ol,11-23-03,am
Introduction:
I. IMMIGRANT
WHO STARTED A SMALL BUSINESS IN AMERICA AND BECOME QUITE SUCCESSFUL...
A. His
son thought he was quite eccentric for keeping his accounts payable in a
cigar box and his accounts receiv able
on a spindle and his cash in the cash register.
1. "I
don't see how you can run your business this way! How do you know what our profits are?"
B. The
old man replied: "Son, when I
got of the boat, I had only the pants I was wearing. Today, your sister is an art teacher, your brother is a doctor,
and you are a CPA.
I drive a new car, live in a fine home and enjoy a good
business. Everything is paid for. So
you add all that up, subtract the
pants, and there's your profit."
C. Spiritual application...
1. 1Tim 6:7a.
"We brought nothing..."
a. If
you take what you have today and subtract nothing, you have your own profit!!
1) It's rather humbling, isn't it?!
II. THE TWO IN
THE STORY REPRESENT TWO GROUPS:
A. Those who deeply appreciate what they have because they remember where they've been and those who have not been there and do not appreciate the journey!
III. OUR GREAT
NEED TODAY IS APPRECIATION.
A. Not just one day a year,
BUT AS A LIFESTYLE!!
B. What
is the spirit of thanksgiving? GRATITUDE!!
1. WILL ROGERS: "In the days of our founders, people were willing to
give thanks for a mighty little, for mighty little was all they expected. But now neither government nor nature can
give enough but what we think it is too little. In the fall of the year, if the founders could gather in a few
pumkins, some potatoes, and some corn for the winter, they were in a thanking
mood. But if we can't gather in a new
car, a new radio, a tuxedo…why we feel that the world is agin’ us."
B. Gratitude
comes with a proper sense of perspective.
1.
It is
a frame of reference...an attitude of the heart
a. It
is an humble awareness.
IV. IN
OUR LESSON, WE WANT TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF A
THANKFUL HEART…
Discussion:
I. Recognize and accept GOD, AS THE
SOURCE OF ALL OUR BLESSINGS!
A. Gratitude
can only develop when GOD
is
honored and prasied as our benefactor!!
B. The
servant of Abraham described the wealth of his master when he spoke to
Rebekah:
1. Gen 24:35-36. “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly
blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds,
siliver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys.”
a. Where do you suppose that servant heard that
truth? His own faith? The constant thanksgiving of his master?
C.
The sweet singer of Israel, David, sang:
1. Psa 16:2. “I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good
thing apart from you.’”
D. James
tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17)
B. That's
our problem...When we consiciously or subconsciously giving ourselves the credit and the glory for
what we have, it hardens the grateful heart and silences the thankful tongue!!
1.
Moses
warned Israel:
a. Deut 8:17,18. “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power
and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the
Lord you God, for it is he that gives you the power to get wealth…”
II. Be
constantly humbled by THE SCOPE OF YOUR BLESSINGS!!
A. That's
what the old immigrant businessman had done!!!
1. Everything
other than the pants he had was blessing!!
B. The
son, on the other hand, teaches us how easy it is to forget our blessings the longer we have them, or if we
have always had them!!!
1. DEPRIVAL
IS OFTEN A HARSH BUT EFFECTIVE TEACHER!!!
a. Deut 8:2.
"And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord led you…and
he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna…that he might make you
know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that
comes from the mouth of the Lord…”
III. Never forget YOUR BLESSINGS ARE FAR GREATER THAN YOUR PROBLEMS!!
A. Often,
we are ungrateful and fail to express thanks because our focus is on our
difficulties and trials of life rather than the good things we enjoy from God’s
hands.
1. The
Israelites engendered the anger and punishment of God because they failed to
see what they did have and thought only of what they didn't have!!
a. They
had plenty of nourishing manna, but they
didn't have meat so they complained!!!
b. Then
they had manna and quail but they didn't have the variety they wanted so they
complained!!!
2. Aren't
we like that?
a. We have a car, but it's not the one we want.
We have a house, but it's not big
enough.
We have clothes, but they're not
the latest styles.
We have a husband, but he's not as
successful as some of our friends.
Our children make good grades but
not up to our expectations.
b. James 4:1-3. “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this,
that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you
murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have
because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to
spend it on your passions.”
IV. Learn
to be CONTENT!!
A.
Phil 4:11-13
B. Contentment
is born out of a growing spiritual treasure.
1. Greed
and carnality are nurtured in an
an atmosphere devoid of spiritual
growth:
a. Phil
3:7-11.
C. Contentment
is the product of settled conviction regarding WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND
LASTING IN LIFE!!
1. 1Tim 6:6,7.
D. Think again about the story of
the immigrant at the beginning of the lesson:
1.
He
said, "I
subtract the pants and everything else is profit."
2.
But
God says, "No,
that's not real profit. I have something far better. And if you are wise you
will trade everything for the real profit of the eternal kingdom.”
a. Matt 6:33.
1) When
we stand before God in the day of judgement, what will be important? What we
have? Or Whose we are?
3. The truth is that we came to X with absolutely nothing. We were deeply in debt, and then when we obeyed the gospel, the debt was paid and we were made heirs with Christ of all of God's riches in heaven, Rom 8:17.
a. As
a child of God priorities are changed and our new attitude produces gratitude
and contentment with whatever life brings us!!
D. In
contrast to that, the man who lives by the flesh—the non-Christian or the
unfaithful—never find satisfaction because their focus is on the material!!