In Everything give Thanks to God

Deuteronomy 8:7 “For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills”. In this world, the rivers can dry up. Everything we possess can perish. But God’s blessings alone is ever lasting. Prophet Elijah fearing King Ahab and Jezebel, he went and hid by the river Cherith. Due to drought in that land, the river dried up. 1Kings 17:7 “And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land”. God gives us water from the mountains/hills, this water flows into springs and from there into the lakes. The lakes holds the waters and this becomes a river. Hence, we must remember, that the riches of this world can perish, but what our Lord has given us will never dry up or perish.

In Exodus we see, God promised the Israelites a fruitful country. A country flowing with milk and honey. Our God loves us very much. He thinks of us more than we can think about ourselves. No one can limit His blessings in our lives. Everything that we have is God’s grace and gift in our life. Hence, we must never cease to give our thanks to God, every moment is a blessing and hence we must continually praise Him and thank Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks:for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”. Philippians 4:6-7 says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. Every requests of ours, in faith when we must give it in God’s hand, believing and trusting that He will answer our every request. Our God is an unfailing God.

We see Abraham’s life story, he married Sarah. Hagar was a maid working in Abraham’s household. Hagar also came into his life, when Sarah told Abraham to take her as his wife and bear a child from her. But years later, when Sarah had her own child, jealously got the better of her and she told Abraham to send Hagar away. Abraham, a rich man, gave Hagar some bread and skin of water for the journey and asked her to leave the house and go away. Hagar embarked on her journey in the desert, soon the skin of water was empty. Hagar and her son had finished everything, and the journey was long. But our Lord took care of Hagar even in the desert and showed her a spring of water to quench her thirst. We must remember, that the water given by man cannot quench our thirst for long, it can dry up quickly. But the water given by our Lord, never dries up. Hence, we must never put our faith in man, but only God. Once again we will read Deuteronomy 8:7 “For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills”. Let our focus be upon Lord God alone. Truly our God is a great God, He has prepared a wonderful country for His chosen children. God gives us water from the mountains, the earth springs the fountains and the lakes holds the water, which will never dry. This becomes a ‘Lake of Blessings’ for us. We must remember, the world is with us when we are happy, but in our sad times we are left alone to fend for ourselves. At that time, it is our Lord who will lift us up and we must remember, we are never alone. Abraham a rich man, could give Hagar water that lasted only for a little time, but it was our God who showed her the springs of living water, and this spring never dries up.
Psalm 36:8-9 “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life:in thy light shall we see light”. We are children of the living God, we will never have lack of anything in this world, if we only trust and have faith in our God. As the scriptures says in Isaiah 58:11 “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones:and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”. Our Lord shall continually guide us with his wisdom and knowledge. We will never thirst, because His living waters never dry up. In the holy scriptures we see the story of Rebekah. When Abraham was old, after Sarah’s death, he told his oldest trusted servant to find a bride for his son Isaac. So the search for the bride began, when he met Rebekah for the first time by a well of water, she offered them water to drink and also to the camels that were along with them. So, Rebekah quenched the thirsty travelers without knowing them and she found favor in their eyes and was chosen as a bride for Isaac. As God’s children, we are chosen to help the thirsty and hungry quench their thirst and hunger. This can be done by sharing the ‘Word’. Many of the people, do not get the ‘True Word’ because they do not have a place of worship and are not a part of a ministry. Hence they remain hungry and thirsty. It is God’s grace alone, that we have a true ministry that God has instituted for us. We are regularly fed with spiritual manna, hence we in turn must share this Word with others. Like Rebekah shared water with the travelers who were thirsty. Revelation 22:17 says “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”. Surely, we get the Word freely, hence we must also share it freely to the ones who are in need of it. Isaiah 55:1 says ”Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” God invites us to the abundant life He has in store for us. Freely He gives us the ‘Living Waters’. Jesus says in John 4:14 “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”. The rivers of this world will dry up. Even the water given to Hagar by rich Abraham, finished in sometime. God’s promise for us is that, by the water He gives us, we will never thirst and He shall be a well of water within us springing up into everlasting life. What a wonderful promise God has given us. Our Lord Jesus Christ was sacrificed for our sakes, what will the Father withheld for us, He gave is His only son. This is God’s great love for each one of us.

We see another story in the holy scriptures, a man with infirmity lays besides the Bethesda pond for 38 years waiting for someone to put him into the pond first when the angel stirs the water. He is a poor man, he has no relatives or friends to help and support him. But, our Jesus Christ, who came to heal the sick and save us sinners, did not forget this man. Jesus came to attend a feast in that place, he saw the rich bringing big goats for sacrifice and the middle class people bringing smaller goats for sacrifice, but the poor, he saw, could not afford a goat did not offer sacrifice and thus their sins could never be washed away. Jesus saw this and had compassion for the poor and the sick man lying at the pond for 38 years. He healed the man only by His Word and the sick man’s faith healed him. Oh how wonderful and compassionate is our God, if we only believe, He is ever willing to heal our sin and sickness. Psalm 114:8 “Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters”. Our Lord who converted the rock into a standing of water and flint into a fountain waters, why should we put our faith in men who think they are our great help. But they have forgotten that all that they have pride in, has been provided by God. God is our greatest provider, greater than any man.

