His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

First, before we go to the text, just a brief word of explanation that in the last year and some months, at the behest of this congregation and with your blessing and our pastor's encouragement, I have had the privilege of serving as a pastor.

I was an interim pastor in a sister church in Chillicothe. It's about an hour and 20 minutes or so drive, depending on deer and weather, and I have ample time to pray for many of you that I dearly love and care for and also for the fellowship here.

It's been my blessing in that absence to enjoy listening to the services on a regular basis, and I am blessed to listen to the ministry of the Word of God and also your singing, but I have to tell you, you sing well.

You heard me say that while I was here, but what a phenomenal blessing for me to sit up here again in this morning and just listen to you putting your hearts into it and kind of bearing testimony of the fact that when the Word of God is working in people's lives and the Spirit of God is working in people's lives,

one of the ways it shows up is in joyful singing to the Lord. There is a spirit of thanksgiving and blessing in your singing, and I am so very thankful for that.

I will tell you, I have to ask you to pray for me. I've done that for all the years of my ministry, and I am mindful that apart from prayer, we don't get much done, and so you can kind of multitask.

You've heard me say that many times, but go ahead and pray for me, and it won't bother me in the least if at some point you say it out loud.

You know, you may feel I need a little extra help, and just go ahead and say it. Oh, Lord, help him. Do it out loud. Not going to throw me off. I know it. I know that.

But I will tell you that today, the fellowship, Calvary Baptist Church at Chillicothe is in the process of candidating.

They are looking to call a man to become their pastor, and should that go well, I will be back here sitting in this fellowship and enjoying the ministry that you all have in declaring the glory of Christ.

And so you kind of pray for them as well. Pastor Rob Fowler is his name, and a good man coming from a sister church, and a man that has a heart for God and a heart for the Word.

And so you keep that in prayer, and I'll keep you posted how that is going.

Well, with that said, let's kind of step in to the end of what preaching aims to do.

Preaching is an activity in which the Word of God is, it should be, the thing that's out front and center, right?

When you walk away from here, one of the things that you should know is not that I was a storyteller,

and I don't tell jokes because I'm miserable at them.

My wife never laughs at them, and so it's like, let it go.

But I want you to walk away saying, I heard the Word of God, and it affected my life,

and I want to be different as a result of it.

I think about the passage in Jeremiah where the prophet made this statement.

He says, is not my word a fire?

Is not my word a hammer that breaks the rock?

And I'll tell you ahead of time what we're going to be talking about this morning is the matter of thankfulness.

The Scriptures that call us to be thankful is one of those that not a one of us here is probably unaware of.

We know that we are to be a thankful people, and yet we live in a culture that is just kind of shot through

with an attitude of ill will and unthankfulness at every hand.

You go in Monday to work, and guess how a lot of the people are going to act?

I mean, they're not going to be happy.

Am I right?

I read an article last week talking about the fact that in this current political malaise,

the majority of people that pay any attention to politics at all are generally pretty unhappy and angry.

I can't understand that.

But, you know, it's out there.

We live in an unhappy world, and Romans chapter 1 tells us that that's one of the characteristics of an unbeliever.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

And yet what I would ask you this as we kind of work our way into this text, Psalm 136,

I want to ask you this.

How often are you recognized by other people as being thankful?

How often are you recognized by other people by you being thankful?

How many of you know people that are consistently thankful?

Do you know?

Wave your hands at me.

I've been gone a long time, so some of you don't know how to do that.

But just, I get it.

How often do you remember, that's a thankful person.

That's a person that I can count on not to be grumpy and moody, not to be kind of surly and unhappy,

not to be easily offended.

They're a person that on most occasions are going to be thankful.

And by the way, a thankful spirit, as rare as it is, is a profound testimony in this unbelieving world, isn't it?

How many times have you had people say to you, so, why are you happy?

Well, what's going on in your life?

What is the reason for the hope that lies within you, right, from 1 Peter?

