Be Thankful- 14

 

I visited my dad in October and he preached the Sunday we were there. It is always good to hear him expound on the scripture. I will share his sermon in May in an upcoming post on friendship. He is 89 and has retired from the ministry three times. Now he does pulpit supply. On this day in October, he seemed to have an urgency in his message. He has always been an evangelist at heart. So his message this day was that today was the day of salvation. He shared that we never know if we have tomorrow. The apostle Paul is speaking about prayer in 1 Timothy 2:1. Intercession is when we pray for someone. When someone says, “will you pray for me for a job.” And then you go to God for that person, this is known as intercessory prayer. Petitions or supplications are urgent requests based on a need. Prayer is not for our sakes and not just about our needs. We should chase our petition list with thanksgiving. The next verse is for us to pray for Kings and those in authority. We should pray for our president and members of congress for their wise and peaceable rule. In verses 3-4 our prayers could lead to their salvation because our prayers are good and acceptable in the sight of God who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. What is the truth? The truth is in verse 5, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”

That truth is that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no one can come to God unless we believe in the savior. Do you believe in Jesus as God’s son? Do you believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, committed not one sin, he was born spiritually and physically alive like Adam, yet Adam sinned. Jesus did not sin so he because the perfect sin offering, he is the perfect sacrifice, the only one who was without sin, no blemish, he became a sin offering and died on a cross so that you and I can have life, eternal life. We are born physically alive and spiritually dead but at some point our spiritual eyes are opened and we have to make a choice to believe in Jesus and make him our personal savior. Then we are spiritually and physically alive. My dad has an urgency in presenting the message of salvation. But I should have that same urgency, today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to be thankful that we will spend eternity with God because of Jesus. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only begotten son that who so ever believes in Him will have eternal life.”

To continue in an attitude of thanksgiving, here are five more things to be thankful for: 6. I am thankful for Jesus. 7. I am thankful for the internet. 8. I am thankful for God’s word. 9. I am thankful for the Message version of the bible. 10. I am thankful for my computer.

Father God, I am so thankful for You, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit, for redemption, for the Word, for those that are reading my blog. Father, remove any fear that may be in each of us because we need to present the truth of salvation that Jesus is the only way to God. I am in awe and thankful for your mercy and grace. Blessings.

Your turn what are your five things that you are thankful for……….

Please email me at blessingsrockwell@gmail.com if you have any questions about accepting Jesus as your Savior.

P.S. the verse is 1 Timothy 2:1 not 11 as in the slide.