for all of you that couldn't make it to the Bible study this evening, I've posted it here! cool huh! enjoy!
Giving Thanks
Is giving thanks something we should do once a year, or all the time?
We are told to give thanks to the Lord. We should give thanks to God because he is good, not just when we feel good. We all have ups and downs in our lives- but even on our worst days, God is still good.
Here are some verses to think on, that talk about the goodness of our God.
1st Chronicles 16: 7-36 A song of thanksgiving by David
2nd Samuel 22:1-5, 21-33 Another song of thanksgiving by David
Psalms 103: 8-13 The Forgiving God
Psalms 107:1
How do we give our God thanks? And how often should we give thanks?
Leviticus 7:11-13 When the Jews, offered something as an expression of thankfulness, they were to offer a sacrifice and cakes of bread & oil. What is to be offered by us as Christians is specified- our ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) and we also offer our words from our hearts.
1st Corinthians 15:57
2nd Corinthians 2:14, 9:15 (incomprehensible)
Hebrews 13:15 word study:
“Let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, (that is) the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.”
Let us offer: offer = bear, bring up, carry up, offer up
The sacrifice of praise: sacrifice = noun, 'sacrifice 'or verb, 'act of sacrificing'; root word
also means breath or smoke.
Praise = fruit of lips confessing his name.
Continually: always, never ceasing
Fruit of our lips: fruit = the chosen or preferred, something plucked, caught.
Lip = the place where something is poured out, i.e. the lip of a jar or pitcher.
Giving thanks: acknowledge, confess, profess, thank. The Greek word “homologos” is
used here, meaning 'put this same thing/idea into spoken words'.
Conclusion: As a dead, burning sacrifice continually gives off smoke, a living sacrifice continually gives off praise and thanks, in words, professing, acknowledging, confessing, thanking our God, giving him the fruit of our lips, the best what comes out of our mouths.
