not of the nature of a soft, warm Teddy Bear.
     Scripture offers to us some consolation regarding the darkness of this world because when we are enjoying the lovely and exciting pleasantries of the light,  it is very hard to convince us that the darkness is still here with us.

      Of olden times on the coast of Cornwall there were wreckers. These men tied a lantern on the head of an ass, and drove the animal along the heights that fringe the shore. Ships at sea saw this light, and thinking them to be guides where there was open water, ran towards them, fell on rocks, and were dashed to pieces. Then the wreckers came down to the shore, and took from the wrecked ship all that could be saved.

      There are a host of these false signals about in the religious world, leading men to destruction. What, then, are we to do? Look to the lighthouse of the Church, built by the hands of Jesus Christ. In it He has set the clear, steady light of revealed truth.  

   Do not follow the darkness or your life may shipwreck along the shore so that the devil would salvage your efforts for his purpose.  And that purpose is to devastate many lives and to place the blame upon our God. 

 There is a wonderful hymn that I sung in church this past Sunday.  In it was a phrase that I continued to think on during the rest of the day.   

‘Be thou my Vision’

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art,

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.”

       God is our best thought, Why?  Because He loves us, revealed himself to us, offers us comfort and love in this life and gave up His one and only Son so that we might have life. 

          ^KJV John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

 

Light is so lively that we enjoy the benefits of it daily.  Dark is so deadly that it makes resounding images in the minds of men and women.  Walk in the light so that your deeds can be attributed to the one who loves you. 

          May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.  Amen..

 

Devotional Series: Practicing the Open Life

Open your heart

 “And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.”  Isaiah 58:10-11

            When the heart is open to the world around it, God promises to open his loving heart to those who trust him, opening their hearts to others.

  Hymn: There’s a wilderness in God’s mercy

            For the love of God is broader

            Than the measure of our mind;

            And the heart of the Eternal

            Is most wonderfully kind.

            If our love were but more simple,

                 We should take him at his word;

            And our lives would be thanksgiving

             For the goodness of the Lord.

“Then your light will rise in darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”    The Lord promises to offer blessings that only He can give.  God will turn the lights on in your life.   There is so much more to this world that what we see and those who believe in God must trust that through their lives, others will experience the presence of and awesome and loving God.
    May the Lord, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, bless you to know His presence peace and support today.  May your mind, spirit and body be renewed by the unction of grace from the Holy Spirit of God.

THE Kingdom of God: A Kingdom of Divine Support

A Kingdom of Divine Support

      1 Corinthians 4:20 For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God's power. (NLT)

( 1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. (KJV)

     There are many things that can be said and taught about the Kingdom of God.  Whole volumes have been written about what the scripture says about it.  Jesus taught extensively about the kingdom of heaven which are of great value to study and understand.   The one thing that cannot be denied is the idea that the kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God is a certain description of God’s divine support, not just in teachings but also in real life.  This is why so many of Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom are in parables.  Parables relay more than an abstract thought but they give a picturesque illustration of how real life works and plays itself out. 

      The kingdom of heaven is dynamic and powerful because it contains the actions of the lives of people who have come to know and believe God.  They do not just know about God, they believe God because they have lived experiences that convince them of his presence, majesty, holiness and power.  They have talked and agonized with God in their prayers and are convinced that God exist.  The kingdom of the God is not just fancy talk, it is living by God’s power due to the convictions of one’s life. 

     John Ruskin said, “If you do not wish God’s kingdom, don’t pray for it.  But if you do, you must do more than pray for it; you must work for it.”

         God reveals himself to people who desire to live as citizens of a great and glorious kingdom; having been conquered by the love of God, understanding the dominion of God to overcome selfish desires to reach out to others and to know the power of God which subtly makes incredible changes for those who look to the great sovereign Lord of all creation for direction in life.    

^NLT Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God,

The life of a citizen of the kingdom is expressed in the words of this song…

Father, lead me day by day

Ever in thine own sweet way;

Teach me to be pure and true;

Show me what I ought to do.

When I’m tempted to do wrong,

Make me steadfast, wise and strong;

And when all alone I stand,

Shield me with thy mighty hand. 

    

May the mighty power of God’s kingdom guide, comfort and support you this very day.  May God bless you to know His presence, peace and safety as you seek to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ to our world.  
May there be a fusillade of grace, by way of direction, connecting and compassion that grant you success in your efforts to offer support and hope to patients and their families in the future.  Amen….. 

THE Kingdom of God: The Kingdom of dominion

The Kingdom of dominion
           

 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 (NLT)

    

     In our passage today regarding the Kingdom of God, the Apostle Paul is informing us that the kingdom is not about the believer exercising his/her freedoms just because he can but exercising the freedom to love others above how much you love your own freedom to live. 

     As we have seen so far, the Kingdom of Heaven is personal yet interpersonal interactions.  Placing great value on personal responsibility and relationships that we enjoy is an important aspect of the Kingdom.  The Kingdom of Heaven is an incredible doctrine that reaches into vast understanding about the physical, emotional and the spiritual world.  Yet, among the many other teachings about the Kingdom we find at the center a greater sense of dominion over the created  order within, to cope with life in loving God and caring for others. 

Paul W. Harrison said, "Wherever God rules over the human heart as King; there is the kingdom of God established." 

      Loving God calls for a healthy look inside to overcome the false self to know God better.  When this happens the next task is to live in such a way that you place great value upon those you meet and come to know.    The false-self is disciplined and the true-self is empowered to live out the true will of God in a world that is set against God.

       In an address in New York City in May of 1982 Mother Teresa said, “ Nakedness is not only for a piece of cloth.  Nakedness is for human dignity, for respect.  Homelessness is not only for a house made of bricks.  Homelessness is being rejected, unwanted, unloved, uncared for, having forgotten what is human love, what is human touch.” 

      In extending the Kingdom of God into the world we must continue to govern our lives to be personal.   The world of email, instant messages and even quick and easy face-sheet introduction we endeavor to take dominion over the technology to keep our work human.  Remembering that human love is done in an intimate and personal way taking into account the closeness of human touch. 

The Kingdom of God

Devotional Series: The Kingdom of God


  A kingdom experienced by love

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”  Luke 17:20

            Jesus said that the Kingdom of God would come but not be observed as they were used to in kings conquering another people.  The people of ancient days would see the conquering king come in to demand, dominate, rule and make them slaves.
            This kingdom would come by the king conquering the hearts of people by the act of self-sacrifice, teaching of a new life and personal freedom that he would give them.
            As members of God's Kingdom we extend the kingdom into the world.  Sometimes when people are served by us, they will understand something of the grace of God through the subjects of the kingdom. 
            Our place is to be sure that people experience the ways of God's Kingdom while they are in this world.  

   Henry  W. DuBose said, " The kingdom of God is a kingdom of love:  and love is never a stagnant pool."

    As citizens of the great Kingdom of God, allow the World to experience the benefits of someone who knows the King.  Let the Word move you to live a great life.