SERIES OVERVIEW
Each week, Pastor G writes a short devotional blog on the church website that is based on a different Hawaiian Word each week. Then he writes a longer message devotional to deliver on Wednesday nights.
MESSAGE NOTES
Today’s ʻOlelo Hawaiʻi word is Mahalo!
It means thank you. It is often modified with the words nui and/or loa which both convey the idea of big or large.
Mahalo Nui/Mahalo Nui Loa= Literally, “thanks a lot,” or as I like to say, thank you big much!
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~ Thornton Wilder.
If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get. ~ Frank. A. Clark
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations. ~ Psalm 100:4-5
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ~ 1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own! ~ 1 Corinthians 6:19 … the kingdom of God is within you.~ Luke 17:21
בְּתֹודָ֗ה ~ Betevdah (HEBREWS)
Sometimes translated as a confession or a sacrifice of praise. It’s understood as thanks, thanksgiving, thankfulness, an offering of gratitude. But it literally refers to a choir of worshipers, extending their open, hands in a gesture of adoration.
יָדָה ~ yadah
Revering or worshipping God with outstretched hands.
Lord, instead of us asking you to bless what we are doing, instead, please help us do only what you are blessing. ~ Greg and Annette Daily Prayer
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. ~ Ephesians 5:15-21
εὐχαριστέω ~ eucharisteó (GREEK)
It is the root word for what some traditions call Communion or the Lord’s Supper or The Mass.
Some call it The Eucharist. eucharisteó means to be thankful or to receive with thanksgiving.
Eucharisteó is actually a combination of Greek words that mean good and grace.
And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him— ~ Colossians 1:21-22
What do you think? If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost. ~ Matthew 18:12-14
“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a proclaimer? How will they proclaim unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” ~ Romans 10:13-15
TONIGHT’S TAKEAWAYS
1) We should begin each day with a big Mahalo to God, both for what we DO have and for what we DON’T have.
2) Share our thankfulness to God publicly, with everyone you know. Encourage them to say Mahalo to God every day as well. Lead them into a saving relationship of thanksgiving with Jesus.