And the reminder, our lives are to be marked by a spirit of thankfulness and joy that is a magnetic thing

in the life of an unhappy and discontent and discouraged world.

Agreed?

And so what we're going to look at this morning, Psalm 136,

is an unbelievable psalm dealing with the subject of thankfulness.

Let's look at it.

Let me read a portion of it, and then we'll kind of work our way into it.

Psalm 136, verse 1,

Psalms 136:1

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

Right?

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

The next little line is,

For His steadfast love endures forever.

Verse 2,

Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever.

For,

To Him who alone does great wonders,

for His steadfast love endures forever.

Now by that, by this point, you're probably thinking to yourself,

Is He going to go on this way all the way through all 26 verses?

And the answer is,

Yes.

It's not because the Holy Spirit couldn't come up with anything else.

It's because He wants us to know the supreme importance of His name, character,

And the reason that we are to be thankful is that His steadfast love endures forever.

Do you want to be a thankful person?

Do you want to be a person who in the swamp that we live in,

in the unhappy, broken world that we are going to be sent out into tomorrow,

to minister, and to be a testimony to the grace of God?

Do you want to be a person who stands apart, who is different, who is atypical,

and by that character draws people to wonder about why you're different?

I think this passage has something to say.

And I would appeal to you,

if you're sitting here in the honest heart that you have,

you're saying,

You know what?

As a general rule, I'm not a very thankful person.

I don't have to work very hard to be pretty moody and unhappy.

I'm pretty good at it.

I would ask you to begin praying right now to say,

This is the day that I am asking the Holy Spirit to change my attitude

about the matter of thanksgiving,

because His steadfast love endures forever.

Well, let's kind of step into the text a little more in detail,

and recognize that actually this entire psalm is a psalm of thanksgiving.

The word's actually only used four times.

You find it there, give thanks in verse 1,

give thanks in verse 2,

give thanks in verse 3,

and then you can kind of work your way on down to the very end in 26,

and it says,

Give thanks.

So why would I say that the entire psalm is a psalm of thanksgiving,

and draws our attention to that obligation?

Well, where's Jared Piles, the grammar Nazi?

Okay?

If you are a grammarian of any sort,

and I'm not going to step into that swamp for the moment,

but if you're a grammarian,

you would know that if you look at verse 3,

it says,

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for His steadfast love endures forever,

and then there's a little bit of punctuation there.

What is it?

It's a semicolon,

and it attaches the remaining verses from 3,

actually 4 on to 25,

and it's all lumped together as one declaration.

Here are the reasons that we are to give thanks.

Give thanks, give thanks, give thanks, give thanks.

The psalm wants us to be thankful in every situation,

and it's interesting to recognize that this psalm also was one that was a centerpiece to Old Testament worship.

It was known as the Great Hallel, okay?

And it was a psalm that was often sung,

and some scholars say it was actually sung in every Sabbath worship service.

One of the songs that they would sing,

one of the psalms,

was Psalm 136.

It depends on who you're looking at to kind of get out the information on this,

but it was certainly one that was sung on a very regular basis.

I remember a couple of songs we sang this morning,

and we have some songs that are,

we're not liturgical,

but there are songs that are kind of at the foundation of who we are

and our appreciation for God.

Isn't that right?

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him all creatures.

And things that we often come back to touch on

because they're foundational to us.

This was one of those psalms that the Old Testament saints sang on a regular basis,

and it was a reflection of their heart in their worship.

It was also a psalm that was often used

when people were struggling with adversity and difficulty.

Now, none of you here have had any of those problems.

Your life is probably just kind of peachy and all very good,

and there's no adversity and difficulty,

but this psalm is one that when the saint was struggling with a burden and a challenge,

he would go back and he would recite this psalm to himself,

and he would take comfort in knowing that this psalm was a reminder

of the unfailing love of God.

