Thanksgiving Every Day

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Thanksgiving Every day. He will be in Psalm 27

The more you know God, the more you trust Him, and the more confidence you have in Him, and the more confidence you have to live a victorious life and to have thanksgiving in every circumstance in your life.

This is Pastor Mike and we’re welcoming you to Hope Worth Having. Today, I’m going to be sharing a message that I’ve entitled Thanksgiving Every Day. Yes, we celebrate Thanksgiving every year on Thanksgiving Day on a Thursday, but what about Thanksgiving being every day?

The truth is all of us should be thankful every day. And so I want you to get your Bible and go to Psalm 27 and we’re going to kind of just go through that passage and learn more about how we can be thankful every day.

Let’s get into God’s word today. Psalm chapter 27 is our text this morning. Thanksgiving is coming up and so how is it that you and I can have Thanksgiving every day? That’s the crux of what I want to answer this morning when we come to Psalm chapter 27.

We note that this is a unique passage of scripture because here the Psalmist starts out by speaking to himself and there’s times you and I need to talk to ourselves and that’s what the Psalmist is doing at the outset of this passage and then he talks to God in the second section and finally he concludes the chapter talking to others.

But here as we look at this passage, we’re going to have the privilege of learning how we can experience Thanksgiving every day in our life. Now have you ever gone to the pharmacist and you go there to get a prescription?

You certainly will notice that everywhere behind the pharmacist there are pills and bottles and medications on the shelves. and you look around into the pharmacy and you’ll notice that there are all these over -the -counter products and there’s things in there like vitamins and herbs and minerals.

And all these are designed to help you and I to make us feel better, hoping that somehow we will not only feel better, but be happier. And today we can thank God for the medication that he has provided because God has blessed our times and that we live in in that there are many great doctors, there are many great physicians and nurses and medication that help us to be able to function and to live a normal life.

But the question is, do we just need drugs? Do we just need these vitamins? Do we just need all these things? No, I think we need so much more in our life. that there’s more to us as humans than just the body.

That certainly each of us needs encouragement. That each of us needs to know that God has a way of helping each of us to enjoy life and to be thankful for the life that God has given us. So when we come to Psalm 27, by the time you finish Psalm 27, you definitely feel better.

Why do you feel better? Because the psalmist calms our nerves. Psalm 27 is like a pain reliever. It lessens the pains that we experience in life. It gives us the joy of Thanksgiving every day. There are two keys for you and I to experience Thanksgiving every day.

And I want you to remember these two things when you walk away today. Number one, is your confidence in the Lord. The psalmist starts out talking to himself and reminding himself who God is and how great God is and how awesome God is.

And I want you to look at verse one through three. The Bible says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life and whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

Though a hole should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. And the war should rise against me. In this, will I be confident. Confidence is really important to you and I being able to give thanks to God every day in our life.

In this first part of the book of Psalm chapter 26. that David is speaking to his confidence that he has in the Lord. He is speaking as a man who has optimism and confidence. He is a man who’s coming and he is showing us that his confidence is in the Lord.

That’s the basis of his confidence. Right there, that first two words in verse one says the Lord, or it could be translated the Jehovah or Yahweh, meaning that the all -sufficient God, he is my strength, he is my refuge.

The confidence that we have is not in our strengths, it’s not in our accomplishments, it’s not in our abilities, but the confidence that we have should be solely in the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is. Notice that he says the Lord is my salvation.

He is my light. “‘He is my salvation, whom shall I fear?'” The basis of our confidence is wrapped up in the very nature and the character of God. Now we live in shallow times. We live in times where people are enamored with style over substance.

We live in times where people respond to style over substance. And that’s why if they like how it sounds, if they like how it looks, if it seems appealing to them, then they immediately respond only to find that their response is shallow and that their response is not lasting and that their response is emotional.

But the confidence that we have is not based upon the shallowness of this world, but it’s based upon the substance of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. When the apostle Paul said, “‘I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.'” He wasn’t saying, “‘I can do whatever I want because I have all these wonderful gifts and abilities.'” But rather he recognized that he could do all the things that God was asking him to do,

that is revealed in his word and in his truth, that he could be that victorious Christian, that he could be that faithful man of God. He could do it in the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you and I try to live our lives in our own strength, we will miserably fail.

