Count Your Blessings- (Doug Batchelor) AmazingFacts ©

I believe it was Cicero who said a person who is to be happy must actively enjoy his blessings so many times we miss the potential happiness that God provides every day because we focus our attention on what we don't have instead of enumerated what we do have coming to you from the capital city of California amazing facts presents the everlasting gospel we're gathered with God's family of faith at the Sacramento Central Church together we will explore the Bible with teacher author evangelist pastor Doug Batchelor in the atmosphere of heartfelt prayer to our Savior and Lord move by songs of love and praise for God in His amazing grace and inspired by the dedication and personal witness of our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ we will study the timeless everlasting truths of God's Word for messages which inspire us with the hope and freedom we have in Christ to practical down-to-earth sermons which give us the tools to live godly lives in a secular society as well as messages that give Bible answers to our spiritual questions and look at what God says about the future there is sure to be something for everyone so we invite you to join our family and experience the transforming power of God's Spirit in your life can have a story of being very very thankful that Jesus sends his angels to look after us hi you're all looking very good at this morning did you have a nice Thanksgiving you did good I saw you on Thanksgiving Stephen then the Sun is starting to shine so aren't we just blessed come along kids oh there's a little rich girl here making a deposit yeah right in there you did it good any more children well happy Sabbath children have you ever seen a house burned down it's not very nice is it it's not very nice I want to tell you about a time when our house caught fire and I'm just very thankful that the Angels watched over us I was of 16 years old but she's still kind of old as far as you're concerned but I work downtown and every day I used to ride my bicycle to work write it all the way back all the way there in the morning and all the way back home at lunchtime and I was riding on my bike one day riding home on my bike and I was just about to turn the corner into the street where I lived and I saw this girl her name was Thelma and she looked at me and her eyes were so big and she looked terrified and I thought what's going on and she said to me have you heard I said heard what I got off my bike for a moment because I was really concerned she says you haven't heard about your house and I said what do you mean about my house she said your house has caught fire well I thought so I got on my bike and I rode around the corner and lo and behold I got to our house and outside there were one two three fire trucks big red fire trucks and they were firemen all over the place and there were water hoses and I looked where our house was and all the upstairs was all burned out in the roof bang it was gone and you know what I saw just outside the front gate of the house my mom used to ride a bike as well there was my mum's bike and you know what I thought when I saw her bike outside and all the house burned up upstairs what do you think I thought how's my mom is she okay well I just thank Jesus that she was fine now here's the thing the fire started up in the roof where the electrical wires were at least that's what they thought that fire could have started during the night when we're all in bed fast asleep and the smoke could have come down out of the roof could have we could have sniffed that stuff while we were sleeping and we could have just died in our sleep just with the smoke and then the house could have burned down and we could have all been burned up but I'm very thankful it didn't happen during the night it happened in the morning when we were all at work so we were sorry the house burned but we were really glad that we're all still alive that tells me one thing as I look back that Jesus was watching over us and his angels are there to make sure that even if God wasn't going to allow the house to burn we weren't inside so I'm thankful for that are you thankful that Jesus sends his angels to watch over us yeah you thankful you had a nice Thanksgiving praise the Lord you're glad that Jesus is your best friend yeah you can say amen to that right can you say amen amen thank you God bless you can go and sit down have a happy Sabbath let us stand at this time for scripture reading our scripture would be found in Psalms 103 verses one to five bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowns Lee with loving-kindness and tender mercies who satisfy that mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles let us bow he has prepared this time every father we just thank you this day here on November 24th we bless your name corporately individually father we forget not your benefits that you've shown toward us we thank you for forgiving our sins and iniquities we thank you for saving our life from the pit we thank you for healing us from our diseases and Lord we remember all the blessings that you've bestowed upon us but you're where it says in all things give thanks heaven father we just pray that you would bless our pastor this day as he breaks forth your word in Jesus name Amen may be seated morning our message this morning count your blessings God would have us to take an inventory from time to time of what some of our blessings are now you notice in our scripture reading it says forget not all of his benefits the Bible is not asking us to remember them all because you cannot remember them all the Lord is simply asking us not to forget them all forget not all of his benefits in your Bibles there's a story in the Gospel of Mark and you'll find this in chapter 6 where Jesus is getting ready to feed this multitude and the disciples are saying the people are hungry we need to send them away so they can get something to eat all the disciples knew was that they were terribly bankrupt when it came to supplying the needs of this multitude with food and