One night in 358 A.D.,

the church father, Athanasius,

held an all-night service of prayer at his church in Alexandria, Egypt.

He'd been leading a fight for the eternal sonship and deity of Christ.

Now, how many of you know that the issue of the sonship and deity of Christ

was not a theological truth that was hammered out in the first three weeks of history after the cross?

It actually took about 450 years for the church to absolutely rock settled

on the entire humanity and the entire deity of Christ.

Athanasius was one of those scholars that was leading the fight,

and it was a very adversarial and unhappy predicament for the church,

and a lot of tension over it.

And on that evening that he was leading this service,

this prayer service,

for more political reasons than theological,

there was a large gathering of soldiers that had come against the church.

And when Athanasius knew that the soldiers were outside the church,

had surrounded the church,

and meant ill to the congregation,

what he instructed them to do,

he said, listen, we're going to stop right now,

and we are going to sing Psalm 136.

Now, how does that go?

Let me do it again.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

And 26 times as Athanasius led the church in singing this,

when they would come to the second part,

guess how they would say it?

They would thunder it out.

Right?

They would just bellow it.

And when the soldiers actually broke through the big open doors to come into the service,

they were blown away by the enthusiasm of saints,

who in the face of adversity,

were just kind of thundering this,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

This psalm has been a comfort over and over again,

when saints have found themselves in challenges,

challenges that stretch them beyond their ability,

and drive them to remember who their God is and how he loves them.

Let's think a little more carefully about what this psalm does,

in terms of laying out the issues for us,

and pick up, if you will,

in verses 1 through 3,

and understand that this first portion draws attention to the nature and character of our God.

So why are we to be thankful?

Yes, consistently we are to remind ourselves that his steadfast love endures forever,

but we are also to be thankful because he is our Lord.

He is our God.

He is the Lord of lords.

And that's what the psalm does here in the beginning part.

He draws attention to the issue of who our God is by using three different names in the Hebrew.

He calls God, first of all, Yahweh, which is I Am.

And in relationship to that, the very first part of the verse, he says,

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

He is good.

He's always good.

He's good in every case.

He is the only one who is absolutely unchanged in His goodness,

and there is not a part of Him that ever changes or drifts away from goodness.

How many of you have done good things but really didn't have a good heart?

You ever done that?

I don't want to bring it up, but you've taken flowers to your wife

after there's been a little something going on,

and you use flowers as what?

A remedy for the problem?

She'd much rather have you be good all the time than have flowers.

And we've all done a variety of things to kind of compensate for our badness.

God's not that way.

He is always good.

He is always good.

I have been thinking more often about what it means to get older.

I like to look out and see all your young faces and no gray hair.

There are some of you out here that have gray, but I appreciate that.

You know, hey, getting older is actually, here's what I'm beginning to learn.

Are you listening?

It is a heightening opportunity to discover the goodness of God.

I mean that.

I watched my dad and my mom both go towards heaven,

and every step of the way they grew in thankfulness

and spirit-tuned sensitivity to the glory and supremacy of Christ.

And as I'm beginning to get older,

and there are parts that ache in the morning when you get out of bed,

it's like, I keep saying,

hey, I want to grow to know you more and love you more.

He is always good.

He is always good.

And do not ever let the enemy of your souls rob you of the certainty

that the God of this universe is good in everything He allows in your life.

I look back in the rear view mirror, as many of you have done,

and I have to recognize that every moment marked,

whether it has been by difficulty or exceptional moments of joy,

have been characterized by the goodness of God.

And here, as the psalmist starts into this psalm,

he says,

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

The second thing that we find here is that He is known as the Elohim,

or He's known as Elohim, the Mighty One, the Judge, the Lord of all.

And I am so very thankful when I stop and think about the world that we live in

that I know the One who is the Judge of the whole earth.

You kind of listen to the political wrangling a little bit.

I can't take very much without getting my hair kind of ruffled,

but you listen to some of that and you think,

Man, what a messy world we live in.