But the psalmist is reminding that our confidence is in the Lord and it is based upon our reliance upon him. If you wanna have Thanksgiving every day, you gotta be confident in Jesus Christ and you have to humble your heart every day to rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

you have to be willing to be honest with God and say, Lord, I am weak, but you are strong. The Psalmist believes in God. He believes that God exists and he knows his God. He begins to know and understand his strengths when he reveals that God is my light, God is my salvation, God is my refuge, he is my fortress.

The Psalmist understands that the Lord is his confidence. Now note this in the text, the Lord is my light, the Lord is my salvation. The Psalmist is not saying that the Lord is a light and that the Lord is a salvation or the salvation, but rather he makes it very personal.

His confidence in the Lord is based upon the character of the Lord and it’s based upon his connection with the Lord. If you wanna be confident in the Lord, you gotta know him. You gotta dig deep, you can’t be shallow in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

You gotta dig and know who God is. And you gotta discover him, and you discover him by digging into his word, by diving into him. The more you know God, the more you trust him, and the more confidence you have in him, and the more confidence you have to live a victorious life and to have thanksgiving in every circumstance in your life.

But you also have to have a connection with the Lord. I love how Moses put it. He said in Exodus 15 .2, the Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him.

How would you describe your connection with God? Would you describe him as your light? Would you describe him as your song? Would you describe him as the one who has brought your true salvation? Are you looking out somewhere else for your salvation?

Are you looking out to the world for your song? Are you looking out to others to keep you energized and encouraged? Or are you looking to God? And do you have that connection with him? Do you have that connection that everything with God is personal?

That it’s not just objective, it’s not just that you have these opinions about God, but that you know who he is and that you walk with him and that you have a connection with God. Listen to what the psalmist says in Psalm 23.

The Lord is my what? I know that you can say he is a shepherd, but is he your shepherd? Is he your shepherd this morning? The scriptures teach us that Jeremiah the prophet said the Lord is my portion.

That is that he is my substance. He is the essence of my life. He is the foundation and the center and the focus of my life. the focus of your life. I want you to remember this, that where you’re looking is where you’re going and that’s true in every aspect of your life.

If you are driving down the road and you’re looking in all different directions, you’re probably headed for a collision. And spiritually, there are too many Christians who are distracted by the drama of life and they’re distracted by all these other things going on in this world.

And as a result, they don’t have their focus on Jesus Christ and they don’t have their focus on the Lord and they don’t have a personal connection with God like they should and they’re not walking in sweet fellowship with him as they should and therefore, their life is a mess.

The Hebrew writer said, the Lord is my helper. Here, the Psalmist says, the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Do you have that connection?

That connection is essential. The Psalmist says that the Lord is my light. He is my light. That’s so important in your life. You need the light of God in your life because God is the true source of all light.

And this light is essential in guiding us. If we’re walking in darkness, we turn on a flashlight, we turn the lights on, we do something so we can see and that we can be guided so it is in our spiritual life.

God is my light, the Psalmist says. Who is guiding you? How are you seeing? Do you see through the perspective of the world or the flesh? Do you see through the perspective of the problems of this world?

Or do you see from the perspective of Jesus Christ and what the word of God says? In Psalm 36, verse nine, the Bible says, for with thee is the fountain of life. And in thy light shall we see light. I love this.

In thy light shall we see light as I’m walking in the light of God, as I’m walking in the light of Jesus Christ and I have a personal connection with him. I have a personal relationship with him. As I am in the light, I see the light.

What are you talking about? As I’m in the light, as I walk with God, I have discernment. I see the difference between what is right and what is wrong. I see how I can make better choices in life, how I can make decisions that honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

That’s what I want you to get, is that as you are in the light, you see the light. And so many people don’t see the light because they’re not in the light because they haven’t made Jesus their light, because they haven’t made him that connection of a full surrender of their life to him.

They have not completely given everything to God and say, Lord, you are my salvation. You are my light. For in the light, we see the light. And he goes on and he says that there is one thing that he is focused on.

Verse four, one thing, have I desired of the Lord? You see, there’s a focus and a certainty of this victory that he has. And he speaks as God being his hiding place, as God being his refuge, as God being the place that he retreats to, the person that he confides in, the person that he reaches out to.

Because friends, he understands the onslaughts of life. For this one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Now look at verse five. For in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock. Here’s what I want you to understand.

Jesus is your security. That is a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is to know God. That is to spend time with the Lord Jesus Christ because he is our true hiding place. He is the one that we truly turn to and that he is the one who makes us feel secure and he helps us to rest in him and we are reminded that he is in control.

