This is the Truth Network. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Welcome to my light. To the Wednesday in the Word podcast, equipping our leaders of this great weekly Bible study held at Dario, our wonderful, gracious host. all across North Carolina.
This is to equip, encourage, and guide you as you prepare to teach the word and guide the discussion. At each location each week, and we continue our journey now through the book of Daniel. Here we are with today's special guest, Dr. Sam Horn. Happy Thanks.
Given. That's right. I said given. What am I talking about?
Well, we know from 2 Peter. That by His divine power, He has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him. Dr. Horn, this is an exciting time of year. This will be a shorter visit today.
We're journeying through the Word of God, specifically 2 Peter, but we're taking a little break from. The verse-by-verse textual Wednesday in the Word teaching. We will be in Scripture, there'll be a lot of scripture. But we're talking about the Power of thanksgiving, specifically thanksgiving, because Everything. God has given us.
Everything we are, Dr. Horne, everything we believe. All these amazing blessings that we kind of pause this time of year, and really we should pause every day.
Some folks have a gratitude journal, and that's a real healthy thing. Start your day writing things down you're thankful for, but it's all given, right, Dr. Horn from God. What a blessing, huh? Yeah, you know, it's amazing.
We were just talking briefly a moment ago as we were kind of setting up for this. of our propensity to look at life in terms of what we need. And in terms of the pressures that are around us every day, you've got them, I've got them. Our people have them. The people that...
Are working their way through this marvelous, beautiful book of 2 Peter. And so it's easy to come in prayer to God, and the focus of our prayer is on our needs. And there's certainly. Warrant for that. Paul talks about that in Philippians.
Let your requests. and your supplications. be made known.
So in other words, we're told, hey, When you come into God's presence, he does want you to talk to him about what you need. That's what a good father does. But what a good son or daughter does often is to review With joy, the wonderful things that a good father has done, you know, as a dad. it's it's incredibly moving when my son or daughter Calls me or sits down and says, Hey, I just want to thank you for. And they go through a list of things, it's almost embarrassing at times, you know.
You almost like. uh man honey i didn't i i thank you for saying all those good things but Man, I wish I could have done more. But there is this sense in the heart of a dad or a mom. When their son or daughter, out of nothing else but sheer gratitude, wants to sit down and just say, Thank you. I know that you love me, I know that you've been providing for me all these years.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I know what that feels like as a dad. And I know what that feels like as a husband. But I wonder if God knows what that feels like for me, because I do it so rarely. Yeah, we do it rarely.
We're better at complaining, Allah Israel, which we kind of pin this on them, but honestly, we should look in the mirror. But biblically, spiritually, truthfully, in reality, we have a whole lot more to be thankful for, Dr. Horne, than to complain about. And there's this coffee shop this pastor put in his church. It's called Hope City Church.
He's been on the radio with us before, interviewing. Great guy, loves the Lord. And his coffee shop is called Given. And I actually did an interview with him. I'm going to play it on Thanksgiving Day across the Truth Network and on my show Truth Talk about why did you name this coffee shop Given?
And effectively, without even hesitating, the pastor said, Pastor Scott Newton, he said, Stu. He said, everything we have. everything we are. is has been given to us by Almighty God. And she's that is so powerful.
That's such a powerful truth. It should spark this flow, this flood of gratitude in our souls. And And there's there's you know a lot Sadly, a lot less gratitude going around.
Now we kind of, you know. The Culinary taste buds, they will certainly bring about a forced day of gratitude in our culture, especially in America, right? We celebrate Thanksgiving. And but sometimes, doctor Horn, we look at Thanksgiving As you know, it's just a giant food coma just to get us to Black Friday into the real holiday of Christmas. But this is maybe.
The red-headed stepchild Holiday that shouldn't be that. It should be bigger. It should be grander. It should be a dominating theme of our life. It should be.
Happy Thanksgiving. It should be something that just That just pulsates out of every pore of our being. And Peter. And, you know, Dr. Carson, oh my.