jesus said you give them something to eat and this is in verse 37 they said shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread to give them just even a little bit to eat and then Jesus said how many loaves do you have they were focusing on what they did not have Jesus a saint count what you do have it's typical in human nature that we focus our attention on the deficit and God is asking us to focus on the surplus on what we do have he's in the business of multiplying our blessings now I think why one of the reasons why we are often tempted to focus on what we're lacking is because God wired us to live in paradise think about this God designed you to live in a state where all of your needs were supplied when Adam and Eve were created and placed in paradise they were surrounded with a bounty that would supply all of their needs I think it was CS Lewis who said the reason that we know there's a heaven is big as God creates all of his creatures with the ability to satisfy their longing monarch butterflies do not suddenly wake up and decide to fly out to the middle of the ocean where there's no island they fly to a place that's pre-designed for them to summer and who mate God gives us a desire for hunger and he supplies food to satisfy that desire whatever the desires happen to be God seems to have some means somewhere of satisfying that the yearning for heaven is evidenced in itself that there's a heaven to migrate to sometimes our dissatisfaction with our present state and our supply is because God wired us for paradise but in the meantime while we're here we're not in paradise we must learn to be thankful for what we have and take an inventory of what we do have we focus so often what we don't have Benjamin Franklin one of my heroes said there's a simple phrase that had a great impact on his life it went something like this some people complain because there are thorns on the roses others are thankful there are roses on the thorns and that simple phrase had a profound impact he said no other statement no other sentence had a greater impact on my life than that simple philosophy in every situation he would try to focus on what good is there here if any of you have ever read excerpts from that famous original of The Saturday Evening Post it was called Poor Richard's Almanack it's filled with pithy profound powerful little statements of wisdom by Franklin and all of them are sort of bathed in this concept of count your blessings and be thankful for what you do have now I am NOT going to superimpose my list on you I guess I am really to some extent everybody has their own list and if I were to ask you to enumerate your blessings your list would be different from mine I hope everybody here has a list I hope that you have from time to time thought about the things that you are thankful for it's really good for you for one thing if you discipline yourself to look at what you do have and to be thankful for what you do have it generally changes not only your disposition it will change other people's impressions of you because you'll be a more positive thankful grateful person those who are always whining and pining about what they do not have drive people away now fess up admit it have you met people before you're afraid to ask them how they're doing come on you know some people like that I won't name any names but we all know a few people like that if you ask them how they're doing they think that's a license an invitation to chronicle everything bad that's happened to them and all their deficits you know what I mean and yet I know some people even though you know they're going through a hardship and trial they are suffering from one if you ask them how they're doing they never talk about those things they talk about the goodness of God and his bounties I was listening to a minister on the radio yesterday say something that I think is worth repeating he was giving his Thanksgiving message on Friday and he said in virtually any gathering I'm paraphrasing like this one there are people who no longer have their spouses because they did not know how to be grateful in virtually any gathering you're going to find people who no longer have their jobs because they did not know how to be grateful for what they had some people have very few if any friends others have driven away family because we don't know how to count our blessings and be thankful for what we have I believe it was Cicero who said a person who is to be happy must actively enjoy his blessings so many times we miss the potential happiness that God provides every day because we focus our attention on what we don't have instead of enumerated what we do have now I'd like to itemize just a few basic things that we could be thankful for I've got about a dozen maybe 14 things on my list and you might make your own list even as I preach if you don't have your own list you're welcome to use my list you can take your pencil out these are some basic things I think almost everybody can buy into first of all the blessings of life let's count our blessings you know every now and then I've been through a lot you have no idea it's not all in the book and I've had a lot of close calls with death I've been in a lot of situations where whether or not I would survive was in question and because of that I make a little statement to myself every now and then and I simply say I'm still here any of you do that you know there's a lot of I went to New York you know last week some of you saw the program on 3abn and it went with John Lowe McCain and Bonnie and some of the other people Charita was here with us we went to what everyone is calling Ground Zero and just two years ago for net 99 we made three trips to the top of that World Trade Center and you go to that crater of destruction it it smells bad and you see the policemen there and some of them still tear up and we saw people coming by who had been in the buildings when they were hit and lost friends we had people who were in the adjacent buildings that we were talking and praying with that watched it come down we talked to firemen and