THANK YOU LORD!

But I've got another verse. I don't want to preach on today, not that one but that was that would be a good one, for sure. Well it's the week of Thanksgiving and as you know, we've been in a series on financial stewardship but I thought today that I would deviate from that. And today I'm going to preach a Thanksgiving message today and I'm not going to I'm not going to give you any Hebrew or Greek words. There's not going to be any deep theological teaching today. Here's what I'm going to do today. Today, I'm going to preach a devotional sermon. Dial pad has already said it. He said take a little time. This week, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and thank the Lord for what he's done in your life. Now, I know when we look across this land of ours, we have a lot to be concerned about Sometimes it's hard to find things to be thankful for, but that's because we're looking in the wrong place. We're looking for the world to give us what we need and only the Lord can do that. So this morning, I want to preach a Thanksgiving message out of Deuteronomy. So take your Bibles and turn to Deuteronomy chapter 2 and verse 7. And the title of this sermon is very simple. Thank you Lord. We have a lot to be thankful for today. And matter fact, I'm going to give you six things that you can thank the Lord for this week before Thanksgiving. If you have a little trouble finding something to be thankful for, I'm going to give you six things to be thankful for this week. So let's read the text. Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Bible. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy. So just turn the Genesis and go five books old Deuteronomy chapter 2 and we're only going to look at one verse today, vs 7 and I'm going to pull all six of these things to be thankful for from 7. And this is what the Bible says. For the Lord, your God has blessed you and all the work of your hand. He knows you're trudging or walking through this Great Wilderness, these forty years, the Lord, your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing. Now you say, what, why would you kind of pick an obscure text like that? Well, this is let me give you the background. This is Moses reflecting on the blessings of God upon God's people. Now, you know, that they wondered forty years in the wilderness and before that, they were in captivity to Egypt. He is simply rehearsing what God has done for them in these forty years since they had been delivered from the cruel hand of pharaoh. Now, Moses was talkin to Israel here. We know that, but certainly this scripture is talking to us. Not, let me. Just give you a little caveat hear. There's a lot of people today, a lot of preachers who will tell you do not read the Old Testament because that was written to Israel. It has no effect for us. If you want to read something, you go to the New Testament and you read about Jesus and his miracles. And healings, and Paul's teaching, you can just let go of the Old Testament friend. What a travesty, that would be because even though this is written to Israel, The Bible tells us clearly in 1st Corinthians 10:11 that does things that happened to them in the Old Testament happened. To them for examples for us. In other words, we can learn something from reading the stories in the narratives of the Old Testament, it is examples for us and so we're not misusing. Scripture this morning, we're taking something that God did for his ancient people, and we're going to apply to God's modern people. Amen! That's what we're going to do because the Bible has basic principles all the way through. It that applies, whether you were born in 2060 or 2020 to today, it doesn't matter. These principles apply as well, so Moses and just having a time of Thanksgiving. And that's what we're going to do this morning. So let me give you the first thing that we can be thankful for, and we can start pray. For this the day number 1, let's be thankful for God's Providence thankful for God's Providence. You see it there on the screen that look at it in the first part of our 7 for the Lord, your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand underscore the word. All All the work of your hand. Now, sometimes it's very easy and our lives to see the Lord doing and working some things in our life. And we'll say, we asked, you know, you may have a baby or something. Yeah, that was a blessing or we got a new job or we got to, we build a house. Yes, that was a blessing, but friends, let me tell you something. From the time that you have been redeemed. Just think about it from the time that you were saved from that time that God brought you out of Egypt by the blood of the lamb, and through the Red Sea from that time forward, everything that have happened to you has happened for your good. You say, but everything that happened has not been good. No circumstances. May not be good. We all have trials and tribulations but God is working the good things, the bad things, the neutral things, the tragic things into your life and he's working it out for your good. That is God's Providence. You want to see a new testament. Passage that says the same thing is they're looking Romans 8:28 and we know that what some things few things All that, we know that all things work together for, what, for good to those who love God to those, who are called according to his purpose, all things, that means the loss of job. That means the flat tire on the way to work and you going to be late, that means that broken relationship. Never had a broken relationship in here and you saw my life is over. He's working it all. For your good. Trials tribulations, what tragedies whatever it is, he is working it all for your good for a lot of Christians, get saved and they say, well, I'm saved now. So my life is just going to be hunky-dory the rest of my life. No Christians have problems. If you read the history of Israel and Moses, they had all kinds of problem, I have problems today, you have problems today, but I want to tell you that the problems that we have, if you compare them to the problems that we had before we were saved, they're not even the same, I'm happier. Now as a Christian, when I'm sad than I was, when I was happy as an unbeliever, Did you get that? You can be happier when you are sad as a Christian. Then you can as an unbeliever with everything going, right? You see, a Christian has problems, but there's a difference. Let me tell you the difference in our problems. As a Christian, we have somebody to Bear these problems. We don't have to carry these problems. Ourselves looking what Psalm 55 verse 22, says, cast your burden, on who cast your burden on the Lord and He Shall sustain you friend. If you are save this morning, you've been bought by the blood of Christ. You can cast all your anxieties, all your stress, all your depression, all your discouragement, all your burdens upon Him and He will sustain you. That is guaranteed. That's a promise from the word of God. He will sustain you cast your burden on him, but let me give you another something else about these problems. Our problems are really not problems because the Bible says all things work for good. All things are working for good in your life. God has this big pot and he put your wedding and he puts the birth of your child and he puts that job promotion in there. And he put that sickness in there and he put that broken relationship in there. He puts that divorce in there. He puts that Financial challenge in there and he mixes it all up and it's all working for good. You say, what? What good could it be? So that he is making you more and more like his son? Jesus Christ. And he does that through difficulty, through challenges, through tribulation, through trials, through the good times of life in through the bad times of life. Don't, you know, when we study the book Ecclesiastes, there's a time to dance. There's a time to sing. There's a time to laugh. There's a time to cry. There's a time to live. There's a time to die. He's working it all together for your good. And thirdly, let me say something about these problems before we move on. They're only temporary. Your problems are only temporary look at Romans 8:18 for I consider that the sufferings of this present time. Are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which shall be revealed in Us, in that something, just what you're going through today, you may feel like it's just about to drag you down, you may feel like you can't overcome it. That this is the end compared to what is going to be like in heaven, friends. There's no comparison whatsoever. God will carry your burden and so we just have to thank the Lord. Today we thinking for the good times we thinking for the bad times because he's using it all to make us more like Jesus Christ this week, you thank the Lord for his Providence you thinking for his Providence. Well, There's something else. We need to thank the Lord for number 2. Let's be thankful for his perception. You say well what exactly do you mean by that? Well, look at what the Bible says here. In verse 7 for the Lord your God has blessed you with all that's his Providence. All the work of your hand. Now watch what he said, he knows your walking through the Great Wilderness. Now here's here's the phrase. He knows. God knows you. He knows what you're going through. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows when you're sick, he knows where you work, he knows where you live, he knows who you're married to, he knows your children. He knows everything there is to know about you. He perceived everything, he saw everything that happened to his ancient people. From crossing the Red Sea, to being into captivity, the wandering, in the wilderness, he was with them every step of the way. He knows friends list and he sees all there is to see if he knows all there is to know and that my friend is a comfort to me this morning that he knows me. He knows what I'm going through, you see, it's a let me give you some things that he knows. It's a comfort to me that he knows. The worst about me. How in the world? Could that be a comp? Because he knows me at my worst and yet he still loves me. And he's never left me. And he promised that he will always love me. He hasn't stopped loving me. If I had an idea that there was something hidden in my life, that God didn't know, if you know what I do. I worry myself to death thinking, boy, when he finds this out, he's going to get me friends, he knows it. All, he already knows it off and he loves you in spite of the worst about you. You say, you know what, you know, what some of you say? Well, I have friends, I wonder how many true friends that we really have, you know, who a true friend is a true friend? Is someone who knows the worst about us, but still loves us. That's what a true friend is. Did you know that? You don't know the worst about me? You don't, you don't live with them. You don't know the worst about that. You don't know the best about me. You don't, I don't know the worst about you. I don't know. You're a funny little quirks in the things that you have. I don't know that, but God knows that. And yet he continues to Lava friend. That's the kind of friend that we have. In the Lord Jesus Christ, He Loves Us in spite of the worst. Things about me, he knows the worst about. He also knows the best about us.

