THANKSGIVING   Rev  Dr  Theophilus Lambo Part One
Channel: Theophilus Lambo
Date: 27/06/2013

Thanksgiving is gratitude to God in response to blessings, protection and love. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, gratitude is not a tool used to manipulate the will of God. It is never coerced or fabricated in one's personality to God.
In the Old Testament, gratitude to God was the only condition in which life could be enjoyed. For Jews, every aspect of creation provided evidence of God's lordship over all life. The Hebrew people thanked Him for the magnificence of the universe (Psalm 19:1-4). "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament ........
When they received good news, they thanked God for His goodness and great deeds (1Chronicles 16:8-12). "Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon His name, and make known His deeds among the people. 
When they received bad news, they also gave thanks, trusting that He was a just God (Job 1:21) "And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."  The people of Israel thanked God for His faithfulness to the covenant promises which He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to David.
The Bible thereby teaches us that our God will always delight in us if we always give gratitude to Him in whatever situation we may find ourselves as in the following examples:
For deliverance from enemies (Psalm 18:17 "He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me."
Psalm 30:8-12 "I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. ....

For forgiveness of sin (Psalm 32:5) "I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. "  

 For answers to prayer (Psalms 28:6-7) "Blessed be the LORD, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications.  The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song will I praise Him."  

For executing justice (Deuteronomy 32:4): "He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all his ways are judgments: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He." 

 For continuing guidance (Isaac 30:20-21 ) "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:  And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. "
If we then ask ourselves this morning, that apart from life, the fresh air that we breadth and basic necessities that we do enjoy, what else do we need to be thanking God for. Some people do seriously believe that money can buy whatever they want, but is that true? What then can money cannot buy since the Bible teaches us that God owns everything under the sun. Let us compare what money buy in contrast to what it can never buy.
Money can buy Food; but not appetite -- The Bible being the words of God, has seen through the limitations of we mortals and in Philippians 4:10-11"I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess. I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances"  It is when we are at peace in Christ Jesus that we can see food and have appetite to eat but when we are confronted with distress, affliction, grief, persecution, sorrow, sufferings
Money can buy a full library of Books but not wisdom -- Knowledge is power, true they say, but power and authority without wisdom is also a danger to the beholder. .......
In James 1:5, the Bible knowing how precious wisdom is for us, teaches us; "When I am deficient in wisdom, I ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given to me."  And Proverbs 19: 20 also reads "I here counsel, receive instruction and accept correction, that I may be wise in the time to come."  How many of us always feel disrespected when we are corrected. Sometimes we feel we are somehow above correction since we have clothed ourselves with the old garment of pride and bloated ego, and not until we learn the hard way when we get into an avoidable embarrassment and emotional crisis.