And it makes me think,

I really am looking forward to when Jesus comes back.

Aren't you?

We won't need Washington.

We won't need Beijing.

We won't need London.

We won't need an army.

We won't need...

Man, I'm looking forward to when the Lord, my Savior,

the Mighty One, the Judge of the whole earth,

returns and brings His kingdom into being.

I'm reminded as well in this passage in verse 3,

it says,

Give thanks to the Lord of lords.

And it's reminding us that He is the Adonai.

He is the Mighty One.

He is transcendent and creator of all.

Over and above all.

And yet, in reality,

while He is the creator and over all,

He also pays attention to us personally.

And as we step from verse 3 into 4 through 9,

what we're going to pick up here,

and I'm not going to go into all the details of the text,

but here we find that God's power and wisdom is on display

through the activity of His creation.

Verse 4,

To Him alone who does great wonders,

for His steadfast love endures forever.

To Him who by understanding made the heavens.

Stop and think about that.

This summer, Judith and I,

as we would sit on our porch in the mornings,

we discovered that hummingbirds liked our plants.

Well, that kind of prompted us to do a little further research,

Google it, and figure out what else do hummingbirds like.

And pretty soon, our porch,

it was just a collection of all whatever would attract hummingbirds.

I mean, at the point you hardly see the road.

They're all over the place.

But then that wasn't enough.

We had to go by like three or four little hummingbird feeders, right?

And we've got those things hanging out there.

And every single time one of them showed up,

we just kind of,

this is amazing.

I mean, how did God do that?

A little teeny little thing like this

that flies with the most spectacular speed and mobility.

Am I right?

Have you ever noticed hummingbirds?

This is where they really show their abilities,

when they're unhappy with each other and chasing each other.

They don't share feeders very well.

And you'd see this,

there would be hummingbird and suddenly,

and then off they'd go.

And how they,

it's like,

my God did that.

That's the creator of this universe.

universe.

That's just a very small part of it.

And,

and as I think about this passage,

you kind of stop and recognize that

this issue

of God as the creator of the universe

is one that is a center point to our faith.

How does Genesis 1, 1 start?

In the beginning,

God.

How does John chapter 1,

John 1:1–3

verse 1 through 3

get rolling?

In the beginning was the word,

and the word was with God,

and the word was God.

And it goes on and says,

and all things were made through him.

Psalm 19, verse 1.

Psalms 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God.

Romans chapter 1, verse 20.

Romans 1:20

For his invisible attributes,

namely his eternal power

and divine nature,

have been clearly perceived

ever since the creation of the world.

And while many unbelievers

do their very best

to suppress down

the spectacular wisdom

of God in creation,

it slaps them in the face

everywhere they turn.

Unbelievable.

The complexity

and the beauty

and the marvel

of the creation

that you and I enjoy,

and we know the creator,

and he is our Lord

and our God.

I remember asking myself

as I was praying

about this passage,

why is this issue

of creation

so important

to my appreciation of God?

Now there are many reasons

that probably could be offered,

but one stands out in particular.

And I want you to turn,

if you will,

just for a second,

over to Psalm chapter 8.

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

You're in Psalm 36,

so turn over,

if you will,

to Psalm chapter 8.

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

Hey, by the way,

pastor,

I want you to,

ah,

who put that up in the back?

It says 1152 here,

and then it says 1143 over there,

and on my phone

it says 1143.

We're in good shape.

Okay.

Do they do that to you?

Do they mess with the time

over here?

Pastor,

preach on.

When pastors pay attention

to time,

don't take any note of it

because they really don't,

let me stop.

Psalm 8,

Psalms 8:3–6

verse 3 through 6.

When I look at your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars

which you have set in place,

what is man

that you are mindful of him?

I don't know about you,

but I'm pretty impressed

with my insignificance

on fairly regular occasion.

I'm going to be dust

one of these days.

