Give Thanks for Today Psalm118 11-23-08

Give Thanks for Today Psalm118 11-23-08

Today as we continue our series on giving thanks
Let us give thanks for today
This is the day that the lord has made

I preached three weeks ago; give thanks for the past
Clay preached, give thanks for the future
If we get stuck in either place, we miss today

Bill Gaither sang a song in my youth..."Yesterday's gone, tomorrow may never come, we have this moment today."

Scripture is filled with adminitions about living in the present

Matthew6 - don't worry about tomorrow, each day has enough trouble of its own
James4 - O, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go here and do this
Ephesians5 - Wake up, O sleeper and Christ will shine on you. 15Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Isaiah and Peter - all flesh is like the grass, Grass withers, flower fades away

Today matters - today is a gift
We must learn to be present and celebrate it
Clay like to say, wherever you are, be all there
I remember the first time I heard someone suggest that we celebrate today
I thought they were crazy
The Christian like was about duty and service not celebration
See I had only know the God of guilt and judgment,
I had not been introduced to the God of grace and love.

How do we learn to celebrate today and live in the present?
We have to fight off the past
1. We do that by relieving ourselves of past doubts and fears
Stop reliving the sins of yesterday
Is you have asked forgiveness, God has separated your sins from you as far as the east is from west.
Do you believe this?
Then it is insulting to God, you can forgive everyone elses sins, but not mine
Wow, look how special I am
unforgiveness holds you in the past
Forgive others and yourself or you are stuck in the past
If we would celebrate today we must fight off the past

If we would celebrate today we must resist living in the future
2 We do that by preparing for the future, but not living in the future
Losing November 26 - December 24 because we were so excited for Christmas
Losing the month before vacation cause we were excited about the trip

A Christian view of the future does not include worry
To the degree that worry and fear has a place in your life, you neither believe that God is good nor know that he loves you

We were designed to live in the present
Do you spend most of your time living in the past, the present or the future?
Where does Jesus live?
Jesus dwells with us in the present
Our worries of the future rarely picture Jesus with us
If we saw him there, we wouldn't worry
We worry about the future because we have not yet learned that we are loved today and that Jesus is with us
When we know that we are loved, that Jesus is with us and everything is ok, we enjoy this moment, and we don't jave to worry about tomorrow, everything will be ok

To keep past and future in perspective we must get our eyes off of circumstances

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do with the 10

Get your eyes off of circumstances by welcoming difficulty
There are churches that will tell you, just trust God and you won't have any problems. God will make you rich. I wonder what they are telling their people today.
We have a faith that exists beyond circumstances
Paul said I rejoice in sufferings
James said tribulation works patience
Let it have your perfect work

The diamond story.

A farmer in Australia heard that other farmers had sold their little farms, gone off prospecting for diamonds, and had become very wealthy. He couldn't wait to do the same/ Finally he found a buyer, took the money, and started prospecting for diamonds. At the end of one month, nothing happened, then three months, fruitless, then six months, no success. Finally after a year of fruitless effort, he became so despondent that he jumped off a bridge.
meanwhile, back on the farm, the man who bought the acreage from the farmer invited a friend over for dinner one night. His friend was admiring a rock that was on the mantelpiece. He was astounded. It was the largest diamond he had ever seen. The farmer said, "I just found that in the stream on our property. We have acres of them all over the place!" The diamonds were unrecognizable because they were in rough, uncut form.
The moral of the story is simple. the first farmer went in search of diamonds everywhere, whereas he was sitting on them at home all the time. Also, even if he saw them, he wouldn't recognize them because they were in a form he wasn't familiar with. They were uncut.
These is a great treasure right here, if we just see it.

We must learn to see the gift of today and celebrate it.
This. this is the day.

Remember the story I told last week about the ghosts and medals?
Look at what a mess was made of his brain
What if the mother had to the boy the truth. The sky is awesome; the trees are beautiful, go and celebrate a wonderful world

When we are stuck in the past or worried about the future we line in a paralyzed, hypnotized state. God calls us to wake up, to shake off the sleep of darkness
We don't have to be trapped in the past of the future,
We can wake up! See the good

this is the day that the Lord has made!
I thank God for Today