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Exhortation Preaching Wilson Cisco

Thanksgiving by Wilson Cisco, Jr. God is Good Give thanks to God.........

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
24 views12 pages

Exhortation Preaching Wilson Cisco

Thanksgiving by Wilson Cisco, Jr. God is Good Give thanks to God.........

Uploaded by

Wilson Cisco
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Exhortation: The essence of thanksgiving

Preacher: Wilson Cisco, Jr.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know
that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We
are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with
thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth
endures to all generations.” Psalms 100:1-5 (NKJV)

In the entire book of Psalms, David praised God, regardless of what he was
facing or struggling with.

In return, this teaches us that, no matter what happens, it’s important to


give thanks. Be grateful for everything, and rejoice in God’s name for he is
our Creator and our Almighty Father. Whether or not it’s Thanksgiving, we
should all learn to say a little prayer of thanks every day. It’s the least we
can do for everything that we have and receive.

In this Psalm I find five key words that describe the essence of thanksgiving.
The first word is:

1. JOY (The emotion of great happiness) According to the English


dictionary.

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you land!” Psalm 100:1 (NKJV)

We don’t have problems shouting at a football game, but we very seldom


raise our voice in church. Our lives are meant to be a joyful call to God. God
wants us to get excited about who He is.

A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing, But a
broken spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22) AMP Version

The second word is:

2. GLADNESS
“Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with
singing.” Psalms 100:2 (NKJV)

Folks let me tell you this – there is a huge difference between gladness and
sadness.

When we come before the Lord – we are to do it with gladness not sadness.

(Read Psalms 122:1)

There are times when we go to church with sad mind as if we are on a


funeral service. Let me tell you the true, the life you have now, is adequate
to give you reason to be glad and worship God. Reasons to be glad

I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today;

I know that He is living, whatever men may say;

I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,

And just the time I need Him, He’s always near.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me, along life’s narrow way.

He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart. *

Folks, when we come before the Lord – we ought to do it with gladness.

The third word is:

3. DEPENDENCE (Rely on God and allow his to control you)

“Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we
ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm
100:3 (NKJV)

This verse shows three roles of God:

a. God is LORD

We are to make Him ruler, master, boss of our lives.


God is God and we are NOT.

God told Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’” Exodus 3:14 (NAS) Folks, you have no
more control over God then you do the weather. God is God and we are not.

b. God is CREATOR

If you create something, you are greater than what you have created. You
have every right over that which you have made. Exp: (Your Own Facebook
account, WhatsApp, Messenger)

“It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves” Psalm 100:3b (NKJV)

c. God is SHEPHERD

“We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:3c (NKJV)

God guides us to the place of security, plenty and rest.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in


green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my
soul.” Psalm 23:1-3 (NKJV)

Someone has rightly said,

If we are created, He is the Creator.

If we are sheep, He is our Shepherd.

If we enter His courts, He is our King.

If we serve Him, He is our Master.

Bible verses: ( Isaiah 41:13 | Proverbs 3:5-6 | John 15:5)

The fourth word – of course – is:

4. THANKFULNESS

You can’t give thanks unless you are thankful.

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be
thankful to Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4 (NKJV)

Thanksgiving is what flows out of a thankful HEART.


The Story of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19)

In Luke chapter seventeen there is a very interesting story. Jesus enters a


village and upon entering He finds ten men who were lepers. They stood a
long way off and yelled out to Jesus, "Jesus, have mercy on us!" When Jesus
saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." Did you
know that they had not been cleansed yet? They left before they were cured
– because the Bible says, “that as they went along, they were cleansed.” Do
you know what happened then? One of them – only one of them – when he
saw that he was healed, turned around and went back to see Jesus. The Bible
says he fell down on his face at the feet of Jesus, glorified God and thanked
Jesus for what He had done. Only one out of ten THANKED Jesus. Do you
remember what Jesus asked him? "Were there not ten cleansed? But where
are the nine?”

