Showers of Blessing and a Thankful Heart
November 14, 2021 · 2:46:34 · Watch on YouTube ↗
These notes - summary, key points, and highlighted thoughts - were generated by AI from the recording and are not the preacher’s exact words.
Summary
This Harvest Thanksgiving service celebrates God's provision. The first message draws on Ezekiel 34:26 and Deuteronomy 11 and 28: God promised to open the storehouses of heaven and send rain in its season, but always with one condition - the little word "if." If His people love Him with all their heart and serve Him, He sends both the physical rains that fill the fields and the spiritual rains of His Spirit. The clouds are God's treasury, and even the valley of weeping (Psalm 84) becomes a place of springs for those who keep trusting Him.
The preacher also warns of another kind of rain - the rain of judgment seen in the flood (Genesis 7) and in Ezekiel 13. Disasters do not prove that those who suffer are worse sinners; they call everyone to repentance (Luke 13:5). At the harvest feast Jesus invites the thirsty to come and drink (John 7:37). A poem about September sunflowers turning toward the sun pictures both staying in God's light and the great harvest of souls still waiting for workers.
A visiting pastor closes with a word on gratitude built on the ten lepers (Luke 17), only one of whom returned to thank Jesus. Through the story of the first American Thanksgiving, a trip to poor Ukrainian villages, and his own painful year of cancer and loss, he urges the church not to leave God's gifts unopened but to give thanks in every circumstance, remembering above all the gift of God's Son (John 3:16).
Key Points
- God's blessing carries a condition: love and serve Him with your whole heart.
- The clouds are God's storehouse; He sends rain in its season for both fields and souls.
- Even the valley of weeping becomes a place of springs for those who keep trusting God.
- Not every storm is blessing; the rain of judgment calls everyone to repent.
- Jesus invites all who thirst to come to Him and drink of His Spirit.
- The harvest of souls is plentiful but the workers are few - stay in the light and go.
- Give thanks in every circumstance and do not leave God's gifts unopened.
Devotional
When the table is full and life is comfortable, it is easy to forget the One who fills it. Look up at the clouds and remember they are God's treasury, sending rain in its season for both the field and the soul. Even your valley of weeping can become a place of springs if you keep trusting Him there. Today, do not leave His gifts unopened - name one of them and thank Him, beginning with the gift of His Son.
The clouds are God's treasury, sending rain in its season for your field and your soul.
Even the valley of weeping becomes a place of springs for those who keep trusting God.
Do not leave God's gifts unopened - give thanks in every season.
