Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 181 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.
A Thankful Servant Part 3
Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 181 of our Trek, and yesterday we looked at the second part of the Psalm of Thanksgiving, Psalm 100. Today we will explore part 3 of Psalms 100. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. If all goes according to plan and the weather cooperates, I should be able to finish up the final remains of the leaf harvest today. After this weekend, it will be time to start back in on the renovations in The Big House. The next room we are focusing on is the library. We will have furniture to move and the large bookshelves to clear out before the renovations begin. I will keep you posted on our progress.
On our Trek today, we will finish up this three-day Thanksgiving series as we learn to become a thankful servant through our study of the Psalm of Thanksgiving, which is Psalms 100. Our trail today is…
A Thankful Servant Part 3
Continuing on the section from yesterday’s Trek, we explored why your thank offerings must be intelligent. Intelligent worship also affirms God as Creator. Psalm 100:3 reminds, “He made us, and we are his.” This is a fact of which we are informed by the scriptures. It is also one with which every instinct of our nature agrees. Our own conscience also agrees with nature and the scriptures.
Have you ever seen a child startled when he is told for the first time that he is the special creation of God? Within every little mind, there dwells a God-given instinct that accepts the statement. It takes a public school 12 years to try to make them believe they are the offspring of primordial soup.
Since the Lord made us, He has all rights over us just as a human potter has a right to make out of his clay a vessel for what use he pleases. We are entirely at His disposal and should serve Him with all our hearts.
The sculptor with his chisel may develop amazing beauty, but there is no life. But we are far different from canvas or marble, for within us is the mystery of life, the divine spark. Like God himself, your soul can know and reason, believe and understand, and also love. God created you with incredible abilities and has exalted you as His highest creation, surely then, it is your obligation to love and serve Him.
An ancient chronicle tells of a powerful, regal, Saxon king, who, riding through a dense forest, came upon a little church. Inside the church was a priest saying prayers. The priest was pitiful, lame, and hump-backed. The commanding, rough Saxon king looked down on the deformed priest in disgust and despised him until he heard the priest chant these words of Psalm 100:3, “He made us, and we are his.” The king was instantly wounded by the powerful convicting arrows of God’s truth and blushed and owned his guilt.
If you aren’t the brightest, prettiest, or most talented, don’t complain, rather worship God. He has made us what we are, and God doesn’t make junk! If you enjoy great looks, intelligence, and health or ability, humble yourself and recognize that you are what you are by God’s grace.
Lastly, intelligent worship embraces Him as our Shepherd. Psalm 100:3, “We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” To those of us who are in Christ, He has become to us the Good Shepherd! God has not left us like the neglectful ostrich that abandons her eggs, only to have them broken. He is watching over us every hour as a good shepherd who guards his flock. He exercises his unceasing care and providence over you!
Some say God has taken the universe like a watch, wound it up, and then put it under his pillow and gone to sleep, but that’s not so. God’s hand is involved in every part of His creation, and His hand is on every wheel of this world’s machinery. It is God’s powerful Word that animates all the laws of His universe and upholds his creation. Our Good Shepherd gently leads us into green pastures and gives us daily bread. He grants us breath for our heaving lungs and blood for our beating heart. Therefore, we are bound to give to the Great Shepherd of our soul our daily service and adore Him as the God who creates, keeps, and sustains us!
3. Your Thanks Must Acknowledge God’s Covenant Faithfulness
Psalm 100: 5 says, “For the LORD is good.” All that God does reflects his perfect nature and divine being, even His excellent goodness. By definition, God’s ways are always righteous and true. God’s own being is the standard of His Goodness. God certainly does not answer to His creatures, nor is there any law above God to which He must account. His goodness is reflected in the way He sustains even those who are His enemies. Even though people are ungrateful and hate God, they still benefit from His grace and goodness. As His people, we can rest knowing that He is working all things together for our good! “His unfailing love continues forever,” Psalm 100:5.
The highest expression of God’s faithfulness is displayed once and for all at the cross! Unfailing love is a covenant term. It speaks of God’s covenant loyalty. How much more faithful can God be to His people than to send His Son to die for them?
At the cross, God demonstrated His eternal loyalty to His covenant and His covenant people! If you are trusting in Jesus Christ, you can be absolutely sure that God will fulfill His covenant promises to you! The Good News is that any sinner can find forgiveness in this life because God is faithful to His covenant promises. His unfailing love continues forever. The sentence of death that came upon man in the Garden has been postponed. Now all those who call upon Jesus Christ will be saved to the praise of God’s merciful patience.
“…and his faithfulness continues to each generation,” Psalm 100:5. It is a great comfort to the Christian to know that God does not change. The truthfulness of God’s character makes His promise of mercy most certain. He will not and cannot change His mind about us! Regardless of all turmoil and trials of this life, we know that God is not a man that He should lie. God has and always will demonstrate His faithfulness to His people!
We have SO MUCH to be grateful for this Thanksgiving in Jesus Christ. No matter what our earthly circumstances, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. That is why in Psalm 100:4 we can, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.”
God has blessed America with prosperity that makes us the envy of the world. Even the poorest in America has much more than billions of people around the world. So by the power of the indwelling Spirit, let’s purpose to worship our Sovereign King, our Almighty Creator, and gracious Shepherd. With our voices let us, “Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.” With our minds, let us meditate upon our awesome God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Good Shepherd.
Let us keep the spirit of Thanksgiving flowing from our minds, our hearts, and our lips continually each day.
As we continued our exploration of Psalm 100, the Psalm of Thanksgiving, we learned to be a Thankful Servant to the One from whom all blessings flow. As you have the opportunity, please encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy as we look at the Proverbs for Abundant Living.
That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom each day. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.
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Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!