OUR DAILY BREAD : CONFESSION AND THANKSGIVING

[cimi]

November 26
Thursday


CONFESSION
AND
THANKSGIVING

READ:
Nehemiah :32-37
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They have not served
You...in the many
good things that You
gave them.
__Nehemiah 9:35
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During a Sunday worship service, our congregation said this prayer of confession in unison: "Gracious God, like many believers before us, we complain when things do not go our way. We want abundance of everything rather than what is sufficient to sustain us. We would rather be elsewhere than where we are at the moment. We would rather have the gifts You give to others than what You provide for us. We would rather have You serve us than serve You. Forgive our lack of gratitude for what You give."

Abundance is no guarantee of gratefulness or thanksgiving. Prosperity may even turn our hearts away from the Lord.

When a group of Jewish exiles returned from Babylon with Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, they gathered to confess their sins and those of their fathers. They prayed: "Neither our kings nor our princes, our priests nor our fathers, have kept Your law.... For they have not served You in their kingdom, or in the many good things that You gave them, or in the large and rich land which You set before them, nor did they turn from their wicked works" (Neh. 9:34-35).

Confession is a powerful prelude to a prayer of thanksgiving. Obedience is the Amen. __David McCasland
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````````````````Lord, before we come to ask Your blessing `````````
`````````````````On this special day we call Thanksgiving,``````````
`````````````````We would bow to You, our sins confessing,`````````
`````````````Then we'll lift our praise in grateful living. __Hess```````
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Confession opens the door to thanksgiving.

***********Today's Bible Reading __ Nehemiah 9:32-37************

32 "Now therefore, our
God, the great, the mighty,
and awesome God, who
keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the trouble
seem small before You that
has come upon us, our
kings and our princes, our
priests and our prophets,
our fathers and on all Your
people, from the days of the
kings of Assyria until this
day. 33 However You are just
in all that has befallen us;
for You have dealt
faithfully, but we have done
wickedly. 34 Neither our
kings nor our princes, our
priests nor our fathers, have
kept Your law, nor heeded
Your commandments and
Your testimonies, with
which You testified against
them. 35 For they have not
served You in their
kingdom, or in the many
good things that You gave
them, or in the large and
rich land which You set
before them; nor did they
turn from their wicked
works.

36 "Here we are, servants
today! And the land that
You gave to our fathers, to
eat its fruit and its bounty,
here we are, servants in it!

37 And it yields much
increase to the kings You
have set over us, because of
our sins; also they have
dominion over our bodies
and our cattle at their
pleasure; and we are in
great distress."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

There were three returns from the Babylonian exile. Zerubbabel
(538 BC), returning with 50,000 Jews (Ezra 2; Neh. 7:6-73 rebuilt
the temple (Ezra 1-6). Eighty years later, returning with 4,000-5,000
(458 BC), Ezra through God's Word reformed the people (Ezra 7_10).
Nehemiah (444 BC) led the third return (number unknown), rebuilt
the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 1-7), and rededicated the people (Neh.
8-13). __Sim Kay Tee