tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post6928903618117169056..comments2024-03-28T18:40:51.572-04:00Comments on Tilting at Windmills: Sunday Message- a brief thought on ThanksgivingCWMartinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06798867734074134647noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post-47163120040281636922014-11-04T17:27:05.667-05:002014-11-04T17:27:05.667-05:00That would eliminate me, too... around here it'...That would eliminate me, too... around here it's more, "If you are gonna stumble, at least stumble forward!"CWMartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06798867734074134647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post-76408876058404506742014-11-04T17:06:18.050-05:002014-11-04T17:06:18.050-05:00Ha!-
Thanks, BROTHER MARTIN, I appreciate the off...Ha!- <br />Thanks, BROTHER MARTIN, I appreciate the offer but... I probably should learn to walk it before I talk it, to hack it before I yak it. <br />-Ha!<br /><br />~ D-FensDogg<br />'Loyal American Underground'Stephen T. McCarthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00249125637725791567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post-81637124949377480422014-11-04T16:40:55.471-05:002014-11-04T16:40:55.471-05:00You know, that's one of those "great thin...You know, that's one of those "great things about the Bible" moments. I had never considered the timeline of the lepers before... how they had to start the walk with the disease. Like you brought up, it's always the one who came back who gets the focus. But this is a perfect example of prayer-faith-response from God- response from man.<br /><br />Good catch! You ever wanna do a "guest sermon", let me know!CWMartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06798867734074134647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post-91125940247311788332014-11-04T16:36:52.450-05:002014-11-04T16:36:52.450-05:00I guess the thing that undercurrented this post wa...I guess the thing that undercurrented this post was, remembering that country song, Thank God For Unanswered Prayers. That seems so easy, but thanking Him when they get answered sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.CWMartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06798867734074134647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post-39453216250484754982014-11-04T16:35:22.774-05:002014-11-04T16:35:22.774-05:00I'm always glad to see you stop by!I'm always glad to see you stop by!CWMartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06798867734074134647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post-37479782249614011102014-11-03T22:39:44.271-05:002014-11-03T22:39:44.271-05:00>>... "Jesus said to pray WITH thanksgi...<b>>>... "Jesus said to pray WITH thanksgiving, that the prayer might be answered."</b><br /><br />BROTHER MARTIN ~<br />To me, that verse is speaking directly about the level of faith in the person who is doing the praying. The "thanksgiving" is the attitude that the prayer is said with, and it is a direct result of faith that God and/or Christ is hearing the prayer and has, in a sense, ALREADY responded to it.<br /><br />I would correlate that verse with several others found in the Gospels that speak of having such strong faith that an attitude of "thanksgiving" is ALREADY appropriate even AS the prayer is STILL being thought or spoken.<br /><br />Of course you know how often Jesus told people that their faith had made them well. Too many times for me to quote them all here. But a few verses I particularly like which address this same subject are these:<br /><br />Mark 11:22 - 24, concluding with this: "Therefore I [Jesus] say to you, Anything you pray for and ask, believe that you will receive it, and it will be done for you."<br /><br />Mark 5:36 - "Fear not, ONLY believe."<br /><br />And one of my favorite passages in The Bible and perhaps the greatest example of faith BEFORE receiving an answer, which justified an attitude of thanksgiving in advance of the Divine response is...<br /><br /><b>Luke 17:11 - 14.</b> This is the story of the ten lepers, one of which was a Samaritan, who sought healing from Jesus Christ. It concludes with this: <b>...He said to them, "Go show yourselves to the priests", and WHILE THEY WERE GOING, they were cleansed.</b><br /><br />As you know, in the Levitical law, it was a priest who had to examine a person supposedly cleansed of leprosy and make the formal declaration that the person was completely healed before he/she could be readmitted fully into society.<br /><br />So, in this passage, Jesus tells the lepers to go show themselves to the priest, however, there has not yet been ANY sign that they've been healed. But, having faith in Jesus, they start off to see the priest. If they'd lacked faith, they'd have been thinking something like this: Sheesh! I'm gonna look like an idiot when I get to the priest and tell him I want to be declared healed of leprosy when it's totally apparent by just one glance, even to me, that I am NOT healed.<br /><br />But they didn't entertain that doubt because of their faith that Jesus meant what He said and would not make them appear foolish. So, they begin the journey and as The Bible says, they were healed <b>DURING</b> their "walk of faith". (Subsequent verses speak to the fact that only the Samaritan returned to thank Jesus, but that's a separate issue.)<br /><br />So, to my way of thinking, when we pray, if we have faith that God ALREADY knows our prayer and has responded to it, then an attitude of "thanksgiving" is actually appropriate, even <b>WHILE</b> we are saying the prayer. Just as the lepers could be thankful <b>while</b> on the way to the priest even though the answer to the request was not yet evident to their eyes.<br /><br />~ D-FensDogg<br />'Loyal American Underground'Stephen T. McCarthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00249125637725791567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post-23431505707352369182014-11-03T14:38:32.485-05:002014-11-03T14:38:32.485-05:00I'm so thankful for HIS answers- good or bad t...I'm so thankful for HIS answers- good or bad that's what is to be.hollihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08558294192449866387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822869016413307981.post-76325168860861280972014-11-02T18:36:33.296-05:002014-11-02T18:36:33.296-05:00Yes another bloody great post from you, thank you ...Yes another bloody great post from you, thank you again I always glad I pop in for a visit Jo-Anne's Ramblingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11418152399382818709noreply@blogger.com