THANKSGIVING OF THE YET PRINCIPLE

Happy Thanksgiving all of you wonderful Ruminators. Today is a National Holiday in the United States where we come together as friends and families to stuff ourselves with a stuffed turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, (fill in this space with your favorites). At our house this year we will have various people from various walks of life, from various countries (ie. Ethiopia)...converge for some tasty deep fried turkey, ham, etc. Hopefully...at some point we will reflect of what we have to be thankful for in our collective and individual lives.

As I was reflecting on what I was thankful for this year...I began to think of various relatives, friends, brothers and sisters in the Lord...who have been going through some hard times. And then my thoughts went out to other countries where the poorest in this country look like kings compared to those who have nothing.

It is easy to give THANKS when we HAVE. The song encourages us to COUNT OUR BLESSINGS one by one...and we usually count the GOOD stuff and things that happens to us or what we have...BUT... the rubber meets the road...when we are able to THANK GOD in the face of NOT HAVING...or as we GO THROUGH bad and ugly stuff. I Thessalonians 5:18 encourages us to give thanks in EVERYTHING...for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. NOT giving thanks FOR everything...but IN everything. The bad stuff and junk you are going through is not the WILL OF GOD...but the GIVING OF THANKS in the middle of it is the WILL OF GOD.

Enter the THANKSGIVING OF THE YET PRINCIPLE.

Habakkuk declared that the righteous shall LIVE BY FAITH. (Habakkuk 2:4) In Habakkuk chapter 3 he fleshes out what hit means to life by FAITH.

"Though the fig tree should NOT BLOSSOM, and there be NO FRUIT on the vines, though the yield of the olive should FAIL, and the fields produce NO food, though the flock should be CUT OFF from the fold, and there be NO cattle in the stalls...

YET (in the face of nothing working)

I WILL (my personal choice to do something in the face of NOT seeing what I need)

EXULT (jump up, spin around, get clamorously foolish, rave on)

IN THE LORD (not in my circumstance)


I WILL (my choice)

REJOICE (in the Lord always and again I will rejoice)

IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION (not the lack of my condition)

THE LORD GOD IS MY STRENGTH (my declaration of faith in the face of not seeing it)

AND HE HAS MADE MY FEET LIKE HINDS FEET (able to climb the rocky rough places that this world and the devil has thrown at me)

AND HE MAKES ME WALK ON MY HIGH PLACES (places high above the rabble of life)

This is FAITH.

Psalm 100 is a PSALM OF THANKSGIVING where all men are EXHORTED to Praise God. It was a Psalm sung as they were entering to give sacra fices to the Lord...for the forgiveness of sins. It was a Psalm that was to be sung BEFORE THE SACRIFICES WAS MADE...in ANTICIPATION of the FORGIVENESS. Verse 4 of Psalm 100 implores the people to enter His gates with THANKSGIVING...and His COURTS with PRAISE...GIVE THANKS to Him...

THANKSGIVING= todah (to-daw): properly, an extension of the hand, that adoration; a choir of worshippers, confession (sacrifice of praise) thanksgiving, offering.

GIVE THANKS= yadah (ya-daw) to hold out the hand; to physically throw, to revere or worship with extended hands--intensively to bemoan by wringing of hands.

These acts of pre-forgiveness in the face of not yet having what we desire as we enter by faith...are active, physical acts of worship.

So.............as you enter into this day of THANKSGIVING...don't base your thanks on JUST what you have...but take it up a notch with an anticipation of what God is GOING TO DO IN YOUR LIFE. Do a
pre-emptive strike on fear, doubt, depression, unbelief...and start thanking Him for meeting your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (and there ain't no shortage in Christ Jesus).

Love and very thankful kisses
Rodney "Exulting and Rejoicing" Boyd