policemen and interviewed them and and you know after you see something like that and there's scarcely anybody that lived in that area that doesn't know or isn't related to someone that lost their life we've all got something to be thankful for the Bible says you've heard the expression where there's life there's hope you heard that expression where there's life there's hope that expression per se is not exactly in the Bible but it does say in Ecclesiastes 9 verse 4 for him that is joined to the living there is hope for a living dog is better than a dead lion you're still here you can still praise the Lord you have blessings Isaiah 38 verse 18 and 19 Hezekiah was dying and in his plea for life he says for the grave cannot praise you death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the pit cannot hope in thy truth the Living the Living shall praise thee as I do this day so some of you might disagree with my list but I think everybody here can agree with this we're still here amen by the grace of God and by his provision you're alive and a living dog is better than a dead line whatever your state might be where there's life there's hope the bible does teach that you're alive and you have breath and you can praise the Lord that's a blessing there's hope in that and sometimes when we enumerate all the things that we've got to be sad about if you weren't alive you kind of complain think of at least you're alive and you can complain right even the wicked that curse God curse him with the breath that he gives them praise him for the blessing of life I like to also think about something that's connected with that the blessing of sensation the blessing of sensation we have our senses that God gives us to appreciate life now depending on who you are we all have varying degrees of acuteness of our sensation some of us are losing our vision losing our hearing I know sometimes you get a little older and you might lose your sense of taste there's this one old man in the Bible King David said to him come on back and live with me in the palace and he said I can't hear any more I can't taste anymore I may as well stay with my family what good is it to live in the palace but most of us have our senses have you ever feasted your eyes before on something and you're just going wow have you ever feasted your ears before where you heard strains of music that thrill your soul you know I've had a few epiphany experiences in my life and I remember one time after traveling from somewhere I put on the complementary headset that the airline affords I was too tired to read anymore but I wasn't able to sleep I had a window seat coming into Sacramento and I found a classical station some of you flown you know you can flip through the dials and they had some classical music and it was beautiful music I don't know what it was but it was just rich music I was listening to and the Sun was going down on the western horizon there were some clouds and the sky was painted with the most beautiful colors and there I was above the clouds watching the sunset listening to this music sitting back my stomach was full and my thirst was a swage and I was comfortable and feeling very reflective and you know all of a sudden the beauty of life struck me with a force that I've not had it just poured into my senses and I thought my heart was going to explode with gratitude to God that life was good and life was beautiful I was sensing it the muted the music and the comforts and the beautiful Vista have you thank God for your senses for the sense of taste the sense of smell a sense of sight the sense of touch Helen Keller said something it'd be a blessing of each human were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during their adult life you all know Helen Keller was mute deaf or not she was AB deaf and blind during his adult life darkness would make him much more appreciative of sight silence would teach him the joys of sound that's coming from a person who would know sometimes when we begin to moan and complain we forget what we have to be thankful for in just the senses that we've got you know a leprosy is leprosy makes you lose your sense of touch and the disease and the injury and the sickness often comes as a result of people not having the sense of pain have you ever thought pain was a blessing you know if you lose your sense of pain you die that's what leprosy does that's what sin does to people lose their conviction it numbs their senses thank God for the blessing of your senses that he's given you I'm trying to move in some sequence that makes sense here connected with that talking about life and sensation health o dargah Shannon said that you don't know what the state of my health is well the worst state of health is death and you're not there right so everybody here has varying degrees of health thank him for what you have some of us have you know what let me just do this here how many people here if they want to can think of at least one physical malady inconsistency bad eyesight hay fever skin irritation athlete's foot how many here will admit that you've got at least some miniscule medical health problem raise your hands hands up come on okay everybody's got that problems because there's sin in the world in our bodies the Bible says some day we'll get an incorruptible body but you know what the hell set means if I were to interview you and ask you what your health problems are I probably wouldn't want to trade with you and you might not want to trade with me we grow accustomed to our imperfections be thankful for the health that you have there are people who have less health than you that's called the dand right so be thankful for the health that you have we all have something to be thankful for you know I'm got to be careful about saying this but because I know it's it's no fun to be a handicap but just did and I'm sure some of you will feel the same way it's not politically correct but some of you will be honest enough to admit it have you ever pulled into some shopping establishment and the place is virtually empty and all of the close parking