Thankful for the Promises
John 10:28-29
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
John 10:28-29 NKJV
One thing we get caught up on is being thankful for the things we see.
It is easy to appreciate what is right in front of us. Most times we can only see what is right in front of us, unable to see beyond.
The reality is we can only see what effects of our right now.
But as a Follower of Jesus the Thanksgiving unto Him is unending, if we choose to look past our right now!
This is all temporary in the scheme of eternity.
What does James say, life is but a vapor! It appears for a little while then vanishes away.
I am Thankful for all of the Lord’s provisions. The air I breathe. The food and shelter He provides. My family. My job. My Ministry.
But how thankful are we for His Promises?
The Words of Promise from the Heart of Jesus!
These are a little harder to be thankful for because we can’t see the outcomes of them, yet!
Last time we spoke about being thankful for three things,
The Goodness of God
The Mercy of God and
His Redemption
Today we have even more to be thankful for.
Life is hard, we don’t need to be reminded.
There are many trials and tribulations, and we all go through them.
We try to do the best we can to get by.
Sometimes it just feels like it is not enough.
Faith is tested.
Sometimes our faith seems deflated and defeated.
Life can look so dismal.
There can be shame, guilt, hurt and pain that has been swallowed up into the depths of the soul that no one knows.
No one knows except you and the Lord.
Even then we can be thankful.
What can we be thankful for today?
He gives Eternal life!
Eternal life!
Never ending residence in the Courts of Heaven!
At the Feet of our Lord and Savior, in worship with legions and legions of angels!
To worship the One that gave His life freely just for that moment!
Where the Lord welcomes you into the Gates of Heaven to join Him for Eternity!
Every single one of us will limp into Heaven! We all have scars! Battle wounds of old!
But these are the Testimony to the Faithful Promises that were not only lived by but dependent on!
Then it will all be worth it!
Eternal life!
There is no hardship that we can go through in this life that will ever hinder the Hymn of Heaven!
In fact we will be participating in sweet harmony in praise and worship to our King!
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD!
GOD ALMIGHTY!
WHO WAS AND IS TO COME!
HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST!
If Eternal life is not enough to be thankful for, He promises us more! And in abundance!
The Glory of Heaven waits for all that Believe and Follow! Those that have put trust and faith in the King of Eternal Glory,
Jesus Christ of Nazareth!
This is amazing grace and amazing hope!
Jesus is God like no other.
What He says is true.
What He promises will come to pass.
He has never failed.
He tells us “they shall never perish”.
In His Wounds we are healed.
With His Blood we are cleansed.
Through His Love we never perish!
In His presence nothing comes to an end.
Nothing but the confessed sin.The shame and the guilt. The doubt and the worry.
The loneliness. The physical pains. The emotional pains. The Spiritual pains.
All of these must bow down and surrender to the power of the Lord!
Why?
So our Salvaged souls can rise to worship Him!
Those that have life in Christ are nonperishables!
What more can we be thankful for!
There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can snatch us from His strong, powerful, mighty Hand!
Romans 8:37-39 NKJV
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We can be thankful that nothing can snatch us up because His grip is so tight!
Understand this please.
Nothing! Nothing! NOTHING!
Not even the clutches of death can have its way with those that boldly confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.
There is no height or depth of Repented sin that can steal us from His Redemption.
I am thankful today that there is nothing that can separate the Love of God from you or I!
Now comes the hard part.
Can we believe and trust in these promises?
Of course we can!
Who or what else can we turn to?
Who else gives a promise with His lasts breathes
“ Today you will be with me in Paradise”!
I try to imagine the look on the face of the thief that hung next to Jesus.
His life was going to end.
His sin on humanity had caught up with him.
He would suffer the consequences and pay with his last breath.
But God!
Tender in mercy.
Abundant in love.
Full of grace.
Mercy, Love and Grace gives this thief a promise!
Today, not tomorrow, not next week, next year but today!
Luke 23:42-43
Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Today you will be in Paradise!
Hallelujah!
What else did the thief have?
A sinless, guiltless Man,
Unrecognizable.
This Man of Sorrows gives a thief a promise to Eternal Life.
Imagine the thief taking his last breath. Closing his eyes to this world and opening them to the next.
Then seeing Jesus of Nazareth, the One that hung next to him!
The thief believed the promise!
And I’m positive that he was thankful he did!
Think about this today.
Being thankful is more than the provision. It is more than we can see or touch. We have to learn to be thankful for the promises that come from the Lord’s mouth through His heart!
It is said that there are 7,487 promises that God made to all humankind!
I wish I could confirm that number.
You know what would be amazing, is if we went through His Holy Word and found even just one of those promises.
Finding one and holding on to it with the same grip that the Lord has on us!
Today be thankful for
Eternity!
Never perishing
Never being snatched away from Him.
Be thankful for the promises to come.
Pastor Ed
