"Thank God for Fleas"

This is long Solomon about like to welcome you to our program today. You know it's a tremendous honor the God is given to us to be on stations all around the nation bringing the truths of God's word as it is uncompromising and straightforward and I'm so glad you tuned in to listen and be part of them. Thanks again for your support and your generosity that keeps us on the radio and now let's get to the word of God and answer three questions today about biblical things. The first question is this, is there anything wrong with circumstantial Thanksgiving. Is there anything wrong with thanking God for things when they go the way we want to. Well, absolutely not look right here in Psalm 103.

David says beginning in verse one. Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name, praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not of his benefits, and here are some of the he forgives your sins. He heals your diseases.

He redeems your life from the pit he crowns you with love and compassion. He satisfies your desires with good thing so that your youth is renewed like the eagle here David is looking around them and is seeing things that are going good and he's saying God I want to thank you for these things that are going good and folks, this is right.

This is good. This is appropriate. This is proper for us to do as Christians and the fair thing is we don't do it enough really we don't find out enough of the good things he says.

Which leads me to my second question and that is why how does real biblical Thanksgiving go beyond simple circumstantial Thanksgiving on me. What more is there that you're looking for lawn or the gods looking for well and he answered. I remember I said earlier, the biblical Thanksgiving is a type of Thanksgiving that is not based on our circumstances.

Let's face it, let's be honest. Whoever feels thankful for flat tire. Whoever feels thankful for an official reprimand at work who feels thankful for cancer or diabetes or root canal who feels thankful for sick child or for a broken nose or for an auto accident or force our real estate deal. Nobody in their right mind feels thankful for these things and you know what's more, God never asks you and me to feel thankful for these things never God doesn't expect us to feel thankful for them disabled and what does God ask God asks for us to rise above how we feel and thanked him for things that are even unpleasant, undesirable, painful and disappointing because were thanking him on a different basis than how we feel this little word of God. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 20 says always give thanks to God for every thing is a flat tire something you should give thanks to God for well is it part of everything. Well yeah well then you should give thanks to God for is a sick child something you should give thanks to God for well is a part of everything, then yes, you should give thanks to God for me show you one other passage of Scripture. First Thessalonians chapter 5.

If I may. It's a page 837 if you return there with me. Page 837 in our copy of the Bible. First Thessalonians chapter 5 the first letter that Paul wrote the church of Thessalonica chapter 5 look in verse 18 first Thessalonians 518. Look at the beginning of the verse it says this give thanks in all circumstances, not stop there for a minute, give thanks in all circumstances. What God is asking for here is that regardless how we feel about some situation that enters our life.

God is asking us that by an act of our will.

We are to rise above how we feel and thanked him for it anyway.

God is asking us to give thanks for the liver in our life just as much as we give thanks for the pine.

The ice cream in our life is a lawn. This is ridiculous. There is nobody who lives like this, no rational human being ever acts like this are really a really May I submit as exhibit a. A lady named Fanny Crosby, Fanny Crosby was a great and probably the greatest American hymn writer of all time. She wrote many hymns that you love 8000 hymns to be exact. Many of them that you love like blessed assurance, Jesus is mine all what a foretaste of glory divine. Fanny wrote that, and many many more that you sing and grow up singing if you went to church. Fanny Crosby lived to be 92 years old, four 91 1/2 of those years. She was blind.

She wasn't born blind. She had an eye infection is a six-month-old baby and a quack doctor mistreated her to her eyes and she went line and all the specialists available and that they could not fix her eyes but she had a grandmother and her grandmother sat her on her lap and this grandmother would read her the Bible is a little girl and his grandmother would build into Fanny and understanding the God was going to use this blindness for his glory and that she should thank God for her blindness rather than resenting it, and rather than growing up to be a bitter, resentful, mean old person.

She grew up to be one of the most wonderful blessings that the world is ever known.

She eroded age 8: she said all what a happy child.

I am even though I cannot see. I know that God has a plan and I know that he loves me how many blessings I enjoy that other people don't. So we and cried because I'm blind, I cannot and I won't. Eight years old 84 years later, she wrote this she said and I quote she said the greatest blessing of my life was when God took away my earthly site.

