Warning this article may bother atheists. If you reject God and you are bothered by it; then exit out of this subject and leave it alone!

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"Offer to God thanksgiving; and pay your vows {promise} to the Most High.

Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, have you repented of past sins, and have you been baptized as an outward sign of repentance, and received anointing with the laying on of hands and prayer asking for you to receive the Holy Spirit; thus enabling you to understand God's truth and presenting yourself as a living sacrifice to God? Romans 12:1-2, "I exhort you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind in order that you may prove what is well pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God."

God has said in Psalms 75:2 "When I appoint the set time, I will judge uprightly."

God's Steadfast Love Endures Forever

Psa 100:1-5, "A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the LORD, He is God. He has made us, and we are His; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise; give thanks unto Him and bless His name, 5 For the LORD is good; His steadfast love is everlasting; and His faithfulness endures to all generations."

The Lord Surrounds His People – "He has your back"

Psalms 125:1-5, "Song of degrees {elevation}. "Those who trust in the LORD shall be like Mount Zion which cannot be removed, but remains forever. 2 As the mountains are all around Jerusalem, so the LORD is all around His people from this time forward and forever. 3 The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands to iniquity. 4 Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts. 5 And as for those who turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them away with the workers of iniquity; but peace shall be upon Israel." Both physical and spiritual Israel receive peace!

Let Everything Praise the Lord

Psalms 150:1-6, "O praise the LORD. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the firmament of His power. 2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His excellent greatness. 3 Praise Him with the sound of the ram's horn; praise Him with the harp and lyre. 4 Praise Him with the drum and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and pipes. 5 Praise Him on the loud cymbals; praise Him with the resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that breathes praise the LORD. O praise the LORD!

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

We approach our Father God through prayer: Hebrews 13:15-16, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name. 16 And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

The things we do will fade away but the things God does will last forever. God's work is complete. We are to fear (revere) God; to stand in awe to glorify and to trust Him wholeheartedly. Humans have a tendency to search for a reason for everything that happens in life. In the end we should enjoy the life that God has given us. The righteous life God has given us because of our Faith in Jesus Christ.

Ecclesiastes 3:12-14, "I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good, while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil--this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever, nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear Him."

Ecclesiastes 9:9-10, "Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun. 10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in grave, where you are going, there is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear {respect with reverence} God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole {duty of} man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, concerning every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

Enjoy the Train Ride and Experiences Lived!

The Station

by Robert J. Hastings

Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision.

We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent.
We are traveling by train.

Out the windows we drink in the passing scene
of cars on nearby highways,
of children waving at a crossing,
of cattle grazing on a distant hillside,
of smoke pouring from a power plant,
of row upon row of corn and wheat,
of flatlands and valleys, mountains and rolling hillsides,
of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.
On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station.

Bands will be playing and flags waving.

Once we get there so many wonderful dreams
will come true and the pieces of our lives
will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle.

How restlessly we pace the aisles,
damning the minutes for loitering-waiting,
waiting, waiting for the station.

When we reach the station.
"That will be it"! We cry. "When I'm 18."

"When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!"

"When I put the last kid through college."
"When I have paid off the mortgage!"

"When I get a promotion."
"When I reach the age of retirement.
I shall live happily ever after!"*

Sooner or later we must realize there is no station,
no one place to arrive at once and for all.

The true joy of life is the trip.
The Station is only a dream.
It constantly outdistances us.

"Relish the moment" is a good motto,
especially when coupled with Psalms 118:24,

"This is the day which the Lord has made;
we shall rejoice and be glad in it."

It is the burdens of today that drive men mad.

It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow.

Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.

Instead climb more mountains, eat more ice cream,
go barefoot more often, swim more rivers,
watch more sunsets, laugh more, and cry less.

Life must be lived as we go along.
The Station will come soon enough.

The Train Arrives at the Station

*Matthew 6:32-33, "For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."

Thanksgiving Praise

"©" November 2024

Ekklesia Church of God – New Covenant Saints

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