Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for you and pray that this Thanksgiving is a sweet time of sharing and making memories with loved ones.
At Thanksgiving dinner our family will share 3 things that we are thankful for as a way to hear the hearts of our family members. As I was reading the Bible this week I came across these verses in Hebrews below and it was something I realized that I have never thanked God for: a kingdom that cannot be shaken!
Hebrews 12:25-29 ESV “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Bold added for emphasis).
How do we thank God?
Offer to God acceptable worship with reverence & awe – This type of worship takes into account God’s holiness and his position as a judge to whom alone worship is due. (ESV study Bible)
When we live in a way that pleases God we are worshipping Him with our lives. Below you can see the verses that follow the passages above which list ways in which we may make an ‘offering’ or sacrifices that are pleasing to God.
Sacrifices Pleasing to God – Hebrews 13:1-9 ESV
“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”
The world systems and sinful mankind can only provide that which is irregular, trembles, can easily fall, brings confusion and the mixing of logic and all kinds of ‘truth’; making nations; economies; families; and our entire lives unsteady. It is in Jesus alone that we find our rock, the solid ground, the firm foundation , the One who is truth and testifies to the truth; the One who never changes, and it is in His name that we pray and we thank Him today for our brothers and sisters in Christ and for an everlasting Kingdom that cannot be shaken!
Written by Jamie Shaver