I have always been able to thank God for doing so and I am still able to thank him today at 92."

Salon businesswoman authentic. She said that totally sell.

I will that's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful artist anybody in their right mind to thank God for being blind, but is wonderful to have normal people have the normal person get to be like this.

Well I that brings me to my third and final question and that is how can you and I is normal everyday Christians cultivate this kind of biblical Thanksgiving in our life. Well, it all comes down to biblical worldview, biblical Thanksgiving is an overflow of a biblical worldview. Now, here we go again.

Talking a biblical worldview to talk about the biblical worldview biblical will be just biblical worldview that we associate to hear that biblical worldview could not hear. Well, that's tough because I'll tell you why, because what God is trying to do in your life as a Christian is develop a biblical worldview above everything else biblical worldview means that the truth of the Bible dominates how we see every event in the world. And when you come to Christ.

And when I came to Christ, we came to Christ with a totally secular worldview. Every one of the stars and God's goal over the next 10, 20, 30 years however longer Christian is to change our worldview from being secular to being biblical so that biblical truth dominates every aspect of how you and I see the world.

That's what God's trying to do in our lives. So if you come to church, you better hear about biblical worldview because that's the goal God has for you. Now what about a biblical worldview for our circumstances when it's right here in the verse.

Why ask you to turn to that chapter 5 verse 18, a first Thessalonians. Look, give thanks in all circumstances. Here comes a biblical worldview friends for this. That circumstance is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

What the Bible is telling us is that we need to see every circumstance to the lands of the word of God and the word of God tells us that every circumstance and enters your life and my life. If you're Christian has been inspected by a sovereign God authorized by a sovereign God approved of by a sovereign God and sent our way by our sovereign God because it all fits into the plan that a sovereign God has for our life and what we know about this plan that he has Romans chapter 12 verse two says that this plan God's will for our life is good and perfect. Jeremiah 29 verse 11 says that God's plan for our life is to give us a future and a hope and route of Romans chapter 8 verse 28 says that God's plan for our life means that all things work together for good to those who belong to Jesus Christ.

If you're here then you never trusted Christ as your personal savior. I want you to understand that that you're missing more than just the ticket to heaven. There's a lot more going on here. One of the things that happens when we give our life to Jesus Christ is that Almighty God himself engages with the everyday affairs of our life. He takes a personal interest in our life and we become his personal project and after that point. When you trust Christ as your Savior. You're not running your life anymore. He is and he's running it to give you a future and a hope to produce good things and work all things together for good in your life. And so if you been running your life yourself and you have been doing such a great job.

That's why we offer you Jesus Christ here every week because he wants to come in and run your life and you'll do much better job than you're doing something to think about this what we want for you free to come to the place where you let him take the steering wheel and you move over to the passenger seat. Now for those of us were Christians. We know this is true. We know it's true because the Bible says it's true, and we believe what God tells us, and let's put together some logic. Now some biblical logic and see if a biblical Thanksgiving doesn't come out of it if it's true that every circumstance and enters our life as a Christian is part of God's plan and if it's true that God's plan is for our good for our benefit to give us a future to give us a hope. And if it's true that every single detail is working together for good to make that happen. If all that is true in the Bible says it is then then by faith, we should be able to thank God for every circumstance he sends our way. Whether we like it or we don't. Whether it is pleasant or not, whether it feels good or whether it doesn't because we know it's all part of a bigger plan that God is working for our life. That's for our benefit. That's a biblical worldview and you see how biblical Thanksgiving flows right out of it. You want to have more biblical Thanksgiving in your life God wants you to. The way to get there is to let the word of God and what it teaches about circumstances dominate more of how you see your situation in life and a biblical Thanksgiving will be the natural result may also say the biblical Thanksgiving therefore is based on faith is not based on feelings, not matter how you feel biblical Thanksgiving defies human logic. If the unique possession the unique territory of the Christian the world. I can go here. The world had want to go here. The world is know anything about living like and they never can. This is were only you and I as Christians can live thanking God for the things we don't like thanking God for the things that are uncomfortable because we know God has a bigger plan at work because he says he talks in one of my favorite books is the hiding place.