The spirit of God that lives within us even when our heart is broken. And we can't even verbalize the words that we want to say the spirit of God, praise for us to the Father in Heaven. He knows the best are best motive. He notes the worst because there's nothing yet to discover and he still loves us. And you see friends, thank God this morning. For his perception that he sees us. That he hears us. He, he knows, let me, let me tell you how he knows the worst of us. Look at Psalm 69 5 God. You know, my what foolishness, you know, my foolishness. And my sins are not hidden from you. God knows our worst. You don't know my foolishness. You don't know all to myself and you may know some of its, you don't know all of them, he knows it all. He knows I work, but he also knows our Beth. Look at it in Psalm 37 Verse 18, the Lord knows the days of what the upright and their inheritance, your bed for. You see, he knows the worst at something else. He knows he knows how weak you are. He knows how strong you are. He does, he knows our weakness. The Bible says, in Psalm 103 14, look at this for he knows our Frame. He remember that. We are dust. He created us, he knows, the Bible says, he knows our frame. What what does that mean? What is a person's frame? Let me tell you what it is. God knows what you can bear. And he's not going to put anything on your back that you cannot bear. He knows your frame, he knows how you're built. He knows how your wire 5 because he did it and he's not going to put anything so heavy on you that it will cripple you that it will break you down. I mean you know we go out here and we look at these trucks sometimes you see a half ton truck sometimes you see a 2-ton truck what does that mean? Well half ton truck and carry half a ton. You don't want to put two times on a half ton truck and you don't want to buy a 2-ton truck. If all you need is a half ton truck. That's his plane. That's what it can carry. And you see There's not a burden that comes to you but it has to come through God first. He knows what you can handle and what you cannot handle and he's not going to give you too much. Let me tell you one other thing he knows and we'll move on. He knows what you need. He knows what to look at it. Matthew chapter 6 verse 8, therefore do not be like them for your father, knows the things you have need of before you ask him before you even pray for anything. He already knows that. You need it. Don't mean you shouldn't pray, but he already knows what you need. Thank God this morning. Thank God this week before Thanksgiving. Bet he knows you that he perceives and see that he sees your tears and he hears your prayers. Thank God this morning. Thank you Lord that you know me. Thank him for his Providence. He's working everything for good. Thank him for his perception because he sees and he knows Us number three. Was thinking this week. For his purpose. Now, look at it again, in verse 7, he's blessed doing all the work. That's the Providence, he knows, that's his perception. You're walking through this Great Wilderness, you see here, he understood. He knew that the children of Israel were wandering around in this Wilderness for 40 years and God was the one that was going to bring them through that. And carry them to the promised land. He brought them out of Egypt, he was bringing them through the Wilderness and he's going to bring them in the promised land. Ran that same things done for us. We were, we were changing captivated by Satan. He broke those chains and brought us out when we live in this world things, go, good things, go bad. We have problems and all, he's bringing us through this Wilderness that we in. And one day friend, he's going to bring us all the way home to Heaven. Amen, he's going to do it. He's going to see you through. That's what he does. So we need to thank him. His purpose. He brought me out of sin so that he may bring me in right now. We're walking in this Wilderness, but we are coming through. God has a purpose. For your life. God has a plan for your life in this world that you're living. In is simply a training ground. It's a Proving Ground and the Lord is leading us through here. He has a purpose for you. He has a purpose for me and he is not as long as you have breath in your body. He is not finished with you, he has a purpose for your life. I think there's some young people today that need to hear that God has a purpose and a plan for their life. He has a purpose and a plan for your life and he's not finished yet and I just thank him this morning. That I'm still going through and he's caring me through. Now, why do you think that they wondered around in the wilderness for 40 years? Why why, why was that his plan? Why was that his purpose that they would wander for 40 years? If I'm sure we got the same question. God, why did I lose my job? Why did this relationship go awry? What happened? Why am I having financial trouble? What is it? Deuteronomy. Take a look at Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 2. And you shall remember that the Lord, your God, LED you all the way these forty years in the wilderness?