By the way,

I won't be embalmed

just in case you're wondering,

so I will be dust.

Okay.

That's for real

in my own pine box

that I'm making myself.

There you go.

You didn't need to know that either,

but I've told you.

It's my last remodel job.

Oh,

stop.

Okay.

What is man

that you're mindful of him?

Okay.

And the son of man

that you care for him.

I hope you honestly

are overwhelmed

when you stop and think

that the God of this universe

knows you personally

and cares about you personally

as an interest in your well-being.

And if he has called you

to be his son,

having spent the blood

of his own son

for your salvation,

he will do whatever

is necessary

to get you home.

Don't mess with him.

The psalmist goes on

and he says this,

Yet you have made him

a little lower

than heavenly beings

and crowned him

with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion

over the works of your hands.

You have put all things

under his feet.

We serve as his vice regents.

We are charged with caring

for his creation.

And he has set

his unfailing love upon us

and his attitude

and his heart towards us

will never change.

The second, third portion

actually begins there

in verse 10

and carries on down

through verse 24.

And I just want to mark

in broad terms

that this segment

deals with God's great work

in deliverance and provision.

Each note

of his good work

is followed

by the repetition

of that statement

for his steadfast love

endures forever.

The psalmist begins

with the high point

of the plagues

that God afflicted

on Egypt

so as to deliver

his people from slavery.

Now, you may be familiar

with this story

but you may not.

So let me kind of

just touch on it

a little bit.

It's really curious

but worth our attention

to recognize

that while the Israelites

were not entirely happy

in Egypt

they weren't entirely

unhappy either.

In fact,

they were really not

all that settled

about leaving.

The unbeliever

caught in the swamp

of their sin

doesn't like where they are

but has no intention

of leaving.

And God had to do

something pretty miraculous

to get the nation

of Israel

out of the land

of Egypt.

Did you know

that the people

the Egyptian people

drove Israel

out of town?

It's like

get out of here.

We're afraid

of what else

will happen.

And by the way

if you pay attention

to the ten plagues

each one incrementally

got worse and worse

more significant.

And remember

when God told

Moses

I'm going to have

people send you out

and by the way

they're going to

pack you off

with all kinds

of good stuff.

I'm going to spoil

the Egyptians.

And their back wages

in essence

were paid

as they packed up

and left town.

But we find here

in this passage

you look at the passage

again

you find that

what takes place

is that God

reminds the nation

over and over again

I'm the one

who did these things

for you

as I delivered you

from the iron furnace

and I brought you

to the place of promise.

The text goes on

to name one deliverance

after another

and we cannot read

the text

without being

a little overwhelmed

of just

how gracious

God was

in loving his people.

And by the way

what were those people like?

They were the most wonderful

congenial

happy

enduring people

I mean you know

God took them a hard way

but he did that

he tells us in Exodus

so that they would

kind of toughen up

and how did they do

toughening up?

They whined every single day.

They whined and complained

about every single challenge

that God brought

into their life

and

on more than one occasion

Moses just kind of

threw up his hands

and said

ha!

And here we find

as you work your way

through this passage

over and over again

that God

taking care

of his people

never changed

his mind

on them

and never

turned his back

on them.

I love the flow

of the text

in particular

in verse 23

and verse 24

let me read it to you

there it says

here it says

it is he who remembered us

in our low estate

for his steadfast love

endures forever

and rescued us

from our foes

for his steadfast love

endures forever.

Let me ask you a question

when did Israel

have foes?

Most of the foes

they had

were self-inflicted

because of their

idolatrous hearts

would you agree?

they dug themselves

holes repeatedly

and God

delivered them

and here is the

psalmist

reminding

the nation

of the fact

that over and against

these heartaches

and difficulties

that they endured

was the God

who cared for them

and never changed

his mind

about them.

While we'd like

to think that

we've been reasonably

focused in our

spiritual lives

the truth of the matter

is this

is that we've been

a whole lot more

like the children

of Israel

than we want

to admit.