Folks we need to be thankful to God for what He has done for us.

That brings us to the fifth word is:

5. GRATITUDE

“For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all
generations. Psalm 100:5 (NKJV)

Three reasons to be grateful:

a. The Lord is GOOD

b. The Lord’s mercy is EVERLASTING

c. The Lord’s truth endures FOREVER

In Romans chapter eleven Paul is giving thanks and praise to God when he
writes:

“Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything


ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! (Romans 11:36 (MSG)

We need to direct our praise, our thanksgiving and our worship to God.

He is our everything

Always remember to praise the Lord…


God Bless you.

THEME: PLANNING TO SUCCEED


TEXT: JAMES 4:13-17

 Daily plans: Some people make daily plans. They map out their
day the night before or in the morning. They have a strategy for
their day.
 Weekly plans: They map out their week. On Sunday they go to
church, on Monday they go shopping, on Tuesday they mow the
yard, on Wednesday they take the kids to practice and so on.
This type of planning can carry on into monthly plans, yearly plans and even
life-long plans. You may make plans about your career, education, health,
retirement, finances and so on.

The question I want you to think about today is, “What or who drives your
plans?” Are you the driving force behind your plans, here is where you do
whatever you want to do. Instead of that approach, I want to encourage you
to seek God’s wisdom and direction on the plans you make. One of the
reasons why people get so dissatisfied is because their plans aren’t really
what God wants them to do.

This is what James 4:13-17 addresses. He wants us to think about the plans
we make in life with God and His purposes in mind. Look at what verse 13
says, Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a
certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there
and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like
tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while,
then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to,
we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about
your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do
it (NLT). From that there are five things we need to think about.
Your life should have plans

Number one, your life should have plans. God wants you to make plans
regarding your life. He wants you to make plans about your career, your
education, your marriage, and your finances to name a few. Look carefully at
James 4:13, Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are
going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do
business there and make a profit” (NLT). People make plans everyday.
This guy is probably an entrepreneur, a go-getter. Really driven, type A
personality, organized and goal oriented. This appears to be a great business
mind at work because he has planned for all the basic questions of who,
what, and where. He knows exactly what he wants to do.
 What does he want to do? He wants to “make a profit.”
 When does he want to start? He wants to start “today or
tomorrow.” He’s not a procrastinator. He wants to get this
thing going soon.
 Where will he do this? He has a “certain town” in mind. He has
done his research and has narrowed it down to a particular town.
 How long will this job take? He says he “will stay there a
year.” He’s planning on moving or least living there for a year.
He is dedicated. This is not a weekend adventure. He is planning
on spending at least one year of his life on this project.
On the surface, there is nothing wrong with these plans. He has thought this
through. However, there is one problem. There is no mention of God in this.
Is this what God wants him to do?

Before we go any further, you need to understand that God wants you to
make plans. Short-term, mid-range, and long-term plans. God is all for you
looking forward in your life. Let me give you some examples.

 Psalm 20:4 says, “May he [God] give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed” (NIV). Make sure this desire
you have is from God before you launch into it. God wants the
plans He has given to you to succeed.
 Proverbs 20:18 says, “Make plans by seeking advice…” (NIV). Go
get some wise advise from others on whether you should marry
this person or not, start a church or not, go to that college or not,
pursue that career or not. God wants you to plan for the future,
but He wants you to seek out advice to help you.
 Proverbs 22:3 says, “A sensible man watches for problems
ahead and prepares to meet them. The simpleton never looks
and suffers the consequences” (TLB). You know that you are
going to get old, do you have a plan when you cannot take care
of yourself? You know that you have this bill coming, do you
have a plan to pay it. You know that you want to get married, do
you have a plan on preparing yourself to be the kind of spouse
God wants you to be?
 Proverbs 16:9 says, “We should make plans – counting on God to
direct us” (TLB). Go ahead and make plans, but God will direct
and redirect you as you go through your plans.
 Proverbs 16:1 says, “We may make our plans, but God has the
last word” (GN).
Your life should consist of plans, but those plans should be given and
endorsed by God. Include God in the plans. Ask the question, “God what do
you want me to do?”