To Humble you and test you to know what was in your heart. That's why. You want to know sometimes while you go in Trials, through trials and tribulations. It's a test. Sometimes God has to Humble. Some guy, sometimes he has to, he have, he has for us to see exactly what's in her heart. Sometimes he has to do that so that we'll understand the difference between our world and our needs. Our desires in his desires, living for my kingdom or his kingdom, and he has to show us that sometimes. And then it goes only if you read the next verse and we don't have it up there. He says, I humbled you so that you would suffer hunger, you say, well, why would God want them people to suffer hunger? And he said so I can feed you Mana. Remember what the matter was dropped out of the sky, didn't have anything to eat. People were complaining that we don't have anything to eat all the sudden rice cake started falling out of the sky, and I wouldn't mind that if I had me a jar of peanut butter. Peanut butter rice cakes. That was good. I thought and I got the unsalted rice cakes too, so they were Bland. Will you put a little peanut butter on them? They were really good. You see? Listen to me carefully. He led them to be hungry so that he could feed them. If we never had any trouble, we would never know. We had any need. And if we never had a need, we would live independent From God. That's why he does it to Humble ourselves to show us patient. So that we can persevere to show us. What is in our hearts. God has a purpose. He allows us to be in the wilderness. Sometimes we get hungry. He has all these things are part of his wonderful plan. Realistic God has a purpose for you. In the willings, may not make sense to you. You may not like it, you may be confused. God is proving you, he is testing you, he is teaching you, he is leading you, he is guiding you, he is building you. Thank the Lord, this morning for his purpose for your life. Just thank him for the perfect. Thank him for his Providence working. All things for good for his perception, he knows, and for his purpose, he has a purpose for your life. Number 4.