places are what the handicapped parking places and I've grumbled before I felt sorry for myself before because I have to go park in the back 40 somewhere it's only an extra 20 feet but you know in America that's a long way in California you want to drive right up to the window and have them hand it to you and here I've got a park in that other parking space that is three or four further removed because I can't park in the handicapped parking places and a few times while I was walking that gray distance I thought to myself Doug would you really rather be able to park in the handicapped parking place would you write like to earn one of those tags on your license plate or to hang from your mirror thank the Lord do you have to walk that extra 20 feet amen we sometimes forget to thank the Lord for the blessings that we have every misery I miss is a new blessing you know while I'm speaking to you right now there's a war raging in your body you've got your white blood cells that are rampaging against all these little germs and bacteria that are constantly bombarding your system makes you a little nervous to think about that doesn't it but God is sustaining us he's keeping us alive all the time he's protecting and preserving us health is a great blessing that we can be thankful for it's one of those blessings that we don't really appreciate it until we lose it you end up in the hospital in an ambulance going through emergency taking tests my grandfather and I think one reason God has blessed my Jewish grandfather with a long life is because he's always appreciated health he's always a dougie if you're healthy you're a rich man if you're healthy you're a rich man he's 91 he's healthier than my father and you know he's really funny too when you talk to him he says I can still ride a bicycle and he pulls up his pant legs he says look no varicose veins blessings of health thank God for the blessings of purpose do you know what your station in life is when we were in New York John Lowe McCain and I interviewed some of the firemen that were at the Trade Center there when the building came down and I remember one of them said he had been in the Marines and he had been in the military and done these different things we thought well what are you going to do do you want to do anything different now that you've been through this and the names were Brian Smith and Brian Gordon and Brian Gordon said my goal in life has always been and will always be I want to be a firefighter he said I want to save people I want to protect people he said that's my purpose in life do you have a purpose it may not be a fireman it might be an accountant it might be a pastor or a teacher who knows what your your purpose is but if you have a purpose in life have you met people that don't have a purpose we got young people floating around sometimes they go through this there are a few exceptions there are some young people who know right from the beginning what they want to be and what they want to do with their lives and they're very focused and they do it there's a few exceptions but the average young person especially with all the options you've got in America today they get to a certain age and there's a limbo where they're not sure what they want to do and they sort of launch around for a little while and they grope and and I always tell them go do mission work for a couple years while you get the concrete sets a little bit you know and you'll start to be able to know what you want to do I I tell a lot of young people that get out of the country we're all spoiled go do mission work for a year or two and find out what's going on out there and discover what your calling is and what God's purpose for you is because if you know who you are and you know what your purpose is that's a blessing amen that's something for which you can be thankful Isaiah chapter I like to always sort of punctuate what I'm saying with scripture Isaiah 60 56 verse 5 he says even unto them I will give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name do you have a place in a name do you know who you are do you know what your purpose is better than that of sons and daughters the blessings let's count our blessings of family and friends now we all have a very number of family and friends some of us might have more friends if we counted more of our blessings some of us might have more family if we counted more of our blessings these things can vary but it's something it's a great blessing of life you know the Bible talks about how sad it is to be alone psychiatrists will tell you one of the greatest sicknesses in our culture is loneliness there's a lot of lonely people out there and we're all surrounded with them some of you work with people you're associated with people who are desperately lonely and they don't have friends they don't have family now you might be thinking Doug you're touching a sore spot for me right now why are you calling this a blessing because if you're a Christian you have friends and family right if you're a Christian you've got spiritual health if Jesus has washed away your sins that's something to thank the Lord for the Bible says if your mother and your father forsake you the Lord will take you up my family my immediate family I'm not talking about Karen's branch I'm talking about where I sprang from dysfunctional and I don't get along they go years without talking to each other it's it's sort of strange and so I through becoming a Christian nobody in my side of the family is a Christian through becoming a Christian I was adopted into this massive family and now almost anywhere I go in the world I've got friends and I've got family went to New York City met a lot of new Christians they're members of the church they come up and they give me hugs I don't even know them you know do you know people come up and just rub my head we don't even know them and it happened again this last week I was telling John and Angie I forget who I was telling I said yeah folks come up to me they said Oh Doug and they say can I rub your head and I don't know checked and that very