Tag Archives: Hebrews 13:15

Stop grumbling – Give thanks instead!

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The new year is filled with resolutions of things to START doing. Start to exercise more, eat healthier, read the bible, pray more…you get the idea. But the secret to starting something new is often found in STOPPING something you are presently doing that is working against your better behalf. The reverse is also true: stopping a negative behavior requires replacing it with a new appropriate one. The secret to keeping your resolutions is to pay attention to incompatible behaviors.

 

Let’s say you want to stop grumbling and complaining. That’s a worthy goal for a year lived well! You can resolve to not complain. You can write notes to yourself to prompt you to be more positive. You can wear a rubber band on your wrist and give it a painful snap whenever you catch yourself grumbling. But I guarantee you will be pushing a very heavy stone uphill all year, only to have it come crashing back down on you.

 

Instead of vowing to stop complaining, choose to replace it with something that is incompatible with grumbling. GIVE THANKS. As long as you are cultivating a thankful heart, your grumbling withers away.

 

Consider the story of a young mother whose young daughter loved to wear frilly things decorated with sequins. Every day the little girl would play all around the house in her sequined clothes. And everywhere the girl romped, sequins would leave a messy trail. Every day the young mother would have to stop what she was doing in order to pick up yet another lost sequin. “Why can’t she be more careful when she plays?” grumbled the frustrated mother. Then while picking up another sequin, she realized how thankful she was to have a delightful and happy girl. At once, she resolved that every time she picked up a sequin, she would give thanks to God for the gift of her precious little girl.

 

See how it works? Replace grumbling and complaining with an incompatible behavior: giving thanks. Instead of grumbling about that person who always rubs you the wrong way, you can thank God that they help to knock off your own rough edges. Instead of complaining about the weather, the economy, or the way you look, think instead of what you are thankful for and let your speech and behavior reflect that.

 

How important is this? Consider this. For thousands of years God’s people grumbled and complained. They were never happy. They rebelled against God and sought after other false gods. I wonder if God was even more upset at their grumbling than their sinful deeds. A complaining heart is an ugly thing.

 

Let your story of 2015 be one of giving thanks, not grumbling and complaining!

 

“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me.”  Psalm 50:23

 

“Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.”  Hebrews 13:15

 

 

Living sacrifice

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The concept of sacrifice is common to all religions of the world. Some make offerings of food before lifeless images and altars. Others strive to live by higher personal standards that might bid them well in the next life. Still others lend themselves to an endless list of good-deed-doing in vain attempt to shift the balance between the good and the bad they have done.  Even apologies serve as a form of sacrifice. It appears to be a universal truth that man needs to make amends for wrongs. Despite the claim of the 1970 movie “Love Story,” apparently, love means you ALWAYS need to say you’re sorry.

 

In Old Testament times, sacrifices were commonly made through the offering of animals. Only the high priests were allowed to enter the inner room of the tabernacle to bring the blood sacrifice for himself and the sins of the people, even those committed in ignorance. (Hebrews 9:7)  The Holy Spirit had not yet been revealed, leaving the people to try to clear their consciences before God by bringing gifts and sacrifices of food and drink and ceremonial behaviors.   (v 9-10)

 

We all can understand the need to clear our consciences before God, but no sacrifice was sufficient. A perfect sacrifice, which we could never offer, was required. Christ, the perfect sacrifice, had to become the mediator of the new covenant for us. (v 15) And unlike the sacrifices of old which had to be made over and over, Jesus made one perfect sacrifice for us.  “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (v 27-28)

 

Today we make sacrifices of money, time, self-denial, and service. But they are not what God most desires. Speaking of His Father God, Jesus said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” (Hebrews 10:8-9) 

 

And how do we best accomplish His will? What kind of sacrifice would demonstrate our desire to do His will? “I will sacrifice a thank offering and call upon the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 116:17, )  “Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” (Hebrews 13:15) THIS is the sacrifice that God most desires and that satisfies both Him and us: a LIVING sacrifice of thankful and praising hearts. Certainly, the motives of a thankful and praising heart yields its will to good works, self-denial, and the service of others. But these are the outcomes of true sacrifice, not the sacrifice itself.

 

How many times can you discover today to offer God your thanks and your praise? Be a living sacrifice of thanks and praise!

Enduring hope

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“Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.” Psalm 42:5 NASV

 

Do you ever talk to yourself? It can be a healthy thing to do, especially when you find your feelings are at odds with what you know to be truth. You feel like giving up but you know better to press on. You feel all alone but you know that God will never leave you. You feel unloved and yet you know the lover of your soul is always faithful.

 

David talked with himself to convince his turbulent and noisy soul to listen to his spirit which was aligned with God. You see, we are made of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. And these three components don’t always concur with one another. They have to be coaxed along to get in line with the truth. The body wants junk food; the emotional soul agrees saying, “You deserve it.” The spirit speaks truth. The body complains about being always tired or hurting. The spirit says to put your eyes on God, press on. The soul questions whether it is worth it. The soul says, “I’m depressed, discouraged, downcast.” The body quickly agrees. The spirit says, “Remember your God and put your hope in Him. He is always faithful. Even when it seems He has abandoned you, He is still with you. His love never ever fails. Praise Him, not just for the relief from despair. Praise Him for the help of His presence. He will guide you through the paths you have not traveled before; He knows the way. (Psalm 73:24)

 

Our part is to choose to endure with hope and with thanks, in trouble, hardship, and distress, in sorrow and poverty. Though we have nothing, yet we possess everything. (2 Cor. 6:4,10)

 

Put your enduring hope in who God is, not just in what He can do. Live a life marked by his great faithfulness.

 

“Through Jesus therefore let us continue to offer to God a sacrifice of praise.” Hebrews 13:15