Thank You Lord — Jim Cymbala

Breaking the Power of Bad Habits

One of the things that God does when he saves us is he starts to break things that are habitually part of our lives. They're called habits, but we all have habits. Many of which are not good for us. So God wants us to see these habits broken.

God is in the habit of breaking bad habits. Do you believe that? Sometimes they're broken in an instant other times God has to change things in our life. So that we come to a position of being able to see that habit broken.

He has to renew our minds because we think down old tracks that are not healthy for us. Of all the bad habits Christians have. There's one probably that's the worst or the most common among all of us, and I know it's one of my besetting sins and it's one that I want to see God help me in and that is A habit which also has profound spiritual dimensions to it.

Because it has a lot to do with a lot when you think about it in the light of the New Testament the best way to tell you about it is By telling you a familiar story from the Gospels. Let's look at it now.

Jesus Heals Ten Lepers

Luke 17 on his way to Jerusalem Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee and as he was going into a village ten men who had leprosy met him and they stood at a distance. Why do they stand at a distance because you were told you didn't get near anybody.

When you had leprosy you had a cry when someone came within a certain amount of month according to the Jewish law. We're told by Edersheim and others that a certain distance you had a cry and yell out unclean unclean.

So nobody would walk into your area and not know that leprosy was around people didn't know much about it then. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice Jesus master have pity on us and When he saw them he said go away go show yourselves to the priests and as they went They were cleansed.

There's an interesting example of Obedience to a command of Jesus being the key to an answer to prayer in This case they were healed not because he touched them he did touch leprous people, but not these he just spoke and gave a command and told them to go to the priest and To show themselves which was what you did after you healed, but they weren't healed yet.

But as they obeyed him and went to the priest according to the law to show that they were healed. So an offering could be made and so on and so forth as they were going they were healed. Cleansed and one of them when he saw he was healed came back praising God in a loud voice and he threw himself at Jesus's feet and thanked him and he was a Samaritan and it seems like the nine others of them were Jews.

From either the northern province of Galilee where Jesus grew up or the southern province of Judea. So they were Jews full Jews. This one was a Samaritan. Samaria was the piece of land in between the northern Galilee the south of Judea and that they had their own religion and they were detested by the Jews they they were hated by the rabbis and The rabbis taught that if you walk through Samaria and even you're the dust from the Samaritan Villages the dust from the roads gets on your feet.

You were unclean. That's how much they look down on Samaria and Samaritans. But the one who came back was one of these despised rejected people who the Jews said no. No, no, we have nothing to do with you.

You always gave us trouble throughout history and you have a hybrid religion. You got some of the that they believed in the teaching only of Moses. They didn't believe in the teaching of the prophets or the Psalms of David is a mixture mixed religion and I was in Samaria on my one trip to Israel and And David our missionary took me to the headquarters of the Samaritan religion.

You want to talk about a demonic place and the head guy of the whole thing? They've never left the land. The Jews have gone out of the land during their Time of captivity, but the Samaritans boast and say we're the only ones who never left the land.

It's like a hybrid people with different bloods of different other peoples and a religion that's half this half that and the guy started to bring out books of the heritage that goes all the way back to the time of The original Samaritans shall we say and they intermarry and they have a lot of birth defects and they have some odd-looking Characteristics because they're inbred they don't marry outside as at one time they got down to only like seven eight hundred now.

There's only eight or ten thousand. I think in all of Samaria, but they've never left and that was one place where I said to David I'm out of here and they showed me the side where once a year they kill a huge animal as their their Sacrifice and people come in from around the world to see it and take pictures of it and it's their religion very very uncomfortable feeling I had there Very.

That man was the Samaritan. Jesus asked we're not all ten cleanse. Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise or thanks to God except this foreigner. And then he said to him rise and go your faith has made you well.

Obedience, Healing, and the Missing Thanksgiving

Now what's interesting about that story is not only that it was the Samaritan who came back. Not only that Jesus didn't heal like he usually healed which was laying on of hands or speaking your cleanse.

He just said go and show yourself to the priest and they could have said no. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not healed. Look, I got leprosy, but they obeyed him and as they went they were healed so sometimes, you know, God just said does nothing almost the same way twice and When the Lord tells us to do something, we'll never know what blessing we'll miss if we don't do it.

When God tells you to do something whatever simple thing it is do it. You don't know what's gonna happen out of that act of obedience, but the interesting part about this. Yes. It was the Samaritan came back not a Jew.

But the point is that Jesus was saying wait a minute. I just healed ten people. Ten people had faith to go and obey the command and go to the priest. I held I healed ten. What's the deal that there's just one coming back?