week in front of John and Angie we're eating dinner all pastor Doug we're so glad to see you without even asking my permission he says you just ripped my hand I know what it is do you ever have that urge any of you you've got to be a family with somebody to do that you got to know them they feel like they know me Danny Shelton was saying he said that's not dad he says people come up and they ask if they can run their fingers through my hair is true but that's because when you're a Christian you've got a family and you've got friends and if you have the other kind of family and friends then you're doubly blessed amen the blessings of family and friends Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 9 and and two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor for if they fall one will lift up his fellow but woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has not another to help him up sometimes we really need our families and friends when we're down and we need someone to lift us up it might be we're down physically we might be down spiritually God gives us family and friends the blessings of substance have you ever thanked the Lord for the blessings of things that he gives you you know he says several times in the Bible he talks about opening up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you will not have room enough to receive it and I think there are probably some of you who are here watching on TV or watching this tape or listening to it who are thinking oh but I'm having hard times financially I don't have as much as other people have and your bemoaning what you have the average American has a garage and closets that are jammed with stuff even people who are on welfare government assistance even people who are in debt they got all this stuff God is blessed with so much substance you know God foretold he would do that for his people scripture Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 11 he said I'll bring you into the promised land and you will inhabit houses full of all good things now hope your houses are not full of bad things but he says that it's a blessing to have your house is full of good things how do you thank the Lord for your blessings now there are times when those things sometimes I think it was Jim Dobson said you could become a slave to your possessions you spend all your free time oiling and greasing and washing and taking care of your stuff so that instead of it being a blessing it ends up becoming a master in you're a slave but some of us who have done with very little or nothing I had an experience in my life where I slept on the ground naked I won't go into detail but just know that I slept out in the wilderness on the ground naked in the elements with nothing but my body to curl up to and I never forgot that it's very basic and it makes an impression on you I figured that night that anywhere I went would be an improvement from that and anything more you get whether it's a pair of socks or food anything then is an asset it's a blessing we're all blessed God has blessed us with great substance do not focus on what you do not have focus on what you do have this Widow said to Elisha the creditor has taken everything I have nothing left and he said well what do you have well I do have a little jar of oil that's all I've got left but I'm in debt he said look you commit to God what you do have commit yourself and your resources to God he used that little jar of oil to multiply what remain so that she was not only able to pay off her debt err and redeem her children but there was a surplus god blesses us with substance when the disciples came to Jesus said we don't have anything but a few loaves and a few fish they gave it to Jesus consecrate what you have to the Lord he didn't blessed it gave it back in it multiplied if we give what we have to the Lord he'll bless us he not only gives us what we need Jesus said he feeds the sparrows he closed the flowers he'll feed and he'll clothe you but he often gives us the desires of our heart Psalms 37 not only substance he gives us houses to put them in the blessings of a home now is a home different from a house it is do you have a home do you have a place in the earth you know everybody needs a place for Adam and Eve to be kicked out of the Garden of Eden it was very painful they lost their home you know anybody who's lost their home someone wanted to follow Jesus Matthew 20 captor 8 verse 20 and Jesus said be careful if you want to follow me because the foxes have their holes and the birds of the air have their nest but the son of man doesn't have anywhere to lay his hand his home was not in this world technically our home is not in this world you might be thinking Doug I don't have a home I'm renting Doug I don't even have a home on renting I have to live with someone else because I can't rent are you a Christian then you have a home jesus said he's gone to build a home for you and I can promise you you do not need to see the plans you'll be satisfied hey men you will like the way that he constructs it you'll like his design you'll like the architecture you'll like the decor you got a home the Bible says that a lot of people in this world are strangers and pilgrims hebrews chapter 11 verse 37 they were stoned they were sawn asunder they were tempted they were slain with the sword speaking of God's followers they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth these Wanderers you know why they wandered because they had a city in it that had foundations they've looked for another city that had foundations whose builder and maker is God they had a home in heaven if you're a Christian you've got a home so you can thank the Lord for that blessing even if you do not have one that you're making payments on now some of you own a home here free and clear and you're still complaining right interest rates go down and you're still complaining if you got a place to hang your hat thank the Lord you've got a home before I rush away from this concept of home we need to thank God for our comforts the blessings of the comforts in home