Make It Clear Ministries

It is THANKSGIVING time again and it would serve us all well to look at the life of Jesus Christ and see the four times during His earthly ministry He gave thanks to the Father. Each one contains a lesson about what we should be thankful.

The first was when He fed the multitude with the loaves and fishes, teaching us to give thanks for our daily bread: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Surely at this Thanksgiving time we may well praise Him for all He has given us to eat and to enjoy, which is just as much from His hand as the bread on the Galilean shore.

The next time the Lord gave thanks was during an hour of perplexity and trial: “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, ‘I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your spirit” (Luke 10:21 - NKJV). Some of us at this Thanksgiving time may be looking up through blinding tears and thick clouds of mystery, but we can still say, “I thank thee, oh Father…for so it seemed good in thy sight.”

The third recorded time Jesus gave thanks was when He prayed at Lazarus’s open grave and taking the answer by faith, spoke the words for all coming ages to have extreme confidence in times of prayer: “Father, I thank you that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me…” (John 11:41,42). Is there anything for which we can be more thankful than the wondrous record of answered prayer? Let us not forget to exalt the Lord for the answers when they come.

The fourth time Jesus gave thanks came when He took the cup, gave thanks for it and passed it on to His disciples. He was thanking God with these dear men of God for the great salvation which He Himself was about to accomplish and which He would share with us, His current disciples. Surely above all other themes, our songs today should join the chorus of those who have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone as we praise the Lamb that was slain. Let us thank God for the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus and for the blessings of the past year!

Until next time, remember…it is all about Jesus!

Stanley R. Ponz, D. Min.

MAKE IT CLEAR MINISTRIES
225 Lookout Drive
Blue Ridge, GA 30513
(706) 492-5262

StanPonz@MakeItClear.org