He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 NKJV

Was the Father being fanatical when He gave us His Son, or was He just in love with us? Is the Father being extreme when He gives us all things or is He just in love with us?

Image © Darrel Tank from GoodSalt.com

In John 12:1-8, a woman comes to Jesus with an extremely expensive bottle of perfume. She anoints Jesus with this costly perfume as an expression of her love and appreciation for the incredible sacrifice Jesus was making for her. She was a sinner, saved by the love of Jesus, and she simply wanted to give all she had for Jesus because Jesus was giving all He had for her.

However, some of the disciples, including Judas, took exception to her gift. They called it a waste of money that could have been used to help the poor. John points out though, that instead of helping the poor, Judas was using the poor fund to help  himself. This leads me to a couple of conclusions. Judas called the woman out for being “wasteful” simply because he was not as generous and did not want to look bad.

So how do you make yourself look perfectly balanced while still being selfish? You label the unselfish woman as being fanatical and accuse her of extremism. Do some do this today? Others make reforms in their diet or behavior that we are not willing to make, so to make ourselves look balanced, we have to make the more conscientious person look unbalanced and extreme or fanatical. Pushing them into the far-right category moves us into the perfectly moderate and balanced category.

This woman was not being legalistic, fanatical, extreme, or unbalanced. She was simply in love with Jesus. She was simply giving all she had because Jesus was giving her all He had. This is the natural reaction of all who experience the love of Christ today. Just because someone is making changes that we are not willing to make does not mean that they are unbalanced or extreme fanatics. It could just mean that they love Jesus and want to show their appreciation for His love and sacrifice by making a few sacrifices themselves. That is what love does.

Going back to Judas acting like he was really interested in the poor while only serving himself – how many times have we said, “I wish I was rich so I could give to the poor?”  Could we really be saying, “I wish I was rich so I could give to the poor without having to sacrifice?”

Jesus pointed out to Judas that the poor have always been there, and he can help them any time he wants. Likewise, we can help the poor any time we want, if we are willing to sacrifice. Do we really wish we had more money to give to the poor, or do we just wish we had more money so we could give to the poor without it being such a sacrifice?

When the Father gave everything, including His Son, it was a sacrifice. Is there any way we can genuinely respond to such love without also making a real sacrifice?

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/extreme-and-fanatical-or-just-in-love-with-jesus/

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 13th of November 2024

Christ appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, when they were shut up together in a room because of fear. Thomas was not with them. Later, he heard the reports of the Resurrection from the other disciples, but he despaired. It did not fit his picture of the kingdom. And, too, he surely must have wondered why Jesus would have revealed Himself to the others when he himself was not there.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

Thomas said, “ ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe’ ” (John 20:25, NKJV).

Thomas was dictating the conditions of his faith. This approach to faith in Jesus has appeared again and again in John. Nicodemus answered Jesus with, “ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ ” (John 3:4, NKJV). The woman at the well asked, “ ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?’ ” (John 4:11, NRSV). The crowd who had been fed with the loaves and fishes asked, “ ‘What sign are you going to give us?’ ” (John 6:30, NRSV).

It is this “see and then believe” perspective that the Gospel of John counters. When Jesus met Thomas after the Resurrection, He invited him to come, see, and touch His risen body. But then He says, “ ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ ” (John 20:29, ESV).

“God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not ­demonstration.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 105.

Through the Word of God, through the Creation, and through personal experience, we have been given an incredible amount of evidence for our faith in Jesus.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-07-the-witness-of-thomas/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and one of this quarter’s authors, Dr. Thomas R. Shepherd, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson, “The Beginning of the Gospel.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/7-blessed-are-those-who-believe-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

View an in-depth discussion of Blessed Are Those Who Believe in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.
Click on the image below to view the video:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/7-blessed-re-those-who-belive-hope-sabbath-school-video-discussion/

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay</a?

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.” Psalm 93:1-3

In America, we will soon be celebrating Thanksgiving on November 28.  Here, Thanksgiving day has become synonymous with feasting and football, with a minor emphasis on giving thanks to God for His abundant blessings. However,  Christians, conscious of God’s continuing blessings, may  live a lifestyle of thanks-living. As Matthew Henry so perfectly encapsulated that thought, “Thanksgiving is good but Thanks-Living is better”.

Science tells us that having an attitude of gratitude brings many benefits, and these benefits transcend religion. However, it can be easy to forget and get mired in the negatives that bring only loss. Today we want to recalibrate our minds for the practice of “Thanks-Living.”