I don't you read the book.

Saw the movie wonderful story of Corrie 10 boom and her sister Betsy, their mother and their father living in Holland during the time of the Nazi occupation and how they, as Gentiles, but Christians hear the Jewish people from the Nazis until they were finally caught captured and sent to concentration camp along with the Jews that they hear Corey's sister Betsy died in concentration camps or mother-daughter concentration camp. Her father God, and concentration camp.

She was the only one that survived Corrie 10 boom when I was in Israel a couple years ago I went to the Holocaust Museum call God by Shem and Jerusalem.

It's a huge museum that commemorates the Nazi Holocaust, and as you walk up the tree-lined path to the main entrance. It's a very long payout there are trees dedicated along the path little lax at the base of each of these trees dedicated to people during World War II. Jewish people who resisted the Nazis and fought the Nazis and smuggled Jewish people out of Europe is only one Gentile honored in that entire walk of trees going up to God by Shem and you know who it is sovereign Corrie 10 boom by the privilege a few years ago seeing the tree that was dedicated to her there for a moving experience to stand there and realize that they chose this one Gentile woman among all these Jewish people and dedicated a tree to her. But there's a story in the book show that that's one of my favorite she and her sister Betsy had been sent to concentration camps and they been moved to ravens Brook concentration camp and here's how the story goes there arrived at camp and they get put in this dormitory, this big dormitory to get that way in the back in the dingy as part of this big dormitory and not even any beds back that is only straw and and you know just loose straw thrown all around and the and it stinks. It's awful. It smells just awful and that that's where they are and so they climb into bed in the first night is there trying to go to sleep. Suddenly Cory feels like people are sticking pins in her leg and she gets up and suddenly realizes that there's fleas all through this head. It is totally flea infested and she leaves the and grabs her sister Betsy and said we can do this I can do this. This is not I'm not staying with fleas and Betsy says to her, not Cory. She's a what was the Bible verse that we had yesterday that we rent today smuggled Bibles into these into the barracks with them in their in their clothing and so they had a Bible and and chorister will we read first Thessalonians 518. Give thanks in everything for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Betsy said okay.

So that means you want to stand here right now. She said Cory and were going to give thanks to God for our situation and Cory said, what is there in this situation the possibly give thanks for Betsy simple first working thank God that were still together assistors we could've been separated below God put us together so she said not Cory value here and I want to give thanks for that poor daughter head to Lord I thank you for the then she said all right what else she said when I Cory working thank God that we got those Bibles through the didn't take our Bibles away because that means that there's a lot of people right here with us are going to come to know Jesus, so she's in a Cory want to thank God for that support daughter head and thank God for that and she said now Cory what I want you to do is I want to thank God for how crowded is in here in house.

We have so many women present in here because what that means is there's a whole lot more people in here to hear about the Lord and Cory spell her head and she said all right and she bowed her head and she said, Lord, I thank you for this jam cram stuff tax supplicating place. She said to Betsy Nevada nothing Betsy said no Cory now want you to thank God for the fleas and Cory said I'm not doing it. Betsy, I'm not doing it I'm not thanking God for fleas Betsy and Betsy said Cory thank God for everything in that what the Bible says and somehow those fleas are part of God's plan that she said Cory you bow your head and you thank God for the fleas course that I did it my heart one unit, but I didn't when you know what happened.

They started hold Bible studies and the most interesting thing happened.

The guards didn't bother they would get back there in this area where they lived and they would hold Bible studies timidly at first, and even though the guards had absolute ironclad control everywhere else they never came into the barracks so that after a while they got bolder and started inviting people to their Bible study and after the first Bible study filled up and they began leaving all these Jewish women to Christ. There were so many people wanted to come and start a second Bible study that met after the first Bible study and they could not get over why the guards did not come in there and bother them about two months later Cory was coming back from gathering firewood is the story concludes, and she said she saw Betsy standing at the door with his huge grin on her face and she said what are you grinning about and Betsy said Cory do you remember why how we wondered why those guards wouldn't come back in here and bother us and Cory said yes she said.