Your life is uncertain

Number two, your life is uncertain. You can make plans. Have God-given
plans. Seek godly advice and have it mapped out. Those plans you made can
be disrupted or completely destroyed. James 4:14 puts it this way, How do
you know what your life will be like tomorrow? (NLT). You can make
your plans, but always remember those plans are not in concrete.
 Just ask that person who saved themselves for the right person,
then got married, had a couple of kids, a dog and nice house but
now they are divorced because their spouse left them for
someone else. Life is uncertain.
 Just ask that young person who had a bright future ahead of
them but because of some poor decisions their life has been
tragically altered. Life is uncertain.
 Just ask the young family whose dad just lost his job or the kids
who just lost their mom or the family who lost their home. Life is
uncertain.
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? You don’t know
and that’s why God needs to be a significant part of your life and plans.
When your life gets derailed you don’t want to find that you are standing on
quicksand, rather than the rock of God. One of the reasons why so many
people feel dissatisfied in life is because they feel like their life was derailed
and taken away from them and they were not ready for it. Life is uncertain,
but God wants you to be as ready as you can be if that were to happen to
you.

Your life is short


Number three, your life is short. James 4:14 goes on to say, Your life is
like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone (NLT).
Some translations say that your life is like a “vapor” (CSB) or
a “mist” (ESV). Have you ever seen steam coming up out of your coffee cup
or off of some hot food? There it is and then its gone. Life is like that.
Moses wrote Psalm 90 and he says in verse 10, “Seventy years are given to
us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and
trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away” (NLT). Whether your life has
been filled with a lot of joy or a lot of pain or mixture of both those years go
by quickly. When I was younger I would hear old timers says things like,
“Enjoy life while you can, before you know it your life is over” or “Enjoy your
kids while you can, before you know it they are all grown up.” Now that I’m
halfway to 100, I get it. When you are living life it can seem to move slowly,
but when you look back on life you realize how much your life is like a vapor,
a mist, or a fog that is there briefly and then gone.

Back to Moses in Psalm 90. He then says this in verse 12, “Teach us to
realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom” (NLT). Some
translations word this by saying, “Teach us to number our days.” The point
and the reason for understanding how short life is, is to help you grow in
wisdom and to make the most of the time God gives you. When you think
about how short life is and you get depressed or discouraged about it then
you are not thinking about it from God’s perspective. If you see it as an
opportunity, even though it may be a brief opportunity, you want to make
your life count and be a blessing to others.

Your life belongs to God

So what do we have so far? Your life should have plans. You live your life
with intentionality. Your life is uncertain, so don’t be surprised when your
plans get derailed. Your life is short, let that motivate you to make the most
of your life for God. Number four, your life belongs to God. James 4:15-
16 says, What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will
live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your
own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil (NLT). A couple of
things from this.
First, this “Lord willing” mindset says, “My life belongs to God and I want
to do His will.” This is not making plans and then asking God to bless those
plans. This is seeking God’s will before we make plans and act when we have
assurance that we are doing so according to His will. You are always filtering
your future through the mindset, “If the Lord wants me to….”
This statement is not something you need to say after every sentence. That’s
not the point. I do think it is good to say out loud from time to time to remind
you and others who is actually in charge. For example, “Lord willing, I plan
on going to that university after I graduate from high school” or “Lord willing,
I plan on retiring when I’m 65” or “Lord willing, I plan on getting a new job by
the end of the year.” I do think its spiritually healthy to say that out loud
from time to time.

Sometimes Paul used the phrase, “If the Lord wills,” when speaking about
the future and sometimes He didn’t. Let me give you some examples.