Where are the other nine? So nine people obeyed him and had the faith and they were healed. But they had the bad habit that a lot of us have. They were unthankful. It amazed Jesus. Jesus said One out of ten comes back to say thank you.

Don't you think if you were healed by someone of leprosy you would come back and at least say gracias senor. No. No, maybe they were so busy celebrating back with the family. Maybe they were moving on to the next problem where they're gonna get a job now that they're clean.

Where they're gonna get clothes because their clothes were all unclean. You know we go on to the next problem. And we don't stop and say thank you God. One of them are besetting sins is a lot of us are chronic in our unthankfulness.

Our ingratitude is incredible. We got 99 things to thank God for we focus on the one thing that we need. And then we cry out to God for that and complain and then when God helps us we don't even thank him for that.

We're on to the next problem that we can find. That's the truth about a lot of us. I'm not saying to put you down. I'm speaking about myself. Some of us owe back pay. Are you kidding. Some of us should be here till midnight just thanking God for all that he's done.

Come on. Can we say amen to that just thanking God in gratitude? It's hard to take with anybody when you see children who are who are ungrateful to their parents in the natural you want to slap them. Am I right or wrong?

Gratitude Toward Parents and Others

When you see people when you see kids talking Back and sassing their parents their mother or their father who took care of them. Changed them and fed them when they couldn't manage for themselves. And now they got all the answers and won't say thank you to their parents.

And if that fits somebody here in this building once you when you get home tonight call your mother or father. I don't care what kind of parents they weren't. I know some things they did they kept you alive because you're here tonight.

So call them up and say thank you mom. Thank you dad. I could never thank my mother. She's here. I could never thank her enough for putting up with me and taking care of me when I was little and Through all my ups and downs she was always there for me so it's very hard to see people being ungrateful and now we live in a city, which is known for being unthankful and Here we're not thankful to anybody.

You rarely meet people. My wife. And I have noticed that and we have felt failure failures about it many times. Because we we see people in our own church who are ungrateful people do something nice to them.

They can't break down and say I thank you. I really thank you for doing that whether it's opening a door or giving a seat or buying them a meal. It's very hard for them to say. Thank you. It's like humbles them.

They feel they're in a vulnerable position but that is very hard to take in fact one of the signs of the Difficult times in the last days Paul says in in 2nd Timothy the third chapter. He says difficult times will come in the last days because men will be lovers of pleasures.

Lovers of money lovers of themselves not lovers of God, but listen having a form of godliness. But denying the power thereof they'll be religious. They'll be religious people. But they'll be all this other and one of the things they'll be is ungrateful difficult times that will come because people will be going to church, but will be ungrateful and I meet people all the time and I need the grace of God or I lose what little sanctification I have.

I'm around people who have an edge. They have an edge like they're bitter and they're mad at the world and everyone's taking advantage of them. Why don't you just stop and thank God for being alive? Everybody in the building lift your hands.

Out loud thank God that you're alive today. Just thank you God. We thank you. We're alive today. That you put breath in my lungs today for one more day God. I'm alive. I'm not dead. I'm not in the grave.

I deserve to be in the grave. But you've kept me alive. We thank you and we praise you. This is hard because here were people who had faith to receive a healing. But they didn't have the grace to come back and say thank you.

Now it doesn't say God said all right. Christ said didn't say all right. Let the leprosy go back on him. He's not like that, but still it hurt him. Because it hurts anybody when you do something nice for someone they can't even say thank you.

The Samaritan came back and fell at his feet. All they want to do is worship him and say thank you. Musicians, I hope you're thankful background singers. I hope you're thankful. What kind of pastor am I?

How am I gonna stand at the judgment seat of Christ if we're all unthankful to people. Ungrateful always always talking about the problem and what went wrong in life. How about what went right in life?

Ingratitude as the Beginning of Backsliding

How about that what went right in life? Unthankfulness to God is another whole thing. Because it seems that an unthankful spirit is the beginning the first step Toward all departure from God. The first step of backsliding.

It's not taking a drink. We're not watching some pornography. The first step of backsliding is To get that proud ungrateful attitude in our heart. Yes toward people it'll show but toward God the proof of that is found in this deep passage in Romans 1.

Where? Paul is arguing and Describing people who didn't have the law like the Jews. The Jews had the law the Jews got the law from Moses. Well, how about all the Gentile peoples who didn't have a law?

He's answering the question How is God gonna judge those people who never had the law never got the Ten Commandments? How will he judge him? Well, we don't know that totally. We just know God is just and he does everything well, amen.