you know last night when the storm came through we lost our power and our alarm system is designed so when the power to the house is cut there's a battery backup in the house and our alarm goes off and if you have that wiring system and I'm talking about it gives you security to know it's there but when you wake up with the alarm going off in the middle of the night I didn't know there was a storm when I went to bed all I knew is that 3:30 in the morning I heard and I jumped out of bed and began to look for a weapon I didn't know for a moment or two but it doesn't take long for your heart to start racing just a moment or two for you to envision someone is roaming around in your house I jumped out of bed I'm here and Karen had enough sense to know that we lost the power just look at the clock and the light is out and so I'm looking for a weapon and she's trying to turn off the alarm but then I lay back in bed and I began to think oh man if this power doesn't come back on I'm in trouble my whole sermon my notes I'd never printed it out you know I make my final touches Sabbath morning I thought I might have to wing it and then I thought you know the pictures you see on the screen I hadn't put those two discs yet either and then I began to think oh man I'm not gonna be able to heat up any water our stoves electric and I started thinking about how incan the heat won't come on we might have to put logs in the fireplace and I'm laying there and dad 3:30 in the morning I should be going back to sleep I'm thinking the Lord I'm as awake as I am right now and I began to bemoan all the inconveniences that were going to come upon me because we lost our power and I laid there and started to pray it would come back on and it did took a while but I woke up I'm sorry I felt a little condemned the Holy Spirit condemned me said Doug you're really spoiled you used to live in a cave and here you thought the world was coming to bed you're losing your sleep because you don't have electricity we've come become so dependent on these comforts and conveniences that we have right he fills our homes with good things and and we're so comfortable I travel so much that I become eccentric I get tired of flying bonnie went with me to New York this week she saw it firsthand it's embarrassing if there's extra pillows I not only want a pillow at the back here I want one to sit on because those seats are stiff you know some of us have more padding than others and I want to blanket and I want an aisle seat I don't want to be in the middle I don't want to buy the B by the window and I go to the ticket counter and I start feeling convicted sometimes I tell them I say do you have an exit row well we'll look and see is it one of the exit rows that leans back is it an exit row that leans back in an aisle seat is it an exit role that leans back in an aisle seat near the front can I have a veggie meal and and I thought I thought to myself point out you've really gotten bad very demanding and spoiled you know you think about the people who used to cross the country years ago they drugged them behind a horse and maybe they just drugged behind a horse I didn't even didn't even have a horse and we think about our comforts we've got a lot of blessings to be thankful for can you say Amen the blessings of freedom we've become a little more sensitive to that not only are we grateful for the freedom we enjoy politically I've traveled other parts of the world where you're not allowed to leave you know I could never understand why communism could survive who would want to be part of a government that did not trust their citizens to leave because they might not come back isn't that really pathetic when you think about it to just have the freedom to be able to come and go you know within a week I can get a visa and go to Chile or different Chile Chile Chile down south and go wherever you want to go I still can't say it right it's it's a wonderful thing to have this kind of political freedom to choose your leadership by vote do not have one of these totalitarian despots that tells everybody what's they're supposed to wear whether they can talk in public I mean how pathetic political freedom is something to be grateful for spiritual freedom the Bible says that if the Sun shall make you free you'll be free indeed have you thanked the Lord for the blessing of freedom freedom those who are listening in this country you know I have to be reminded these programs are broadcast in the Middle East as well you know and some people we assumed that everybody who listens is an American or Canadian or somebody in Mexico so it's not the case we're thankful for that freedom but everybody listening can thank the Lord for the spiritual freedom that Jesus affords say Amen please the Bible tells us that if the Sun will make us free we will be free indeed you know I heard about this Persian general who caught a man spying and he was condemned to be executed by a firing squad but he always gave all the condemned criminals an option and he would tell them you can either face the firing squad or you can go through the big black door and he would ask them that and this one spy who was caught he said what will it be the firing squad or the big black door and they always imagined that this general had some Gunny twisted torture there and so they would take the firing squad and the aide of the general says who everybody always picks the firing squad what's behind the big black door he said freedom says but people would rather have the known than the unknown freedom is risky and some people would rather have tyranny that they understand that freedom that they don't understand people are afraid of it and they choose the firing squad another blessing for which we can be thankful is the blessing of faith the blessing of faith to be able to believe the Bible tells us Psalm 84 verse 12 Oh Lord of Hosts blessed is the man the blessing of faith blessed is the man that trusteth envy if you've got faith in God you are blessed you remember what Jesus said to Thomas John 20 verse 29 Thomas because you've seen me you