Next to Christmas, Thanksgiving is the holiday most cherished as a time to gather with family. Christians wonder how modern Jews can faithfully celebrate the Passover without recognizing the divine source of their deliverance from Egyptian captivity so long ago, but many Americans likewise commemorate Thanksgiving without confessing God as the proper recipient of their thanks.
Each of us should reflect on the blessings poured into our lives. Family, friends, health, memories, love, and life itself are all reasons to be grateful. Gratitude is meaningless unless it is directed at a person. A good exercise for families and individuals alike is to count our many blessings — one by one if necessary. As we do so, we indeed recollect what God has done.
But have you ever considered the importance of anticipatory gratitude?
Gratitude in hindsight is the rightful response to favors given. The grace of God demonstrated in the Person of Jesus Christ is offered to everyone who trusts in His finished work on the cross of Calvary. Unworthy as we are, we receive His unmerited favor by simply believing on the Messiah for our salvation.
Over the years, I’ve made many lists — mental and written — of the blessings God has poured into my life. Each of them is incomplete, because it is simply impossible to produce an exhaustive list of what God has done for each of us. Yet I don’t know that I’ve ever taken time to consciously thank Him for the many blessings I am looking forward to. I proclaim them with great anticipation and urge others to become excited about what lies ahead for those who long for Jesus’ appearing. I want to receive the crown of righteousness Paul spoke of in 2 Timothy 4:8.
So, this Thanksgiving I will intentionally thank God for the blessings I am still awaiting. Because His promises are “Yes and Amen” — and more certain than my own existence — they are as good as fulfilled already. That is why God often spoke through the prophets in the past tense even as He revealed the future. All that God has spoken will come true.
Whether you gather with family or friends this Thanksgiving, I hope that you’ll take time to express your gratitude for what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will soon bring to pass — in your life and for all who hear His Voice.
Please send clarification of women not teaching over men.
Are people today being raised from the dead? Scripture says that man is appointed once to die and then the judgment.
Men were put over women, just as God is over men (Gen. 3:16). In pastoring, worship leading and preaching, men are to take the lead, a point Paul brings up again in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 5. The Bible talks about the other important roles women play in the family and in the Church (1 Cor. 14; 1 Tim. 2; Tit. 2).
I see no problem in a woman carrying out responsibilities in the church under the authority of the elders. In that regard, I see no problem in a woman serving as say a deacon. But, I believe the Scriptures make it clear that a woman is not to be put in a position of spiritual authority, like serving as an elder or pastor. The Bible assigns roles to men and women within the family and within the church. This does not mean that one is superior to the other. The parallel can be found within the Trinity. The Bible teaches that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are co-equal, but that they have different roles. The Father sent the Son to be our Savior. The role of the Holy Spirit is to work in the background to lift up Jesus as the only hope for the world. Each has His own role, some subordinate to others, but all are equal.
Women pastors seem to miss that God’s position doesn’t have anything to do with superiority/inferiority between men and women, but a matter of submission to God’s will. If a woman can’t submit to God’s will and instead seeks to become a pastor, then they will also be flawed in many other areas doctrinally as well.
“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” – Isaiah 66:2b
For further information, also see:
http://www.gospelway.com/teaching/women_preachers.php
http://www.gotquestions.org/women-pastors.html
http://www.gotquestions.org/women-deacons.html