Thanksgiving

A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalms 100:1-5 ESV)

Even though the national holiday Thanksgiving Day has pretty much lost it’s meaning within our culture, Christians should understand the significance of having a grateful heart in all they do. That gratitude should be directed toward the only source of all they have, The Most High God. Their jobs, their possessions, their children, their parents, their extended families, their churches, and especially their salvation all came to them by the grace of God. Let us worship our awesome Most High God with a grateful and undivided heart. Oh, be glorified in your people Lord!

The transforming power of gratitude

by Mike Ratliff

17 ὥστε εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ, καινὴ κτίσις· τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ γέγονεν καινά. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NA28)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old things passed away, behold he has become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

When Christ comes into your life, your life changes. God’s Word everywhere declares that a change is automatic when someone truly believes. However, this is not entirely a passive thing. There is something called walking in repentance that is our part. I am sure all of you know someone or you may have personal testimony pertaining to struggling with sin or sins for years that seemed to cling very close and no matter what, freedom from the sin(s) seemed like chains in prison. However we are commanded to not sin like that aren’t we?

Thanksgiving trip and sabbatical

by Mike Ratliff

16 καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ εὐχαριστῶν αὐτῷ· καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν Σαμαρίτης. (Luke 17:16 NA28)

16 and he fell on his face at His feet thanking Him and He was a Samaritan. (Luke 17:16 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

I am leaving Wednesday morning to drive from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas. My wife and I have been invited to spend the Thanksgiving holiday there with her brother and sister-in-law and their son. He lives here in the OKC area as well and will ride with us on the roundtrip. I will be offline at least through Saturday the 29th. As I prepare for the trip I have noticed some things that have caused me to reflect on how “thankful” I am to God in the midst of some very ugly societal downgrades. The Ferguson, Missouri riots began last night for instance and it looks like there is political maneuvering behind much of how this being both instigated and handled. I am totally aghast at the blatant ignorance of some of the “talking heads” on Television about “the rule of law” and our President saying the most absurd thing last night in his speech that the violence and all that went with it in Ferguson was “understandable.” Is it? Should it be?

Gratitude will free you!

by Mike Ratliff

ὥστε εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ, καινὴ κτίσις· τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ γέγονεν καινά. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NA28)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old things passed away, behold he has become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

When Christ comes into your life, your life changes. God’s Word everywhere declares that a change is automatic when someone truly believes. However, this is not entirely a passive thing. There is something called walking in repentance that is our part. I am sure all of you know someone or you may have personal testimony pertaining to struggling with sin or sins for years that seemed to cling very close and no matter what freedom from the sin(s) seemed like chains in prison. However we are commanded to be not sin like that aren’t we?

Giving Thanks

by Mike Ratliff

καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ εὐχαριστῶν αὐτῷ· καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν Σαμαρίτης. (Luke 17:16 NA27)

and he fell on his face at His feet thanking Him and He was a Samaritan. (a personal translation of Luke 17:16 from the NA27 Greek text)

I woke up in the recovery room in the Ambulatory Surgery Center about 3pm CDT this afternoon. I noticed two things right away. I was cold and the place on my right arm the Orthopedic Surgeon had marked with his pen about two hours earlier was very sore. There was an ice pack on my right shoulder. There were tubes and wires running everywhere, but the only other person I saw was a nurse who asked me if wanted something to drink. I nodded and as she went to get some water, she offered me some Teddy Grahams as well. That sounded great and so the first words from my mouth in hours was my enthusiastic assent. I ended up eating two bags of those and drinking several cups of ice water. Of course, all of that was a test to see if was going to get sick from the anesthesia. Other than the sore spot on my shoulder and the cold from the ice pack, I felt great. I was already offering up my gratitude to my Lord for all He had done. 

Thanksgiving Sabbatical

by Mike Ratliff

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25 ESV)

This year my wife and I will be traveling for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We leave tomorrow (Monday) after my physical therapy appointment and will return Saturday the 28^th. This time off from writing and contending has come at just the right time for me as I feel drawn to the throne of grace as I seek my Lord’s wisdom. I am both discouraged and encouraged with events in the Church at this time.

Thanksgiving

by Mike Ratliff

A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalms 100:1-5 ESV)

O, let us give thanks to the Lord for He is exceedingly good to us. No person born of Adam deserves anything from Him except eternal judgment yet every person, whether they are a believer or not, receives from God His common grace. However, those who are in Christ should joyfully give thanks to Him for the miracle of their salvation along with all of the heavenly promises that go with it. I was in a discussion on Sunday with a friend at church about how awesome it is that God has made Himself known to us through the Son and through His Word. We rejoiced together in our fellowship just seconds before the worship and praise part of our Sunday morning began. What a joy that was!