Dr. Marshin is one of our Wednesday Word leaders and one of our regular hosts on Truth Talk Live on the Truth Network. Folks, he has a ministry called Date the Word where he connects a date. To everyone's birthday. It's really powerful.
He's got a book that's coming out that I encourage everyone to get, date the word.com, I believe, is his website. Pastor Horn, you're going to love this because. This is something I didn't have to put together. You didn't have to put together. Although I should say we get to put together because it's a beautiful thing to create tools for people to study God's word.
But he came up with an acronym for given, G-I-V-E-N, which is kind of our theme out of Peter. Then this whole week, this week.
So this week, we're going to do selected scriptures starting in Peter, then kind of going everywhere to talk about all that God has given us and then our. response of Gratefulness, gratitude, thanksgiving. Dr. Oren, here's the little acronym he gave. Basically, he quotes those first two, those third and fourth verses of 2 Peter as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
And then, verse 4, by which Have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. That through these you may be partakers of the divine nature.
So there's two givens right out of the gate of 2 Peter. We already studied that. We're going to go back into that, but then we're going to see. This theme of gratitude, Dr. Horn.
Throughout 2 Peter, as we get into The gifts he's given us that we add to our faith, like we talked about this last week. The gifts he's given us of the presence of Christ, the majesty Peter witnessed on the mountain, the gifts he's given us of his prophetic. Perfect revelation that didn't come by human fabrication or prognostication, but came as the Holy Spirit of God moved men. We have the word. What a gift that is.
And then Dr. Horn, that's just chapter one. All these three ch all three chapters. We've got the gift of his second coming that these false prophets were denying and decrying. Can you give us a little bit of your perspective on the given?
Thanks, happy Thanksgiving from 2 Peter, real quick, and maybe even take it to the broader perspective as the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation is overflowing with this idea of what we've been given. Yeah.
Well, here's the thing, Stu. I think you're just effusing it out of your own joy, and that is that God is generous. And I think we sometimes forget that because the very first thing Satan challenged. was the goodness or the generosity of God. When he said to Adam, do you really realize why God told you not to eat of this?
The reason he told you not to eat of this is that he's trying to withhold something good from you. And Satan has planted that lie deep in us. Like, we come to God with this suspicion. that he's only as good as he has to be. And that he really, really isn't going to be as bountiful as we want him to be.
And that just isn't true. That's what Peter explodes when he says he's given us everything. That's necessary, everything that pertains, everything that's associated. with life and godliness, and he's poured it out abundantly. I mean, think about it this way.
In Romans chapter 4, he has given us. righteousness from Christ.
So that none of our sins, past, present, or future, will ever be counted against us, ever, ever, ever. And he didn't just give us a little bit of righteousness, like a little starter kit to get us going. He gave us the entire righteousness of Christ. And he gave it to us personally and permanently. And then, on top of that, he didn't just give us that and take care of the fact that we never have to worry about our sins ever being counted against us by him in the future.
He also made us. Inheritors or partners or participants with this incredible inheritance that he promised Abraham. He said, Abraham. I'm going to give you the world. You're going to be the heir of the world.
Jesus said this in the Beatitudes, the meek will inherit the earth. And so that's part of what has been given to us. In Romans chapter 5, we have been given peace with God. We have been given access into the kingdom of grace. We've been given permanent standing in that kingdom.
And then we've been given an open door to the throne of grace, and on that throne is sitting God, who's our father now. And all of that's been given to us. We have been given immense blessings. Paul is going to talk to the Corinthians and he says: listen, you can be generous. in your little light because God has been generous.
with you in everything. And so when Peter says you've been given everything that's. Necessary, everything that pertains to life and godliness. He's talking about the generosity of God. Ephesians chapter 1 says, We have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.
And so we have a very generous God who is really good at giving. I remember two things as a kid. I remember being at a youth conference or a church meeting or something, and somebody said, you cannot out give God. And here I am in my sixth decade of life. And I can just say to you, God has given to me far more than I've ever given to him.
You can't out-give God. And secondly, there's that little song we used to sing. It's not sung as much anymore. But it's that little song, Count Your Many Blessings. Name them one by one.