believed blessed are those who have faith this is what this means blessed are those who believe without seeing if you have faith that's a blessing some people go through life and they can't trust they can't believe in anybody or anything they've lost faith and all of us have varying degrees of faith though some of us don't think about it you heard me say all you have to do is go to a potluck and you know that people have faith whenever you get in the car and you drive down the interstate you've got to have faith you realize that oncoming traffic and those around you they say on Saturday night one out of ten people is legally drunk and we still drive you got to have faith can I have faith you go to the supermarket up and down the aisles we buy this stuff we didn't see the factory where they prepared that food worse yet fast food places you got that faith okay high school dropouts in there making your dinner they could be mad you don't know we exercise faith all the time now you need to have faith to open the mail amen and that said you ever think you'd see the day where postman would have rubber gloves when they deliver your mail that's really sad but we can thank him for faith the blessings of truth someone said in the kingdom it was Erasmus who said this in the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed man is king in the kingdom where everybody is blind a one-eyed man is king do you have truth there's a lot of blindness in the world that's a blessing there's a lot of confusion there's a lot of corrupt in perverted and weird deviant teachings in the world there's places in the world where people worship monkeys and rats their children are starving they're feeding their cows if you've got the truth that's something to be thankful for friends can you say Amen remember what the truth does we already read it the truth will set you free there are people who are praying to idols looking for hope plastic figurines and crosses hanging from their mirror and they think that's going to save them if you've got the truth that's a blessing that's a tremendous blessing having and knowing the truth is the blessing that makes an eternal difference in your life that's something for which we can be thankful the blessings of trials now we get serious these blessings where God sends trials and discipline have you thanked God for the blessings of discipline you know when Christ began in his first sermon Sermon on the Mount of blessing the Beatitudes the board Beatitudes means the blessings Jesus did something really outrageous he shocked that people by telling them that the ones they normally thought were cursed were blessed blessed are the poor now and Luke he doesn't even say the poor in spirit you know that he just says blessed to the poor blessed under the morning blessed are the hungry blessed are the persecuted what a bizarre thing to say people who are thanking God for the blessings of trials he told them that those things were blessings in disguise because they would have eternal future benefits have you gone through some trials like Paul have you thanked God for your thorns have you ever said Lord thank you for the blessing of this handicapped some of you have read some of the things written by Johnny Erickson and who as you know of course the quadriplegic paralyzed from the neck down and she says she thanks God for the blessing of her paralysis I'll tell you when you think about all the inconveniences of a trial like that that takes courage but whatever trial God has sent into your life whatever challenges whatever pains whatever discipline God sends into your life he is using that for your eternal good thank him for it it's a blessing sometimes we don't recognize them right away but I've learned I'm doing better that when something happens when something goes awry when something is a struggle to thank the Lord and say I don't know why God's plan this but I believe he can turn this into a blessing thank him for the blessings of trials Psalm 94 verse 12 blessed is the man whom you chase honest Oh Lord and teach him out of your law blessed is the man whose chastened Romans chapter 5 verse 3 and 4 we glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation works patience and patience experience and experience hope sometimes these trials are blessings and described in in the disguise have you thanked the Lord for the blessing of forgiveness what would you do if you could not be forgiven you know in our scripture reading that Anthony read when it talks in Psalms 103 bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His name you know what it says who forgives your iniquities praise the Lord for the blessing of forgiveness amen psalm 32 verse 2 paul also quotes this in the new testament and blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity in whose spirit there is no guile you notice it says he does not impute it doesn't mean he's sinless it means God does not give them credit for their sin they are blessed and forgiving have you thanked him for the blessing of forgiveness where would you be without that the blessing of hope there are people in the world who do not have hope they're called hopeless isn't that sad some night Psalm 39 verse 7 and now Lord what shall I wait for my hope isn't you God is our hope it's a blessing that you've got a future that you've got hope Ephesians 2 verse 12 that at that time you were without Christ having no hope without God in the world not only where there's life there's hope where there's God there's hope somebody said there are no hopeless situations there are only people who have grown hopeless about them the three musketeers the three great characteristics of Christianity and now abides faith hope and love it's right there sandwiched between faith and love hope is a blessing you know wherever you might be in life you can hope that things will get better you know why the second coming is called the Blessed hope because no matter what you've got to complain about maybe nothing that I've said today applies to you and I find that hard to believe you might think on dog you know I don't