“Nothing tends more to promote health of body and of soul than does a spirit of gratitude and praise. It is a positive duty to resist melancholy, discontented thoughts and feelings–as much a duty as it is to pray. If we are heaven-bound, how can we go as a band of mourners, groaning and complaining all along the way to our Father’s house?”
Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, p. 251

If we know Jesus as our assurance of salvation then we are infinitely better off than having the winning lottery ticket. We are wealthier in true riches than Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and all the richest people in the world combined. One day the accumulation of riches won’t mean much when we walk streets of gold. We should, of all people, be the most thankful, grateful, and happiest people on the planet.

I want to share a summary of a very interesting article on this subject from a Reader’s Digest article,  “Health Benefits of Gratitude: 5 Ways Counting Your Blessings Can Improve Your Life,” by Beth Dreher. ¹

The article focused on the benefits of a grateful attitude and notes the following:

• It helps  you sleep better. (Next time you can’t sleep don’t count sheep, count your many blessings as you talk to “the Shepherd”. As the song says, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done!”)
• Gratitude can strengthen your willpower. (Don’t we all need more of that?)
• Gratitude can decrease stress. It activates feel-good hormones in the brain. 
• Gratitude can help you make more friends. “In a 2015 study published in the journal Emotion, thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek an ongoing relationship.”
• Gratitude can reduce aches and pains.

An “attitude of gratitude” can cure us of what I call “me-itis,” an unhealthy self-focus. It is the antidote to an entitlement mentality, it can ease our anxiety, deliver us from worry, and lift us out of the pit of depression. It can even help us in our grieving process.

The term “give thanks” occurs 35 times in the KJV.

It is almost always implied as giving thanks to God for doing something in the life of someone such as the following: 

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits…
Psalm 103:2-5 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Ps 106:1.

“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever”. Ps. 106:1

We should give thanks to God not only for what He does but also for what He doesn’t do.

“Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Heb. 10:17 (NKJV) also John 3:17

We can give thanks that God  exercises grace towards us, rather than justice, which is what we deserve. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Jesus experienced the death that we deserve so that we can have the life that He deserves. 

“Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed.” Psalm 85:10

“Christ on the cross was the medium whereby mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other.”  (Ellen G. White in  The General Conference Bulletin, April 1, 1899)

Do we stop and give thanks to Jesus for all He has done? Not just once a week, or once a year, but every day? Are we living a life that testifies that we appreciate His sacrifice? Are we “thanks-living”?

The word “thanksgiving” occurs 29 times  in the KJV.

Thanksgiving is acknowledging  God as the Giver of all good gifts.

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”  Ps 100:4

In my pre-Christian and even early Christian days I used to be plagued with debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.  They were so bad it nearly drove me to self destruction. Then I committed several “mind altering” verses to memory and it helped me off that gerbil wheel. The following verses, which incorporate promises,  were my prescription for anti-anxiety, far better than Xanax:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:7

 “You will keep him in perfect peace,  Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” Isa. 26:3

I prescribe these verses to everyone as their daily “Gos-Pills”.

The antidote to anxiety and worry is a thankful, grateful mind focused on Jesus – a mind that is at peace, even in the midst of the storms of life. We need not worry or be afraid.

“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.”  (Ellen G. White,  Life Sketches, p. 196)

The word praise occurs in 218 verses.

To praise God goes along with thanksgiving. “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Heb 13:15 (NKJV)

Paul and Silas praised God at midnight in a Philippian prison after they had received a beating (Acts 16:25), and then an earthquake broke their chains. The redeemed will praise God when  they receive their crowns. God inhabits the praises of His people. Shouldn’t we start practicing now?

Even in grief, an attitude of gratitude softens the blow and eases the pain. In the sudden and unexpected death of my mother I was able to process the grief easier than expected by leaning on the Lord and His Word, thanking and praising Him for giving me such a wonderful mother. It didn’t erase my grief, but it greatly reduced the emotional pain and grief. I didn’t get stuck in my grief because I focused my mind on my faith and the “Blessed Hope.” Researchers have found that the “faith factor” greatly helps in navigating the difficulties of life and loss.

Let’s take a few moments at the beginning and ending of each day to stop and reflect on the goodness of God through it all –  the good, the bad, the happy, and the sad. He’s brought us to it all, to bring us through it all. Let us share with others how the Lord has blessed us, and our hopes for the coming new year.

May God empower us to  turn our Thanksgiving into Thanks-living!

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/from-thanksgiving-to-thanks-living/