THANKSGIVING

Prayers of Thanksgiving

    “And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it.  For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.  And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”  Rev 5:9-10 (NLT)

    Yes, darkness is in our world today.  “Old Scratch” the devil continues to give us trouble.  But God is still shining His Light into our world. The Kingdom of God is growing every day thanks to those who show their faith without making any "noise", praying and living out their faith, in the family, at work, in the communities – the church is in the world. 

    “All of creation is in relationship with God the Creator, and for reasons unfathomable to me as much as I imagine they are to you, God has decided to stick with it. The animal skins God provides to clothe Adam and Eve is God sticking with it. The Rainbow is God sticking with it. The Covenant is God sticking with it. The Wilderness is God sticking with it. The Promised Land is God sticking with it. The Prophets are God sticking with it. The Judges are God sticking with it. Jesus is God sticking with it. Those Disciples are God sticking with it. Pentecost is God sticking with it. Revelation is God sticking with it.” Shroyer

    1. Thankful for past blessings. 

    “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”  Col 1:13-14 (NKJV)

    “One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”  Luke 17:20-21 (NLT)

    The Kingdom of God was already being revealed through Jesus' words and actions.  “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”  Acts 10:38 (NKJV)

Pentecost came with God’s Power being poured out on all flesh.

    “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”  John 1:16-17 (NKJV)

    2. Jesus is Coming Again!

    “For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”  Luke 17:24-25 (NKJV)

    "The day is coming when He will make noise, He will flash like lightning, lighting up the sky from one side to the other. So shall the Son of man be on His Day, the Day that He will make noise. And when one thinks of the perseverance of many Christians, who struggle to raise their family - men, women - who care for children, care for grandparents and arrive at the end of the month with only half a dollar, but who pray. There is the Kingdom of God, hidden, in the holiness of daily life, every day holiness. Because the Kingdom of God is not far from us, it is near! This is one of its features: God is close to us everyday.”

    3. Mustard-seed Christianity.

    “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." Matt 13:31-32 (NKJV)

    The Kingdom of God is humble, like the seed planted in the ground.  Humble, but it becomes great by the power of The Holy Spirit. We let it grow in us, without boasting about it.  Let The Spirit come, change our soul and carry us forward in silence, in peace, in tranquility, in closeness to God, to others, in worship of God, without display.

    4. We are growing and being transformed.

    “The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you.  Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.”  2 Cor 3:2-3 (NLT)

    “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  2 Cor 3:17-18 (NKJV)

    Transforms us. Christians are new in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), and are transformed by their direct access to God.  God’s Spirit is involved in this (2 Cor. 4:6); and none of this transformation was available through the old covenant.  God is working His great Plan.  Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

    “Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in.^”Luke 16:16 (NLT)