We need to thank him this week for his patience. You say now what do you mean by that? Alright, let's look at it verse 7. Bless you and all your work Providence. He knows. Perception. Walking through this Wellness purpose. These forty years.

He was with these people. For 40 years, he put up with this bunch of people. He said, what, what do you mean put up? When we have to understand something? Don't think that he was leading these wonderful people. These people were not wonderful. They hadn't been wonderful people. Let me tell you what, they had been. They had been unfaithful, people, they have been fickle, people, they were in Egypt, I cried and cried and cried the Lord, get us out of Egypt. He takes them through the Red Sea, or form Miracle after miracle, and got them on the other side. And then about two months, a star compliant. What we had, we had all these. We had no problem. We had all these cucumbers and Egypt and now we don't have anything cuz I don't you just take us back to Egypt Moses. We were better off in Egypt. We had all these leads all that stuff that we could eat and now we don't have anything. They were Unfaithful. They were fickle. They were disobedient. They were complaining people yet for 40 years. The Lord was rhythm. And thank him for his patience. If you ever thank the Lord that he has put up with you just put up with us that he's put up with us. I've been saved. I don't know. 35 years probably. 35 years, he has walked with me in the wilderness for 35 years and I just have to say, Lord, I Thank you for your patience that you have never ever. Let me go think about this.

How many times have you confess the same sin over and over? Just think about it. How many times do you confess the sin? And then you turn right around and do it again. You confess it, you turn right around and do it again. You can fax it and he forgives, you, you turn right around and do it against how many times have we done that in our life sometimes? It just seems like that. I just confess the same sins over and over and over and over. And yet I'm still standing here and he still allows me to preach. I'm still I still have breath in my body. Aren't you glad that God has more patience with you than you have? He has more patience with us, you know, I'm glad that. I'm not God because if I was God I would have already that me. If I was God I would have already. Is that me? I would have blotted my name. But, you know, the Bible describes how wonderful God is in Romans 15:5. Look what the Bible says. Now may the god of what patients May the god of patience and comfort, Grant you to be like minded toward one another. What does that mean? That we need to be patient and we need to comfort and encourage one. Another friend. We need to thank God this week for his patience for his patience with us.

Number 5 and have two more and we'll be finished. We need to be thankful this week for God's presence. Not look at it in verse 7. Says he he knows you're walking through this great Wellness. These forty years I see patients. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. I think about that these, these 40 years, He never left them once. I was he with them by day, by pillar of cloud. Buy Nike, what was a pillar of fire? He was with them day and night and he never left them. You say, yeah, but that was for the children of Israel. I don't see a cloud everyday where he's following me around. I don't see a fire at night so I can see my way. No, but I tell you what you do have you have God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you. What more could you want? Then that he has given us. The Blessed Holy Spirit, he lives in our heart and what was the problem is he gave us in Hebrews. I will never leave you, nor forsake you friends list your mom and daddy May forsake. You your company May forsake, you your best friend made for thank you, God will never leave you, he will never forsake. You we need to thank him this week for his presents. Aren't you glad That to know that your heart. Is not a hotel for God checks in and checks out every week or two, aren't you? Glad of that aren't you? Glad when he sent the holy spirit that he's going to end well in you and abide with you forever until you get to have a god. Check-in check-out he's not here today. Gone tomorrow, he is with you forever and you know sometimes we have to go to the grave site.