 In Acts 18:21 Paul was asked to stay longer in Ephesus to teach


God’s Word a little longer but as he left he said, “I will come
back later, God willing” (NLT).
 In Romans 1:10 he is writing to some believers in Rome and he
wants to come to them and visit with them and he writes, “One
of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to
come at last to see you” (NLT).
 He’s hoping to visit some Christians in Corinth and says to them
in 1 Corinthians 4:19, “I will come – and soon – if the Lord lets
me…” (NLT).
 At the end of 1 Corinthians he tells the believers one more time
in 1 Corinthians 16:7, “This time I don’t want to make just a
short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile,
if the Lord will let me” (NLT).
 Again you see something similar in Philippians 2:19 when Paul
writes, “If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send timothy to you
soon for a visit” (NLT).
Your life and plans belong to God. Remind yourself and others of that. The
Bible doesn’t say that we are to say this a certain many times a day. I want
to give some spiritual homework to do. This week, if you don’t already do
this, try finding at least one time a day to say, “If the Lord wills.” Hey
mamma, what is for supper tonight? If the Lord wills, we are going to have
meatloaf. Will you be able to make that meeting tonight? Lord willing, I will
be there.

This “Lord willing” mindset says, “My life belongs to God and He is in
control of my life.” God is in control. He is sovereign. Look at this
carefully, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live….” I don’t know how many
minutes, days, or years I have left but God knows and He is in charge of
that. The length of my life is in His hands.
But look at it again, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or
that.” Even if God allows me to live what I plan to do in the future may not
happen. I may not be able to “do this or that” because God has allowed
my health to change, my finances to change, or my relationships to change.
The bottom line is God is in charge of my future and I need to seek His plan
for my life.
THE BOTTOM LINE is God is central to all their plans and life. We are to
acknowledge God in everything we do.

Now watch this, James then says, Otherwise you are boasting about
your own pretentious plans. A “pretentious plan” is a plan that you
have decided is significant and important apart from God.
A “plan” becomes pretentious when you decide that no matter what God
thinks this is the plan I am doing whether God likes it or not.

There two types of “pretentious plans.”

 Practical-atheists plans: This is ignoring God’s will, living as


though God and His will do not exist.
 Self-atheists plans: This person acknowledges that God exists
and has a will, nevertheless arrogantly rejects it. This group
refuses to submit the uncertainties of life to God, they set
themselves, their own goals, and their own wills above God.
God’s will, though acknowledged, simply is not as important to
them as their plans. Christians are often guilty of setting aside
God’s will in favor of their own plans.
When you make plans without God or ignore God’s plans for your life that is
considered that is considered boasting. In other words, you are bragging
about how you don’t need God and what God says is not important to your
life. So James says, “All such boasting is evil.” It is selfish and self-
centered.

Your life is to be a blessing

Number five, your life is to be a blessing. James 4:17 says, Remember,


it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it (NLT). He
says, “Remember” that even though your life is short and it may get
derailed make plans regarding your life with God and throughout your life –
no matter what happens – do what you ought to do. If you find out that
you have a year left, don’t let the shortness of your life stop you from being
a blessing to others. If your life is not where or what you thought it would be,
don’t let that stop you from caring and loving and forgiving and motivating
others.
Conclusion

What I’m asking you to do today is make plans with God. Let God guide your
decisions about who you date, who you marry, what job or career you
choose, or how you plan your day or week or year. And if the plans change
you will still know that God is in control and all things work together for good
to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
The loss ratio in insurance represents the percentage of losses an insurer incurs due to paid
claims relative to the premiums earned. It’s calculated as follows:

Loss Ratio=Total Earned PremiumsClaims Paid + Adjustment Expenses

For instance, if an insurance company pays $80 in claims for every $160 in collected premiums,
the loss ratio would be 50%1. A high loss ratio can signal financial distress, especially for
property or casualty insurers. Different types of insurance (e.g., health vs. property) have varying
loss ratios. Health insurance tends to have higher loss ratios, while commercial property and
liability policies aim for adequate ratios to maintain stability

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