And it will surprise you to see what God has done. If we just sat down. Over this Thanksgiving and said, God, I just want to take the next 20 minutes. And I want to start listing out all the blessings you've given me, spiritual blessings, the blessings associated with the gospel, the blessings of your word, the immense promises that go all the way through your word, the blessings of my family, the blessings of how you've intervened in my life financially and physically, how you've answered prayers this year. If we just sat down and got into a gratitude attitude.
for 20 minutes, it would so change next week. You know, the turkey and the stuffing and all the football on Thanksgiving Day would just be the icing on the cake. The real joy would be on rehearsing what God has done. You know, one of the things I would challenge all of us to do at Thanksgiving is to just take time around the table and have everybody at that table say, This is what I am most thankful to God for this Thanksgiving. Over the last 12 months, this is what I've seen God do.
And that thanksgiving produces what you've called thanksliving. My thanksgiving is going to actually produce thanksliving, a thankful life. And that's where gratitude. Leads. It's not just a card and a nice word you give to God saying, God, thanks for everything.
And amen. It's gratitude. is an attitude that produces a life. And we live thankfully. We have this thanks living because we give thanks.
Thanksgiving produces thanksliving. Yeah, what a beautiful way of putting it. And I'll tell you, Dr. Horn, you know, it's interesting. You brought that up.
No, I didn't bring up the title Thanksgiving, but that is what that's my book coming out next year about this time. That God put on my heart after my mom, after dad died, you know, Pastor Preacher came to the house and Pastor Will of our church and. He walked up. Mom was in the swimming pool working on scriptures of all things. The day after her husband, of 60 years, was away.
And he says, Nancy, how are you doing? I'm standing there next to mom. I got all, I got, I got my nieces over there on the, on the, on the, sitting on the little veranda there outside the house, kind of crying. Other families getting there from out of town, and there's a lot of tears, Brother Horn. There's a lot of challenges.
You know, this is our patriarch, Big Stube, you know, my best friend, my mentor. And Pastor Will says, Nancy, how are you doing? I'm thinking she's going to gush all this, you know. Tough morning and In struggle, and and uh rightfully so. And she looks at him without even without even winking, without even with no pause, and says, Pastor Will.
I'm grateful. She says, I am thankful, deeply thankful. And she had a smile on her face, and she said, I'm thankful God gave me sixty years. with stew. God gave me sixty years married to that man.
And she went on and on. And I'm sitting here thinking, wow. And I had written this book I'd written the manuscript and everything. And Uh but I but the Lord just It wasn't done. It just wasn't done, Pastor Horn.
And you're in there too, by the way. And I want you to tell your story. But It that day the book was finished. Because that became the introduction that God gave me, and I basically recounted that encounter. In my mom's heart of gratitude, and she's one of the most grateful people I've ever met.
My dad was a man of gratitude. He's got all these things sticking in his veins. at, uh, you know, Baptist Hospital. Gunder going chemo, and he's in the waiting room bleeding people to Jesus. He says, Junior, go give that nurse this gospel track.
She just took my blood. I forgot to give her this gospel track and go tell her about Jesus. I said, Dad, I was going to read my newspaper, you know, and I was working on something else here. What are you thinking? And just that kind of gratitude because we realize what he's given us.
We realize the grace God's given to undeserving sinners. And then we think And then we think, even if we have a horrible bike accident, I mean, Dr. Horn, you don't have bike accidents. You're pretty, you're pretty, you know, you're out there. You're, you know, you're in the lines, brother.
You're, you're burning, you're burning down the road. But you had this bike accident, and but you were grateful. How could you be thankful for that, Dr. Horn? Tell everyone what happened real quick.
Just an example that's going to open up. Other folks with these kinds of testimonies in this week's Wednesday in the Word, and anyone who's preaching through and needs uses this as a help with their Thanksgiving message. But give this story real quick, Dr. Horn. I use it in my book.
Yeah, it's an incredible story. You know, it's the first Thessalonians 5:18. Paul says, Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. And every once in a while.
