Thanksgiving For Forgiveness

^{In Psalms 116 we read the following:}

¹²What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?

 ¹³I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 

 ¹⁷I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 

I think that it is fitting to examine thankfulness in light of God's mercy and grace demonstrated in the forgiveness of sin. Today is a national holiday that is a direct result of our Judaic-Christian heritage. We are a people with a history steeped in the Christian faith and historically we have recognized the need to acknowledge God as the giver of all good things, hence, we observe Thanksgiving Day. Sadly, America is becoming more Godless every day and many Christians are failing to thank God as often as they should. Let me ask you a question..."When was the last time you thanked God for your salvation?". The psalmist asked himself the question "what shall I render to the Lord of all His benefits and he answers the question in verse 17 by giving "thanks" to God. We take of the cup of salvation by simply "believing" and all we can do is receive it and say "thank you Lord"! Have you come to the point in your life where you are counting on what Christ did on the cross to be sufficient payment for your sin? If that is the case make sure you thank Him today and every day. If you have not come to faith in Christ please watch the short video in the right side bar. Thanksgiving Day would be a great day to believe and be forgiven!

 

Newt Gingrich Has The Right Stuff!

Newt Gingrich has a storied political and professional career that makes him emminently qualified to be the next president of the United States. But Newt has some baggage that has dogged his political aspirations. Newt has been through three divorces and a controversial affair with a congressional aide who is now his wife. Many people have written Newt off as a serious contender for high office based on his moral failures. However, most people are not aware of the changes that have occurred in his spiritual life. Newt is man who has the right stuff to be president because he has come to two important conclusions.
First, Newt now recognizes the things that he has done as being wrong and sinful. Here is what he told CBN's John Brody...

"And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn't trapped in situational ethics, I was doing things that were wrong and yet I was doing them."

Newt recognizes his past moral failures as sinful and wrong. I like a man who recognizes his sinfulness, I trust that kind of man. The second quality that I like about the new Newt Gingrich is that he now regards himself as "forgiven". In the same interview he went on ..


Gingrich says he has asked for and received God's forgiveness. 
"I do believe in a forgiving God. And I think most people, deep down in their hearts, hope there's a forgiving God,” he said. “Somebody once said that when we are young, we seek justice, but as we get older, we seek mercy. There's something to that, I think."

Newt is dead right on this issue. In John chapter 8 a woman "caught in adultery" was dragged into the presence of Jesus by a group of self righteous men. Jesus did not condemn the woman but simply began writing some things in the sand at their feet. Whatever Jesus wrote was troubling to the men because verse 9 tells us they became convicted and that they began to leave one by one beginning at the "eldest". If we are honest with ourselves we see more and more how depraved we are the older we get. The older we get the more we need mercy not justice. I am glad that Newt has found forgiveness in Jesus. I hope he becomes the next president of the United States! It is not his long political resume or his college professorship but his humility and dependence on a forgiving God that draw me to his candidacy.

I Got Some Great News Today- Another One Forgiven!

The whole point of this blog is to proclaim the absolute free grace of God that can be acquired simply by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have been following this site you know that I have a contact form in the right side bar. Yesterday, I received an email from a young man who let me know that he has placed his trust in Jesus and he wanted me to know and he told me that he had also shared this news with his mom! My heart rejoiced. I know that the angels in Heaven rejoiced at his decision as well. It reminded me of a gospel passage in Luke 10 where Jesus had sent out 70 disciples to preach, heal and cast out devils. When they all came back to Jesus after their time of ministry they were excited by all the miraculous things they had witnessed. But Jesus reminded them of the most important thing to get excited about and that was their names were written down in Heaven. The Bible tells us that when someone believes on Jesus the angels in Heaven rejoice and as the old hymn says..."there's a new name written down in glory and it's mine oh yes it's mine!".

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.v.20

I'll be praying for this young man to grow in the grace of our Lord and to rejoice because his name is written in Heaven. 

I also want to share with you Dear Reader that this blog has reached people in 10 different countries in the last couple of months. People are searching for an answer to the yearning in their souls in these last days. Do you need God's everlasting forgiveness...trust in Jesus then let me know and I'll pray for you and rejoice with you too!
This video presents Hillsong and I believe a little Russian lyrics too...enjoy.