Our great

consolation is this

is that his

steadfast love

endures forever.

Now before we take

a minute to think

in practical terms

of the blessings

of his steadfast love

let's just kind of

watch or let's think

for a second

about what is the

significance of his

steadfast love.

What is this

steadfast love?

I want you to know

that for one

his steadfast love

is the centerpiece

of our relationship

with him.

It's a centerpiece.

And you say

well can you prove

that?

Well 1 John chapter

1 John 4:19

4 verse 19

how many of you

know it without

looking?

Come on.

We love him

because he first

loved us.

If you're sitting

here this morning

and your heart

has any level

of affection

for the Lord

Jesus Christ

it's not because

one warm evening

you decided

as you were

sitting over

on the porch

you know I think

I need to start

loving God.

Didn't happen.

He chased you

through the messiness

of your life

he found you

broken and ruined

and he lifted you up

and he loved you

unconditionally

and slowly in your

heart you began

to appreciate

the wealth

and depth

of that love.

His love

is the basis

of our salvation.

There's not a one

of you here

probably today

that doesn't know

for John chapter

John 3:16

3 verse 16

for God so loved

the world

that he gave

us his son.

And then we come

to John chapter

John 15:13

15 verse 13

where Jesus said

to his disciples

greater love

hath no man

than this

that he lay

down his life

for his brethren.

Jesus let

those who he

loved know

that he loved

them.

His love

also assures

me that regardless

of where I roam

he will not

let me go.

I got to tell you

I'm an older

guy now.

And one of the

advantages of being

older is I kind

of learned a little

bit with messing

with God is not

a good idea

because he won't

let his children

go.

Do you follow

that?

He will do

whatever is

necessary to get

a hold of you

if you are his

child.

And I say that

not on the basis

of personal experience

because that's

irrelevant.

I say that on

the basis of

Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

12.

Whom the Lord

loves he

chastens.

If you're sitting

here this morning

and you're someone

who's getting away

with sin and it

seems like God

doesn't care you

probably ought to

stop and say why

not?

Why not?

If you are his

child and you are

drifting he will put

his arm around you

gently to start with

but he will always

step it up until

he gets your

attention.

That's one of the

things I like about

my age.

Truthfully.

When I begin to

mess with bad

attitudes and

primarily attitudes

is what I'm

dealing with.

Getting a little

self-focused and

you know whatever.

God will tap me

on the shoulder

and it's like I

hear you I hear

you.

And then he'll

say do you want

to go any further

and I say no no

no.

I get it.

I've been there.

I know how this

ends.

It's never fun.

And so I want to

tell you his love

will not turn you

loose.

His love sets the

boundaries in my

life.

It tells me in 2

2 Corinthians 5:14

Corinthians chapter

5 verse 14 it

says for the love of

Christ constrains me.

I love my wife.

I love my

grandchildren.

I love you.

But it is not the

thing that constrains

me most.

It is the Savior who

has loved me

unconditionally and

never failed me.

That helps me set

the standard and

keep the course.

His love is

central.

So let me ask you

this question.

If the psalmist

uses this repetitive

phrase 26 times,

do you think it's

really important to

think about on a

regular basis?

yes?

And the answer is

yes.

How I do that,

I have a little

routine with going

to sleep at night.

I'd like to say that I

always go to sleep after

I do the routine but it

doesn't happen that way.

But I do have a little

routine.

I get in bed and I say

certain things to my

wife.

Whether she's awake or

not.

It's just kind of a

habit.

How many of you

understand what I

just said?

Okay, it's like,

honey, I love you,

you know, and

whatever.

And it's like,

it's all right.

I say it.

I did say it.

And when I turn off

my volume,

the next thing I do

is I talk to God

and I say thank you

for loving me and

never stopping

every night.

There are some

habits that are worth

developing.

Wouldn't you agree

with me?