God reminds you tangibly. why you should be able to give thanks no matter what happens, even in an embarrassing bike fall. I was out biking. I was doing a 30-mile ride, and I got to a point in the trail where I had to turn around. And I unclipped and got off my bike and turned it around, got back on it.
And as I was pushing my bike off, pedaling down to to get back on the trail, my bike tire. Got stuck in a little crevice that was part of the side of the trail, and I flipped over the handlebars, did a beautiful backflip like you would see, you know, on the Olympics, and just landed smack down on my back like a belly flop in the pool.
Well, think of a backflop on the trail. And I got up. My bike was fine. I was fine. Nothing was broken, except my pride.
You know, a guy walking by starts laughing. I'm like, I'm fine. I'm good. And I got on my bike and I was so ripped. I thought I'm done with this biking bit.
And I was ticked at my bike, you know, ticked at everything. I get back, you know, get home. And the next day I start bleeding. And I bled all that day. And I'm like, what's going on here?
The following day, it got worse. And I went to the ER. And bottom line is, they sent me right in to do a colonoscopy. And when I came out of the colonoscopy, my doc said to me, he said, he said, Pastor Sam, you have colon cancer. And he said, but I think the bike ride might have saved your life.
He said that fall. might have saved your life because we would never ever have caught this. and it is about to go everywhere in your system. And he said, some angel from heaven must have been. Spoken, you know, poking their something into your tire to get you to flip over.
He said, because that's probably what's going to save your life. And sure enough, two years later, I had a major colon resection surgery, had no chemo, no radiation. And so far, the Lord's been so kind and gracious. But I look back on that bike accident and it didn't just. Catch cancer in time.
It was what began revolutionizing something in our church. And that began a season of prayer. That began a journey of faith in our life, in our family, in our marriage, in our church. And two years later, Our church has exploded in size. It's exploded in opportunity and ministry.
It's just been amazing. I don't have time on the show today to tell. I'm just saying that every one of us has a bike story. And every one of us in the middle of that bike story struggles with 1 Thessalonians 5:18. I can't give thanks in this.
How do I give thanks in a cancer diagnosis? How do I give thanks in the loss of my job? How do I give thanks in the fire that burned my whole house down with everything in it? How do I give thanks in what looks like an utter tragedy and utter devastation? And And here's the thing, brother.
I learned something and I'm still learning it. I can give thanks to God in the hard spaces of life because of what he's already given me. In 2 Chronicles, 2 Corinthians rather 9, I think it's verse 15, Paul says, Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. And the gift he gave was. The most precious gift he had, he didn't spare his own son.
He sent his own son. He gave his own son so that I could have eternal life. And if he's already done that, I can trust him to take care of me in this little earthly life that I have.
So Thanksgiving produces Thanksliving. Wow. And that's what Peter's talking about in the book. The reason we get so caught up in false teachers is we're frustrated because we don't think God's good enough or God's wise enough or God's loving enough. And so we want to find a better goodness.
We want to find a better, somebody who's going to love us better, somebody who's going to give us a better wisdom that that's not going to take us through that. hard hard space because I don't want to go through that hard space. You know, there's got to be, can I get a second opinion from God? Or is there somebody better than God? And the false teachers come in and go, yeah, actually, we've got a better way.
And if you are not anchored in thanksgiving. And you are not developing, cultivating, and feeding a gratitude attitude in your heart, you're going to get seduced. At some point. by what Peter is talking about in 2 Peter. Amen.
Well said, Dr. Horne, and I'll tell you something that has been heavy on my heart is. How in you know these false prophets, man, they're a cancer. And, you know, 1 Peter focused on the attacks from without, all these sufferings, these trials, the persecution that these believers were beleaguered by and challenged by and entrapped with. But 2 Peter, there's these attacks from within, these false prophets from within the church, these wolves in sheep's clothing.
Saying, hey. God has not given you everything. God is not enough. There's this secret knowledge. There's another coming that didn't happen or did happen, or Jesus wasn't, he was, you know, you need more of this.
And it's almost like this Gnosticism. You know, there's nothing new under the sun. But the fascinating thing is at the heart of. Gratitude Is realizing what he's given us. And look what Matthew Henry said.