have any of these good things to be thankful for I have no blessings do you have hope you know that means no matter how bad your past or your present circumstances might be if you've got god you can hope for a better future it can get better the second coming is a blessed hope for you and finally the blessing of love what would you rather have all the world hate you and God love you or all the world love you and not have the love of God how many here know that God loves them you might think blessing of love Doug nobody loves me oh you're probably wrong there's probably someone out there that loves you some of us know who those people are there were times in my life when I wondered if there was anyone that loved me because my parents and everybody in the family seemed so preoccupied with their own careers and when I found the Lord one of the greatest blessings of Christianity was knowing that there was somebody more important than any earthly being who loved me the love of God that's a blessing just knowing that you're loved that's what gives you a purpose you know what they say the greatest drive in people's lives whether to be famous or to be rich you know what's at the heart of those drives people are creating love you know why people want money because they think that as they have money and better things people will like them better you know why people want to be famous it's it's got the illusion of love and people are desperate for love well God is telling you I love you he so loved the world and nothing could separate you individually from the love of God just knowing you're loved nothing you've done no matter what your circumstances here today might be God loves you you know I'd use it if it wasn't already used but I like that I think it's easy to miss it's Richards senior who started the voice of prophecy closing every broadcast with and remember friends what is it God love of you and you know that simple phrase it sounds so trite to some people but it's changed a lot of lives a lot of people were on the borders of suicide then they heard elder Richards say and elder Richards an elder Mellish anko God loves you God loves you God loves you that's a blessing some people take for granted and they forget now we've numbered a few of them but there's a lot more beyond this I was reading about this wealthy man and he wanted to give a gift to a minister and it was a gift of a hundred pounds and this took place many years ago when that was a large amount and this is in England and he didn't want to overwhelm the man so he instructed somebody who was a friend he said I want you to give this in degrees to the pastor so he can handle it and so the man who is the steward for this wealthy benefactor he would send five pounds in the mail and he would say god bless you more to follow and a week later another letter came it said god bless you more to follow and the pastor doesn't know where this is coming from but he's very happy for it and it got to be where week after week until I don't know 20 weeks a hundred pounds was exhausted another letter came another five pounds and more to follow more to follow more to follow how many of you would like to get on that mailing list more to follow Spurgeon closes this illustration by saying every blessing that comes from God is sent with the same message more to follow I forgive your sins but there's more to follow I justify you in righteousness of Christ but dares say it with me more to follow I will adopt you into my family but there's more to follow I educate you from heaven but there's more to follow I helped you even in old age but there's still more to follow I will uphold you in the hour of death and still there shall be more to follow have you counted your blessings you can't you can't count them all what we've done today is tried not to forget them all God has blessed us so much I've not even talked about the blessings that he's in creation and the blessings he's given us in our church family and and there's just so many things if I were to take the microphone around and ask you to hold up your hands and say just in one word what have I forgotten I think we could probably come up with a thousand other blessings that God gives us a minute if you're grateful for these things and you'd like to sing his praises you know part of worship they were to bring sacrifices of Thanksgiving why don't you turn with me and your hymnals to 565 and let's stand together and we'll praise God for the blessings that he gives us scars for which you Oh yes Oh here Oh also you how many of you would like to remember to count your blessings there are more good things than God gives us then trials that come and even the trials can be a blessing Father in Heaven we've come together to worship you today in a special sense with our offerings of Thanksgiving you have been so good to us Lord we from time to time forget so many of your benefits Lord we pray that you'll forgive us and help us not to forget all of the benefits help us to count some of them help us to look at what we do have and there's more to follow Lord I pray that you will give us the mind of Christ help us to have a spirit of gratitude please bless each person here whatever our struggles or trials might be I pray that by the grace of your spirit we can focus on and draw our attention to the bright spots in our experience be with us Lord through this day not only Lord through the season of Thanksgiving but I pray that this attitude of gratitude will stay with us through the year and on into eternity we praise you we thank you Lord for your many blessings and I pray that we can be the means of instigating gratitude in others this we ask in Jesus name you

Channel: 11:11 Ministries

Views: 51,478

Rating: 4.7923665 out of 5

Keywords: count, your, blessings, holyspirit, holy, spirit, doug, batchelor, amazing, facts, jesus, god, seventh-day, adventist, sda, church, religious, bible, ministry, evangelism, christianity, religion, gospel, lord, truth, salvation, word

Id: t8HN-Qqav8Q

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Sat May 14 2011