And Psalm 136

was one of the

verses, the passages

that hammered with

driving home this

point that appreciating

the unfailing,

unchanging,

steadfast love of

God was a

principal thing to

focus my thinking

on.

Do you find

yourself overwhelmed

on a regular

basis with the

steadfast love of

God?

Do you find that

thinking about his

love tamps down

your natural

moodiness, your

offendability index,

and your hesitance

to serve other

people?

You remind

yourself, he

loves me.

He loves me.

And he will not

change his mind

about me.

So, let me kind

of put this

together in a

closing statement

this way.

You are here

this morning

really in one

of two conditions.

I don't know

some of you,

your faces are

new to me,

others of you

I've known

fairly well.

I've been your

pastor for 31

years and now I

am part of the

congregation.

But I know you.

people.

And so, those of

you that are

here that ask

yourself the

question, am I

affected at all by

the steadfast love

of Christ?

And if your heart

is cold to that,

let me ask you

whether or not you

really know Christ

as your Savior.

If you have been

redeemed, one of

the things that goes

along with that

redemption is you

begin to fall in

love with the

Savior.

Remember the

woman who washed

the feet of Jesus

with her hair?

Right?

Pretty spectacular.

Do you know why

she loved him like

that?

She had been

forgiven much.

And when Jesus

rebuked Simon for

his squirrely little

pinhead thinking,

you know, it was

like, hey, she

loves me, man.

Get over it.

And if you're here

as a person who

has been redeemed,

and forgiven of

all your sins,

how can you not

love him?

Love can grow

cold.

We can become

indifferent to it.

And so if you're

here and there has

been a time where

you have had a

heart that's been

tuned to the Lord

Jesus and yet

you've kind of

drifted away in

your sensitivity to

the unbelievable

love of Christ that

just is beyond

imagination, let me

encourage you with

two closing passages.

Ephesians chapter

three, verse 14

through 19, and

we're not going to

take the time to

look at it, but

she says this.

Paul says, he's

praying for the

church.

He says that you

might be able to

comprehend with all

the saints what?

What is the breadth

and height and width

and depth of the

love of Christ?

And so if you're

sitting here and

you're kind of,

eh, I'm not there.

By the way, a

thankful spirit is

the fruit of

appreciating the love

of God.

Would you

understand that?

And if you're

sitting here kind

of a moody, surly,

not really a happy

Christian, the

solution is not to

take some other

pills.

It is to go to the

Lord and say, I

need a heart change.

And let's do it with

reminding myself of

the fact that you

love me unconditionally.

Ephesians, the

apostle says, I pray

that the power of the

Holy Spirit would

help you grow in

appreciating and

understanding the

love of Christ.

One other verse

and then we'll

close.

Turn to Romans

Romans 5:5

chapter 5,

verse 5.

Romans 5,

Romans 5:5

verse 5.

And hope does

not put us to

shame because God

love, God's love

has been poured

into our hearts

through the Holy

Spirit who has

been given to

us.

It's the Holy

Spirit's business

to pour into

your impoverished

impoverished and

dry soul and

appreciation of the

love of God for

you.

And he is glad to

do that.

Ask him and say,

there is something

that the Holy

Spirit is called to

do and I need it

done.

My devotions this

morning were about

a lady that came

asking Jesus for a

miracle.

Daughter was sick

and it says

twice,

Jesus answered

her not a

word.

What?

Poor lady was

pouring her heart

out.

She was broken.

Her daughter was

suffering and he

didn't say a

thing.

He was really

checking her

determination.

Am I right?

And so if you're

dissatisfied and an

unhappy heart and an

unhappy and unthankful

spirit is the

characteristic of your

life and you're a

believer, the prudent

thing to do would be

to profess you need

the help of the Holy

Spirit to grow in

understanding the

depth, the magnitude,

the awesomeness of

his unfailing love.

love.

Let's close in prayer.

miracle miracle miracle

Thank you.