I love this quote. He said: if you call a man ungrateful, There's nothing worse you can call a man. than ungrateful. And then Henry went on to say. Let me be thankful first.
This is right after Matthew Henry. You know, the great Matthew Henry commentary. You know it, you've used it, you've recommended it. Great. He's just a profound scholar.
This touched a lot of people. He said this after he was robbed by thieves.
Okay, here Matthew Henry heading home from preaching the gospel or doing something. And he gets robbed, he gets mugged, and they take his stuff. And he says this, let me be thankful first. Because I was Never robbed before.
Okay. Then he says second. Because although they took my purse They did not take my life. And then he says third. Because although they took my all, It was not much.
And fourth, It was I who was robbed, not I who robbed. Wow. So, you know, there's a way to be thankful and In everything, there's a way to be thankful. Think about the worst enemy you're mad at, you're bitter at right now, someone you just can't forgive, you're struggling with, and this is real. And this is tough.
This is real even for this super Christian, Christian radio guy who's talking right now, who struggles. I know this is real for this amazing pastor, Pastor Sam Horn. I know this is real for you. Think about the people that for some reason have it out to attack. And you think about now: what am I thankful for for that person?
And you start thinking about things you're thankful for. Wow, look at the gifts God's put on that person.
Well, look at how I've been humbled. By, you know, a guy calls me about every month or so, texts me, calls me, and just basically lays into me. and tells me how terrible I am. And I could tell you a million reasons why he's wrong, I'm right. But I always stop and say, Lord, thanks for keeping me humble.
You know, thanks. And I pray for that guy. You got a guy like that. You got a guy like that, too? Yeah.
You know, we all have those people. But guess what? I thank God for that because it keeps me humble. I realize, wait a second, Lord, I'm yours. And you've put that person in my life to remind me to trust you.
And to focus on you.
Now, I want to share this with you, Dr. Horn, real quick as we wrap up. And we're going to get out of here. This is a little shorter version. This is a special thanksgiving.
Wednesday in the Word message that we're giving our leaders for those that are meeting. The women, a lot of the women's groups aren't even meeting the week of Thanksgiving because it happens on a Thursday. I think our one women's group in Jacksonville, North Carolina, I think they're meeting because they meet on a Tuesday. The only group that meets on a Tuesday. All the men are meeting on Wednesday and the Word on Wednesday at all the Dario locations.
We're so grateful for those wonderful hosts. They're amazing. We're thankful for Dario, believe me. And it's not just because they have the most amazing hot dog you'll ever put in your mouth. But Dr.
Horn, here's the acronym that, and it, and it really touches on some of these points you made. G in given, G-I-V-E-N. He's given us exceeding great promises. He's given us all things that pertain to the life of God.
So here's the acronym, Dr. Dwayne Carson. date the word came up with. The G? Is gifts, the indescribable gifts that God has given us.
And the I is, you talked about this one, imputed righteousness. And you see this theme of righteousness all throughout. 2 Peter, the V is victory. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory. 1 Corinthians 15:57.
The E. The last letter of, or the second last letter of the word given is everything. And you quoted Ephesians, he's given us everything. Every spiritual blessing. That Is in Christ Jesus.
Every good and perfect gift is from the Lord. In everything, give thanks, and on and on. And of course, Everything that pertains to life and godliness.
So the E is everything. And finally, the N is the new nature. I mean, how about the fact that God brought us from death? to life that we were once Objects of wrath, like Ephesians 2 says, and now we are objects of his love, which has been lavished on us in Christ, the new nature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is a key verse there.
So, effectively, Dr. Horn. We have an epistle. That the very first or second verse in this epistle sums it all up beautifully. Where he says se first second Peter 1.2, Grace and peace be multiplied to you.
In the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the source of all of this amazing things that have been given to us. In fact, I love that word multiplied. Because there are more promises and there are more gifts from God to us, Dr. Horn, that we can even get our arms and our mind around.
