Ephesians 5:20. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh Friends, it’s another beautiful, hot, sunny day in Vegas, with temps of over 100 expected again. But that doesn’t seem to faze the crowds at all. They might say it’s hot, but nonetheless continue on their merry way rejoicing. It’s now shortly after 8 a.m on Sunday morning as I sit writing this in my room overlooking the city, gazing out the big plate glass window at the marvellously sculpted, semi-circular mountain range in the distance, towering over the very flat land that lies before it. I believe the mountain range is the Colorado Rockies. Unexpectedly though, thegreat contrast between the two land masses brings to mind the great differences between our God and us: We are like the flat land, and He is the towering mountains; strong, infallible, immovable, just, true and faithful. Then a feeling of warmth, of thanks and praise rises in my soul. And my people there are lots of things we need to give our great God thanks and praise for; the first big occasion this morning being that Hurricane Irene did not cause as much damage or loss of life as expected on the U.S. east coast. And all God’s people raised a mighty, but humble and grateful cheer to heaven! Yes Friends, it could certainly have been worse, and thankfully Irene has lost a lot of her power and has been downgraded to a tropical storm. Let’s hope she doesn’t do much, if any damage to beautiful Eastern Canada, where she appears to be headed now. But she still did enough damage and inconvenienced so many millions of people in the Eastern U.S. that it will take some time for things to return to some semblance of normalcy. And that’s exactly why Bruh Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, re the ways of a believer, stresses the words of our Bit. ‘Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Oh Friends, whatever happens, it’s essential that at all times, under all circumstances, we’re in a thankful mode concerning our God. Yes, thanks for life, health, wealth and all the other good things we enjoy,should always be on our lips. And in the rough times, we should thank Him for His faithful promise to bring us through those valleys of the shadow of death into the bright sunshine of life, like with Irene, for remember: ‘We know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom.8:28) Now listen to Bruh David’s take on constant thankfulness: ‘I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.’ (Ps.34:1-3) Yes my people, that’s the way we believers ought to consider and glorify our wonderful, merciful and forgiving God! But sadly, too many of us don’t consider Him at all, or just remember Him when we have problems we can’t solve in our own strength. That’s definitely not the way for a true believer to behave. Unfortunately though, the modern world with all its strains and stresses, it’s torrid pace of life, finds us concentrating too much on ourselves and the world, on making a living, and not enough on God. We need to slow down Friends, spend some more time smelling and admiring the roses, enjoying the things of God, being in constant companionship with Him. That’s the only way we’ll live long and prosperous lives. Lusting after the terminal things of the world, trying to emulate the rich and the powerful, only puts us under abnormal stress, stress we certainly don’t need. So Friends, with Hurricane Irene fresh in our minds, and all the problems she’s caused, less though than she could have, let’s get serious and turn seriously to our God nuh; the ONE and ONLY TRUE LIVING GOD! He created us, He provides for us, He dearly LOVES us, but He will also judge and punish us for our sinful, ungodly behaviour. What will it take for us to wake up and realize the disastrous road we’re walking? Will we be obstinate and rebellious until the promised fire and brimstone rains down on us? Won’t we recognize that Irene was a major warning signal from God that our society is too idolatrous, wicked and evil and continue our ungodly ways? Who would ever have thought that one day the great metropolis of New York, the city that never sleeps, would be evacuated because of a little thing like a hurricane? None of us really, but it happened. And Friends, all the disasters that are happening close to home now are wake up calls from the Lord. He’s getting tired of our evil, ungodly shenanigans, and if we don’t put a stop to them, He will. It’s not my word, but the Lord’s, and they can be found in the Good Book, that fabulous tome of wisdom and guide to the good and prosperous life! Please my brethren, let’s learn from the mistakes and painful examples of other societies who forsook and forgot God in their times of prosperity, then were forsaken and destroyed by Him. Please, let’s not allow that to happen to our society, let’s return to Him with truly repentant hearts, and receive His mercy, grace, forgiveness and LOVE! Much LOVE!…if you don’t hear…you will surely feel…
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