But I'm grateful that I can tell people and mean it and I'm not tell them if just to make them feel good. I can tell them

But even in death, God is with you. And I can say that and I can mean it because I know that God will never never leave us friends. He's with us in the glad times he's with us in the sad time. He's with us in the bad times and he's with us in the Mad times. He is always with you. What did he tell? Joshua when he took over for Moses, He said this no man should be able to stand before you all the days of your life as I was with Moses so I will be will with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you you say yeah. But that's Old Testament. What did Jesus tell the disciples? And I pray the father and he will give you another helper, who's the helper the holy spirit that he may abide with you. For how long forever? That's the same. We have the same problem. Yes, I can read Deuteronomy 27 and I can draw out the principle. That applies to modern day, amen. We can do it and we can back it up with scripture. We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Bible says until the day of redemption, he's with us forever. Well, thank you for being patient. We have one more and then we can go out and get something to eat. Number 6. Let's be thankful.

For his provision. Now look how he says it at the end of verse when he says the Lord your God has been with you. That's his presence. And then he says this you have lacked he says you have lacked nothing. For forty years in the wilderness, they thought that they liked everything, we don't have any food, we have to eat these rice cakes. There's no. Peanut butter. We don't have water. We can't do this, we can't do that. It was more fun being a slave in. Egypt is what they said. They thought that they lacked everything. There's no bread. There's no this, there's no back. But friends, they didn't eat a thing. Why? Because they had got because he supplied their every need not too late, not too early, not a head at. I'm always right on time sometimes we feel like we wish you would hurry up. Hurry up and give me what I want. Well, that's what we need to understand. Sometimes we want some things that we don't need and many times, we need some things that we don't want. And God knows that why because he knows it because of his perception. In Friends. Let's just think of this, listen to what David said in Psalm? 34:10 about God's provision, the Young Lions, lack and suffer hunger. But those who seek the Lord shall not lack, any good thing. You're not going to lack any good thing if you are Christian this morning, you say yeah. But I want this and I want that. I understand that. You may not get all your wants, but he will supply all your needs. You say, the problem is, sometimes we won't things that we don't need. I can't tell you how many times I prayed for something that I wanted and I never got it, and I got mad about it. And later on, I got something else. And what I got was better and what I needed more than what I was praying for, I've known people before, that would pray for a husband and a wife and that relationship with break up and they would just cost and stop and snort and spit and stomp on the grass. I can't believe this out of the person I was going to marry and later they met the person. They should marry Because God send them that person. God knows what we need. He will supply our needs not necessarily our want. What does Philippians 4:8? New Testament passage and my God shall supply all your what need not want needs. According to his riches in Glory by Christ Jesus house thankful, we ought to be for his provision. I'm glad that verse that says supply, all you want the worst thing I could do for some of us is to give us everything that we won't and friends. And I won't you just think about the six things that we looked at today. if God did that for his ancient people, How much more will he do for us? Those of us who live on the right side of Calvary, so we just need to be thankful. We need to have an attitude of gratitude on this Thanksgiving. Amen. That's what we need. You say, why? I just don't have anything to be thankful for. You have six things right here to be thanked for that. Comes right out of the word of God. Thank thank him for his Providence that everything that happens in your life is working out for your good. Thank him for his perception that he knows. He sees your tears, he hears your. He knows thinking that he has a plan and a purpose for your life. Thank you. Thank him this week that he is patience with you. How many times we've been unfaithful, how many times have we failed? If we get his patient thankful that he will never, leave us, nor forsake us and thank him, that we will always have our needs supplied. Amen, let's pray. Father, we do. Thank you and praise. You and love you today. Lord for your very precious word, Lord, that we can pull these principles out of this Old Testament verse because the way you handled your people in those days, will be the same way that you handle us today. God, the same yesterday today and forever. In this Thanksgiving season, this world, it seems to be falling apart. There's so many things that were frustrated over, chaos everywhere, death everywhere culture against you more. But we have so much that we can do. Thankful for Lord, help us to be salt in this culture. Help us to be the light in this dark world and help us always to have an attitude of gratitude forcing Christ's name. I pray. Amen.