Colossians 3 verses two through three says, set your mind on things that are above, not on things on the earth for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your life is hidden. Are you running to the world when you are insecure?

When you have problems? Are you running to other people that are giving you bad advice? Friends, I’m telling you Jesus is your shelter. Jesus is your salvation. Jesus is your refuge. He is your hiding place.

Now I told you there were two things that helps us to give thanks and that is number one, we understand that we are to have this connection with God and that we are to be committed to him which leads us to this confidence.

It’s our confidence in the Lord and that confidence grows out of our relationship with Jesus Christ. That confidence grows as we know God more. That confidence grows as we spend time. The second key to having thanksgiving every day in your life and that is your closeness to the Lord.

In verse four through eight again, we already read verse four and five. Let’s look at verse six. And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in this tabernacle sacrifices of joy I will sing.

Yes, I will sing. Praises unto the Lord. Hear O Lord when I cry with my. voice have mercy also upon me and answer me when thou saidest seek ye my face my heart said unto thee thy face Lord thy face Lord my face will I seek you see God wants us to know him he wants us to be close to him God wants us to spend time with him now when we think about our closeness with the Lord I want you to understand some things here in relating to the tabernacle because the psalmist says one thing I’ve desired and that will I seek after that I made well in the house of the Lord or the tabernacle of the Lord the house of the Lord the temple the pavilion you got to understand at this time when the psalmist wrote this passage of scripture there had not been a physical building built and so the temple of the Lord was always mobile it was always on the move it wasn’t till Solomon that the temple of God would be built and that became the focus of the relationship of every Jewish person.

They would go to the temple and in the temple there they would confess their sins. In the temple they would make their commitments in their hearts. In the temple they would make the changes in their life as they made sacrifices unto God and they gave praises and they sang for joy and thanksgiving unto God.

This is what they did as they assembled into the temple. Then the Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ comes along in the New Testament and he says in three days I’ll tear down this temple and I’ll raise it up again.

They thought that he was talking about the glorious temple of God that had been built by Solomon. They thought how is it that he could be referring to this great temple, a temple that was destroyed and rebuilt, a temple that even Herod was enamored with and they had beautiful, beautiful fixtures and features within this temple.

How is it that Jesus could talk about destroying the temple because it was symbolic of everything relating to the connection and the closeness that someone had with God. But Jesus reminds us that our relationship with God is not based upon a building.

Our relationship with God has nothing to do with a location. In John chapter four Jesus got into a debate with the woman at the well and she said we worship God up here on this mountain and Jesus said it doesn’t matter where we worship because God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth meaning we must worship him authentically from our hearts.

We must be genuine when we worship God and we must worship him in light of the truth of the word of God and that our worship has nothing to do with a location but has everything to do with a relationship with Jesus Christ.

It’s important that when we look at this text we understand its context, the psalmist desiring he before the temple was ever built his heart is to be in the house of the Lord his heart is to not just be in the house of the Lord of a physical place but his heart is to be close to God the Bible tells us now we are his temple your body my body is the temple of God that as believers the Spirit of God lives within us and we now commune with God we now walk with God every day of our life we have the opportunity to connect with God moment by moment we don’t have to run to the church building you can be sitting in your car and connected to the Lord Jesus Christ wherever you go you can be connected to God and see when we focus on the outside when we focus on the facilities as somehow that they are what our connection to God is then That’s when we get messed up.

And I’m just saying is that we put too much stock in a building. People say, we’re going to church. You are the church. The Bible teaches us that the presence of God is with us. He is with us wherever we go.

And we don’t have to go into a facility. We got to hear from Solomon and when they gather, whether they gather under a tree, a hut, wherever they are in the third world countries, gathering, there is God with them, amen.

Not a building, but the psalmist is teaching us that he wants to spend time in the presence of God. And that is his focus. Here’s the thing. One thing have I desired of the Lord is that he wants to be in the presence of God.

Now look at the end of verse four. He says, to inquire of his temple. And the point being is simply this, the word inquire means to analyze. It means to evaluate. And what he wants to do is to reflect and meditate and evaluate who God is.

He wants to meditate upon the greatness of God. You see, all that you need is fulfilled in God. All that you’re looking for is answered in God. I know that you’re looking for something more practical and you’re looking for something more profound, but I’m telling you the simple answer to what you need is a relationship with Jesus Christ and you need to get close to the Lord and you need to walk with him and you need to pursue him and he needs to be your passion and you need to reflect upon him and meditate upon him and you need to learn of him and you need to evaluate him and you need to analyze him and you need to ask yourself questions and you just need to keep growing in your knowledge of who God is.