But it says in Romans 1 the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and Wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness notice this the truth is presented to them in one form or another.

But they hold down the truth. It's not that they can't believe the truth. They suppress the truth. They hold it down the word means in the Greek they press it down so it won't come up in front of them.

It's not convenient for them to believe in the truth because they don't want to give up. They know if they accept that truth, they're gonna have to change the way they live. They're gonna have to stop sleeping around or stealing or hating they're gonna have to say I'm sorry and make things right so they don't want to do that.

So they suppress the truth even though their conscience is ringing and saying yay. Listen, you know, what's right? But rather than get right they suppress the truth. Since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them.

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature. Now he's talking about man separate from the law have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made.

So that men are without excuse. There's a world around us. How did it get there? There must be a superior being there must be a creator that this all happened by accident. If I try to convince you that this this glass pulpit just accidentally happened because some stuff was flying around.

And someone opened the doors and a breeze came in and it made that you would laugh at me and say what do you think? I'm crazy. Well, look at the world. Look at the wonders of how we're made think of the human brain.

It makes every computer look like a toy. This just happened accidentally. And to claim we're linked to animals. Where did kindness come from? Where did love come from? Where did these things that only humans being we went to the moon?

We had a man on the moon. We we we love we make sacrifices. We build hospitals for people who are down and out. You ever see a lion build a hospital for zebras. Gonna eat that zebra. I'm gonna build nothing for nobody.

No, we are fearfully and wonderfully made aren't we? Let's just say amen to that we are. So that men are without excuse. They're without excuse. Don't believe people go around say I can't believe. They can't believe they suppress the truth.

Creation, Human Dignity, and the Suppression of Truth

For although they knew God listen, although they knew God they had some understanding of God. They neither glorified him as God nor gave but. Their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened and it started when they knew about God and they wouldn't worship him and they wouldn't give thanks and That was the departure and the next thing, you know, their minds are dark and their imaginations are polluted and the whole thing goes corrupt.

But it began with the simplest things not studying the Bible not understanding difficult passages. Just the ability to stop and say God. I thank you. I glorify you God. I Praise you God. Oh. The power that there is in just thanking God praising God.

Before we eat we should thank every meal. We should thank God for the food set before us. Because not everyone has food. Think of what we have. When I think of the moods that we all go in starting with myself at times in my life feeling bad for myself letting pressures get me down and All around me God is just like what more do I have to do for you?

To get you to thank me and praise me. We should be running around New York every day. Just blessing God. And that's just physical blessings and then think we have Christ in us. Through the Holy Spirit our sins are gone.

I talked to someone before the service who's been battling with something and fell into a bad Area of disobedience but has come back and I said don't let the devil get you down now. There's no record of your sin in heaven.

Either the blood of Jesus cleanses and washes it away or it doesn't and if it doesn't you're in a lot of trouble. But it does. So there's no record. Why can't you why can't we be thankful? Come on, that's one of the worst habits.

We have we're not thankful. Could I charge you? Can I encourage you? What can I do to get up? Into your heart somehow and tell you can you please shake off the negativity? Could you shake off all that you're going through and that you're a victim and all of that.

Could you please give it a rest and you could you start to praise God for what he has done? Come on, can we say amen to that? Come on. Can we say amen to that? Can we shake that off? You might say pass some of that hurtful to me because you don't know what I'm going through.

I'm not. I'm not lessening that I'm not being insensitive. We all go through stuff. You don't think I've ever cried. You don't think my heart's ever been broken. Well, of course, but if you live that way, how is that pleasing to Christ?

So listen, we got problems we got to go through things but those but we have Christ in us. Our sins have been washed away. Come on. We have God on our side. Can we say thank you to God for that? Thank you lord.

Counting Blessings Instead of Problems

Could could could I charge everyone here in this building in the name of Christ? Would you please refocus and start counting your blessings? It sounds trite. Sounds trite. Count your blessings instead of your problems.

Give it a rest. I don't. I don't know. I don't want to know for a few minutes what you don't want to have. I want to know what you do have I I don't want to know what you're going through. I want to know what God has already brought you through.

Come on, are you here today because God has been good satan will try to block you from praising god. I've had it happen this way in my life and the holy spirit I believe is helping me say this. I had one battle when I was just a few months in the ministry.

Where I could feel the enemy trying to just kill the baby while the it was a baby. While I was young the church on atlantic avenue and carol and I started. So I went up in an attic and I had nothing to preach and I didn't feel god seven million miles from me.