In the rich Middle East countries, we see that the source of their income comes from Oil. All their richness is dependant upon the Oil resource that they abundantly have in their countries. In the holy scriptures we see two examples:

In the book of Genesis we see a story of Isaac digging up a well and the enemies come and close the well. We see in the story that several times this same things happen, but Isaac did not give up. Genesis 26:5 -32 says “For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham:and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours:and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. And they digged another well, and strove for that also:and he called the name of it Sitnah. And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not:and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. And he went up from thence to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father:fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there:and there Isaac's servants digged a well. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee:and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace:thou art now the blessed of the LORD. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another:and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.” Though the enemy brought several hindrances, it was God alone who gave Isaac victory every time they dug a well.

Psalm 136 is a psalm of ‘Thanksgiving for God’s Enduring Mercy’. The Israelites were happy that the Lord gave them a fruitful land as promised, thus they praised God with their songs of praise. Numbers 21:17-18 “Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it. The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah.” Like we have seen the examples above about the widows who were blessed through the prophets with the blessings of Oil and Flour. Psalm 146:9 “The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow:but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down”. We must never fear the uncertainties of tomorrow, If our faith and trust is on God, He will surely take care of us. He cares for us more than we can ever care for ourselves. He is our Provider and Jehovah Jireh. As we have seen in the passage so far that the rivers of this world will dry, but God, is our living Water, He alone can quench our thirst eternally with the springs of waters that He will provide if He lives within us. Deuteronomy 28:5 “Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.” Like the Zarephath widow, our homes will never lack for bread and oil. Exodus 23:25 “If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him”. Our faith, our hope, our love must always be to praise God. He is the only one worthy of it.

We will draw similarly between the ‘Flour and Oil’ to “God and His anointing’. When seeds of wheat are crushed, we get flour, similarly when Jesus was bruised for our sins on the Cross of Calvary and he bore all the sufferings for us, He was totally crushed and thus He sacrificed His life for us. Third day, he rose again and laid a table before our enemies. On the day of Pentecost, we see His mighty spirit, anointing the congregation in different ways. All this Jesus did is, because He loves us, there can never be no greater love than God’s love for us. Deuteronomy 28:5 “Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.” God prospered us to be blessed. He suffered for our sakes and life was crushed to give us victory and everlasting life. 2 Corinthians 4:7 ”But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us”. On the day of Pentecost, His anointing was showered upon the entire congregation and on all who believed in His Resurrection. By His Grace alone, we have the ‘Living Water’. John 4:10 “Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” He is a ‘Father of Mercies’ who gives us everlasting life, John 4:14 says “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

God’s grace is abundant upon us. We have not achieved anything by our greatness and goodness. But only by the divine Grace of God, we have been blessed. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:it is the gift of God”. By His grace alone we have got the - Word, Holy Spirit, Gifts of the Spirit and Fruits of His blessings. Jesus Christ is a vessel full of the Holy Spirit. Luke 4:1” And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness”. Apostle Peter, was also full of the Holy Spirit Acts 4:8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel”. Stephen was also filled with the Spirit of God, we see in Acts 6:5 “And the saying pleased the whole multitude:and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch”. God knows our every weakness, our pain/sorrow and anxieties. Isaiah 12:3 “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”. Thus, He has promised us that, with joy we should draw water from the wells of salvation – from Jesus Christ himself.

In summary, remember, God loved us when we were yet sinners. He chose to forgive our sins and wash us with His priceless and precious blood and give us salvation. Bring us into His own family and he made us His children. The world will forsake us someday, so putting our faith in the world will bring curse upon us. Just like rich Abraham did to Hagar. But our God loved her and took care of her and her son. Like Rebekah, we must be a channel of blessing to others. We must be able to quench others thirst by sharing the ‘living Word’ with those who are not as privileged and blessed as we are. We are the blessed of the Lord, who get the real pure manna week after week. God loved Rebekah for this nature and blessed her as Abraham’s daughter –in-law. Also, God alone is a well of blessing for us, as we have seen Isaac’s story, how many times the enemies tried to bring hindrance into his life. But no one can stop the springs of water in our lives, if God has chosen us, he will also give us victory in all that we do believing in Him. Just as He gave victory to Isaac, similarly He will give us victory too. We must remember, that God sends water from the mountains, which is contained in this earth and out of it springs fountain and forms lakes / rivers. Thus God alone is the source of ‘Living Water’ in our lives. Let us today, look up to Him and the Holy hill from whence comes our help. Evil one brings blockage on our way and bondage in our lives. But let our faith and trust be stayed on God who alone is our ‘River of blessings’