So the minute our mind goes to complain mode. And to murmuring mode, like the children of Israel, who had everything, by the way, they had all the spiritual blessings of manna from heaven and deliverance from Egypt and victory over their foes. and water from the rock. And so on and so forth, and shoes that never wore out for 40 years. They had all those blessings, but yet they murmured, we have that and more because we have this new covenant celebration.
But God's got to remind us: the word Eucharist, which is the word for the Lord's Supper, actually literally means. Thanksgiving or giving thanks. It's a Thanksgiving feast because God says, Let me take you back. We've got to go back and look at what I did for you. And as soon as you start getting upset at how Big a train wreck your life is, stop and realize that your train was on its way to hell and I intervened.
But God, who is rich in mercy. Came in and saved you radically, miraculously, and here I am for you, right? That's exactly right. Um, take us out, Dr. Horn.
I'm going to send these notes out to these leaders, and but this is a time of interaction. I really pray that there will be some rich testimonies like you shared just now. Like I shared about my mom, that's a very tender moment, a very private moment, but you know what? I want to share that with other people because other people have lost loved ones. Other people struggle.
It's a tough time of year, but it's a rich time of year. And every day, today, I can say happy Thanksgiving. I can say happy Thanksgiving. I can say happy Thanksgiving. I can say that today, even in the middle of July, even before the actual Thursday comes, even before that delicious sweet potato casserole that mama makes better than anyone, by the way.
I'm talking about my mama. Oh, it's so good. Or that stuffing, whether you like the runny kind, or whether you like that really more drier kind that's a little bit thicker, or whether you like the white meat turkey, or whether you like the red meat turkey, before that stuff even starts, Dr. Horn, take us out of here with a final word on. Thanksgiving.
All God has given us Thanksgiving and then a little prayer for us, will you, sir, and for all of our different leaders and for everyone at this special time of year?
Well, God said it this way when he exhorted us through the words of the writer of Chronicles: give thanks to the Lord. for he is good For his love endures forever. And at the end of the day, it isn't about your house or your car or your bank account or even your health or your marriage or your kids. For all the things we chalk up in the column of stuff that matters to us. It's all about God.
being good. bountiful uh and it is all about his love enduring forever and we can thank him for that And we should, right? And we say that little prayer. God is great. God is good.
And we thank him. And then we usually say we thank them for our food. But what if we took the word food and instead just put a little line there and said, All day long throughout the week of Thanksgiving, I'm going to just remind myself of that little prayer I learned as a kid: God is great. God is good and I thank him for my salvation. I thank him for my sanctification.
I thank him for my wife or my husband. I thank him for my daughter. I thank him for my church. I thank him for my pastor. I thank him for the Christian radio station that I get to hear on the way to work.
I thank him for, and then all of a sudden, all day long, we're just filling in the blank. And by the end of Thanksgiving week, wouldn't it be great if we had over a thousand things on our list that we thank God for? You say a thousand things. Yeah, and that's not even scratching the surface. I mean, if you actually got down to it, you would not have enough ink in all the pens in your house.
or enough paper in all of the little booklets in your house or journals to write down all the things that God has done for you out of his goodness and out of his love. God is great. God is good. Let us thank him. Lord, we do want to be thankful people.
And Lord, we want to be thankful people because you are a great God and you are a good God. We don't want to be thankful because it's the right thing to do. Even though it is the right thing to do, and we don't want our thanks just to come because that's what that's what good, polite Christians do, we want it to be. genuine. We wanted to just pour out of our heart as we reflect.
On the immensity of your greatness and the bounty and generosity of your goodness to us. And we've already seen and experienced that in the giving of your son and receiving the gift that he gave us through his life. And so make us thankful people. Lord, I'm excited about. Stu's book.
I pray that it would just be an amazing tool that you would use. To bring joy and transformation in the lives of your people. Thank you for gifting him in that way. And I pray for each of the Bible lesson leaders. As they teach next week, may this be just a wonderful week for them and for us.
In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, Dr. Horne, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com. Follow us on YouTube.
Facebook and all social media, including in Stu Graham, and be encouraged, stay in the word. Read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on God's Word. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him.
Proverbs 30 verse 5.