You say, well, Mike, what good is that? See, friends, you’ve tried all the substitutes, haven’t you? And what have the substitutes left you? Empty. And so what I’m trying to say is that if you would make it the focus of your life to no…

God, if this would be the one thing that you desire, if this would be the passion of your heart, if you would understand that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of every deepest desire that you have in your life, if you would rise up every day and say, God, I want to know you today, reveal yourself to me, show yourself to me, I wanna get closer to you, then my friends, you would not walk around discouraged,

you would not walk around defeated, you would not walk around with your head down, but you would have the confidence of Christ and the closeness of a walk with him, and you, my friend, would walk in victory in Jesus Christ.

I love how the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3, verse 13, brethren, I don’t count myself to have apprehended, meaning I didn’t arrive, but one thing I do, One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

I love the focus, the one thing that I do. The psalmist says the one thing I desire. The passion of the heart is to forget those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

Listen, don’t let your past label you. Don’t let your past define you. Don’t let your past hinder you. But I want you to look towards the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to get your focus on Him. And I want your passion to be Him.

To know Him and to make Him known. Because the true beauty of God is not in buildings. The true beauty of God is not in external appearances. But the true beauty of God is in the character of God. We look at this text in verse four.

He says, I want to behold the beauty of the Lord. When’s the last time that you so hungered and thirst for Jesus? That your passion was Him. That you were enamored with the beauty of who God is. That you were overwhelmed with the holiness and greatness of God.

That you were touched deeply in your heart by how awesome God is. How transcendent He is. How personal He is. That you were so focused on learning Him. That you were very much understanding that the beauty of God is who He is.

And you seek Him, you are like the psalmist who said in verse six, and now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies. Round about me. Therefore I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. That as you got to know God, you were just filled with His joy.

That you offered your joy. You began to break out in song about who God is. That you were like the psalmist and said, I will sing, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Look at verse eight. when thou saidest seek my faith my heart said unto thee thy faith Lord will I seek who are you seeking today what are you seeking today are you seeking God the beauty of God is in his character the beauty of God is found in the person of Jesus Christ and today I encourage you to seek his face and when the Bible talks about his face it’s talking about his presence it’s talking about his character it’s talking about his nature it’s talking about who God is that you so desperately want to see God the disciples said they had never seen God and Jesus told them when you see me you have seen God when you see Jesus you have seen God you’re looking for that extra experience you’re looking for that extra dream you’re looking for that extra vision and none of that is valid or substantive in your life If you want to see God,

see Jesus. He is revealed in His Word. The Word of God reveals to us, from Genesis to Revelation, Jesus Christ. So, you need to get close to God. How do you do that? You’ve got to have a personal time of cultivating your faith every day with Jesus.

You’ve got to open this Bible, and you’ve got to nurture your soul. You’ve got to feed your heart, and you’ve got to get to know who God is by digging, by reading, by studying. You see, in life, if you just simply say, I’m gonna be a shallow Christian, and I’m just gonna follow God on the surface, no wonder circumstances overwhelm you.

No wonder there’s no thanksgiving in your heart. No wonder there’s no joy in your life. It is because you have not sought the face of God and become very close with Him. There was a native Indian, and this daughter of an Indian clergyman named Ellen Gora, and her mother died when she was young, and she eventually came under the care of some missionaries who took her in, and they raised her.

In time, she returned back to India, and she was very passionate for God, and she was reaching people for Christ in her home country, but she is best known for a hymn that she wrote, and the words go like this, in the secret of His presence, how my soul delights to hide.

Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus’ side. Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low, for when Satan comes to tempt me to the secret place, I go. Friends, Where do you go when you have trials?

Do you run to Jesus? And is he your hiding place? Well, I hope that your heart is gonna be able to walk away today with a desire to be more grateful and a passion to show more thankfulness in your life.

And certainly all of us can be thankful that we know Christ and that we have the opportunity to serve Christ and to learn his word. And I do want you to have a joyous, wonderful Thanksgiving. And I want you to know that we’re praying for you and we care about what you’re going through.

If you’d like to be able to get access to today’s message, go to our website where we have many of our messages uploaded. And so this will be a message that’ll be available free on our website. And I hope that you can be encouraged and you can share it with others and let others know about how we need to have Thanksgiving every day.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ. There is hope worth having.