Betsy said well I know why now. She said we were knitting socks back here earlier today and and we got mixed up on the order and we yelled out for the guards to come back here and help straighten this out and they yelled back where not common in their care and they wouldn't come in because of the fleas and she said see there Cory.

The fleas were part of God's plan all the time I came back from Israel a couple weeks ago and I took the weekend off. I got back up because I was exhausted but my wife and I will go to come to church anyway. We were to get up, so Sunday morning we got up and why now my son Jamie was home for the Naval Academy with his car and all the cars parked out front health. So we sent the boys out early and that I had to church early. We were to come to a later service and they came back in about a couple minutes and they said we can go to church acid one. Mr. well because somebody broke into the car out there to Jamie's car.

They stole the CD player. They ripped up the car and they broke a bunch of windows in all the cars in Austin wants in front of my house so I got a pair jeans and a sweatshirt on I went out there and sure enough they broken in taking his CD player and often will you still get the car and drive the car to church and they said knowledge they took the battery to fit in a recently installed the battery so I called the police. You know, and I'm standing after I sent the boys and another car to church on standing out there waiting for the policeman to come. Fairfax County and use a lawn. Here's what we want to know where you bubbling over with biblical Thanksgiving right at that moment friends. I gotta tell you I was not bubbling over with anything biblical, right at that moment you understand what I'm saying to you I was in a pretty foul mood to be honest with you, so the guy comes the cop drives up and he looks around he goes. Do you have any enemies.

I said well known that I think would do this so he took fingerprints there were no fingerprints, and he looked around, you know we did that for a while and finally came in the house and I went in the back room for something and he was sitting out there at the kitchen table and he started taking down the pertinent information in the FOI friendly support of the boys go off to church to you know and she said when they went off to McLean Bible church and he was like okay you know not, no big deal. And then he taken hundreds of men and material. He says okay so what's your last name and she said Solomon go solemn so Mrs. Lachman Solomon, the Ghana radio would not a sermon, just a thought. W.

JFK honestly and without a sermon. Just a thought on the radio all the time. This long Solomon. She said yeah because I'm just that I can walk and he goes your lot you are you you you long Solomon and I still Ghana radio and I said yeah he goes wow he said I thought you'd be a lot younger than that.

I'm like well I'm not is no offense intended, and I'm like that's all I is like wow I can't believe it, how somebody broke into your car wow I can't believe in him like he is wonderful and anything like this is amazing on your 10 log file, just take the report. Okay, so he took the whole report and stuff like that and and we gave him a couple coffee and then he's getting ready to leave and he said he said you have a couple minutes we already know we arty tank church for the day and I said yeah he said he you you know he said I there bunch of questions I've always wanted to ask somebody about God is about never had anybody to go and he said Christ would you mind if we stand here for a few more minutes and I ask you some questions about God's know that be wonderful. You want to go. Not a copy. Gotta do what you gotta do you know pencil for almost 30 minutes. We sat there together and he asked me questions like, can you really know you have a personal relationship with God. Can you really know that you have eternal life. If you have eternal life. Can you really not lose it, and he began asking me all these questions why did Jesus really have to die on the cross. Why never understood why is that so important for almost 30 minutes he's asking these questions and I have the privilege of answering them. He shook my hand.

He said I want to come visit you church. Sometimes he left.

I was standing in the driveway and as he drove off and I waved to him for.

I really felt crummy because I said all right, all right, go ahead.

You say it say it you write out your right you had all on the control the whole time. I know I know you know I'm sorry I'm sorry because if God would've said to me hey lawn, would you be willing to let somebody come by and steal a CD player out of one of the cars in a battery if that meant you got 1/2 an hour to share Jesus Christ with the Fairfax County police officer I would've said you bet. And besides the battery was old. I needed to replace it anyway in the insurance game you knew inferring wonderful deal, but folks, if you've got some fleas in your life