And I got very bad suggestions in my mind. Not to go to just quit to give it up. And then I remembered something in the word from psalm. Listen psalm 100. Enter his gates with thanksgiving. And his courts with praise give thanks to him and praise his name.

The only way to approach approach god. Bless his name enter his gates with thanksgiving. His courts with praise. I'm telling you the holy place is a little further but enter the gates at least thanksgiving.

Then the courts are out here with praise then when you get in there God will lead you to all other kinds of things. But the only way to approach god properly really is to be praising him. So I knew that I knew that that was planted somewhere in my mind.

Thanksgiving in Spiritual Warfare

So I I said I gotta bless god. I gotta praise god. I'm gonna thank god. I'm in trouble. I was having an attack satan. I could feel satan's powers dark discouraging so I said i'm gonna thank god for what he's done for me.

So let me just think of what he's done for me. I couldn't think of one thing I'll tell you satan attacked my mind. I thought okay. Let me just think of one thing god did for me and satan as if he was blocking my mind.

From thinking about one good thing that god has done for me I got afraid. I got up off of this mattress. This mattress was in the Old mattress with nothing uh covering it and this attic a little attic had a v-shaped ceiling.

And I got up out of that and the mattress my heart was pounding tears coming out of my eyes. So young so inexperienced and I got so afraid because I realized like he's gonna extinguish my life. And I just said jesus.

That's all I could say was jesus help me and something came into me that god had done in my life. Some answered prayer the blessing of christ the the promise of eternal life, whatever. My wife my daughter downstairs.

And I started saying thank you god, thank you god, and there was like a fight and I just kept louder. Thank you god. Thank you. God. Thank you. God. I bless you god. I thank you god. I'm telling you what I went through.

And suddenly the clouds rolled away. And the sunlight came out. Oh, did I have a time up in that alley? I will bless the lord at all times his praise. Yeah, what continually be let's clap our hands one more time.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Isn't it interesting? Isn't it interesting that the holy spirit spoke to? To the church in antioch in acts 13 verse 2, isn't it interesting? And while they fasted and ministered to the lord while they were blessing god and thanking him.

The holy spirit said separate me paul and barnabas right now. The word now is left out of the authorized version and most of the others. But it's in the greek separate me paul and barnabas right now for the work that i've called him.

God speaks and draws near when we're praising him. If you're here tonight. And you say pastor that was for me. I struggle with the same bad habit. You have I can get so unthankful. I can be ungrateful.

I worry. I worry. I major in worry. I have a phd in worry and I haven't even gotten out of kindergarten when it comes to thanksgiving. That's the way a lot of us are don't say no. It's true worry needs oh.

Attitude about everyone who did us wrong and then god is saying wait a minute. Didn't I heal jesus. Didn't I heal 10? He only got a tithe back one. Ten percent came back. I wonder if that's symbolic or prophetic about how us folks are.

Thankfulness, Giving, and Cheerful Generosity

Ten percent came back to say. Thank you lord. This is why giving is down in most churches people don't practice systematic giving because they're not thankful. They're not thankful if you really are thankful what god has done for you that everything you have belongs to him.

Are you kidding? You can't give enough? Because you know, he's going to take care of you. You have a thankful spirit. That's why the bible says god loves what kind of giver a cheerful giver someone who's thankful praise god.

I have something to give. Not oh, no, I gotta give up something I have. I feel like a cheerleader here tonight, but i'm going to be a cheerleader for jesus. We got to give thanks. If you're here today and say pastor that was for me.

A Public Response of Thanksgiving

I don't care who you are. Get up out of your seat. You're going to stand here in the front. And we're going to praise god you're coming today i'm going to thank god tonight. I want that stranglehold the enemy's trying to get on me broken.

I'm going to begin to praise god and thank him tonight pastor simbala. I owe god back thanksgiving. You've reminded me i've been focusing on the negative instead of thanking him for the blessings. Come on, you come to up here.

I don't want anyone to think i'm insensitive to the problems of life, but there's a time for everything under the sun. The bible says in everything. In everything in every kind of situation give thanks.

How many want to lose that bad habit and give more thanks in the days to come than ever before? Starting with myself. Now it's time for everything under the sun. Sometimes we cry we pray intercessory prayers and all of that now.

Sharing Three Reasons for Gratitude

Here's how we're going to dismiss. We're going to hug one another men with men ladies with ladies. But now when you hug each other, I want you to take time. And tell the other person you're hugging three things.

You thank god for tonight. I don't want to hear one prayer request. No prayer requests. Come on, hug one another and whisper to one another. Come on. Share what you thank god for. Come on, tell him. Tell him.