Some random thoughts........ Friends....I cannot believe it, but it wont be long before Thanksgiving is here. Thanksgiving.....one day in which we like those early Pilgrims set aside time in our busy schedules to give thanks to God. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but Gods Word tells us that this should be a continual daily attitude. Eph. 5:19,20 tells Christians to Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ALWAYS giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I Thes. 5:16-18 says, Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Paul’s main subject here is PRAISE, THANKSGIVING. Notice the other important words in these passages; ALWAYS, CONTINUALLY, and IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. It sounds as if Paul is talking about a church service here, especially in Eph. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart... But he isn’t. He is talking about a continual attitude for Christians - an attitude of the heart. How we are to be to each other. But how, we wonder, can we have this attitude continually, especially in all circumstances? I believe the answer lies in our perspective of thanksgiving. We need the proper perspective. To be thankful in all circumstances, you and I need a proper perspective of our circumstances and of our God. Only then we will be able to give thanks to the Lord always. Friend, I believe there are at least three attitudes that steal away our gratitude. Three things that keep us from being thankful. 1) One is our pride. This is the attitude that says, Nobody ever gave me anything, I worked hard for everything I have. For years you studied hard and now it is finally paying off. With this kind of attitude, we feel that we have no one to thank but ourselves. 2) Another attitude that keeps us from being thankful is a critical spirit or constant complaining. Instead of being grateful, this person will always find something to complain about. A lady known as an incurable grumbler constantly complained about everything. At last her preacher thought he had found something about which she would be happy, for her farm crop was the finest for miles around. When he met her, he said with a beaming smile, `You must be very happy Mary. Everyone is saying how healthy your potatoes look this year.’ `True they’re pretty good, but what am I going to do when I need bad ones to feed the pigs.’ 3) A third attitude that keeps us from being grateful is carelessness. Someone once said that if the stars only came out once a year, we would stay out all night to watch them. But they are there every night and we have grown accustomed to them. The Israelites grumbled because they had no food so God miraculously sent manna (a crust-like bread) to cover the ground each day except the Sabbath day. Then they started to grumble because it was the same thing every day. They had a miracle - straight from God every day but were no longer satisfied. Because of pride, carelessness or a critical spirit, we will never be truly thankful for all that God has given us. Folks Thanksgiving ought to be expressed. One of the choruses sung in many churches is found in Ps.100 which says, Enter his gates with thanksgiving in your heart. David says in Ps. 107 Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. We should express our thanks to God and others. In Luke 17 we read about ten men who were healed by Jesus of their leprosy. Out of those ten men only one came back to give thanks and Jesus said, Where are the other nine? He was the only one willing to take time to go back and say thank you. Because of that Jesus said to him, Rise and go; your faith has made you well. Have you ever wondered why Jesus said that? I mean like the others, the man was already healed of his leprosy from the time they went to show themselves to the priest. But when Jesus says to this one man, Your faith has made you well. Folks....He wasn’t just talking about a physical healing, he was talking about a spiritual one, a mental one. He was made whole. We too are made whole by our thanksgiving. Psychologists today tell us that sincere gratitude, thanksgiving, is the healthiest of all human emotions. Hans Selye, who is considered the father of stress studies, has said that gratitude produces more positive emotional energy than any other attitude in life. And a thankful heart will endear others to us and us to others. For you see thanksgiving is not only good for the giver but also good for the receiver. God appreciates our thanksgiving. It lifts Him up and it glorifies Him. And thanksgiving endears him to us. It draws us closer. If we are not grateful, if we do not express our thanksgiving, then it can have the opposite affect. In Rom. 1:21 Paul says, For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. This passage seems to imply that people who are ungrateful to God will soon fall away - their hearts will become hardened. Here, we see pride keeping people from worshipping God and being thankful. Before we leave this point that thanksgiving should be expressed lets list a few ways that we can say thank you to God. Ok? You and I say thank you to God when we; 1) Spend time with Him (not just 1 hour a week) 2) When we forgive others 3) When we serve in His church 4) When we share His Plan of salvation 5) When we reach out to hurting people 6) When we give God the best of our time, talents and testimony 7) When we praise Him enthusiastically from the heart Our Thanksgiving should also include even giving thanks for the burdens of life. What? Give thanks for the difficulties we face? Absolutely. Friend, this is a tough one. I Thes. 5:18 says, Give thanks in ALL circumstances. Eph. 5:20 says, always giving thanks. You may think, surely Paul made a mistake or even that this was easy for him to say. But it wasn’t. Paul suffered from some very difficult problem that he called a thorn in the flesh. He also had been run out of town, beaten, whipped, imprisoned, betrayed by friends, naked, cold, hungry shipwrecked, and stoned because of his faith. Yet, Paul never stopped giving thanks. Paul said several things that really show he had the proper perspective of the burdens of life... I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us... Romans 8:18 That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong... 2 Cor 12:10 Now I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel... Phil 1:12 When we like Paul have the proper perspective we to can give thanks in all circumstances... In our weakness God can make us strong. When we are struggling God is able to work in our lives. He helps us through times that we could have never faced on our own. I never thought I would say this but I have learned to be thankful in the difficult circumstances my family has faced. Now, notice, I didn’t say I was thankful for them, but that I was thankful in this difficult time. You see, I don’t believe Paul is saying that we have to be thankful for our problems but rather - IN THEM. And being thankful; in them allows God to use them for His greater good. The Philippian Jailer was ready to take his life because an earthquake freed his prisoners but what saved him was the attitude of Peter and Silas during their difficult imprisonment. They were singing and praising God even though they were in chains. But, they knew God and that he would help them through. Because of their joy the jailer and all his household became Christians. We need to understand others can come to Christ because of our example especially in the midst of difficult times. Our thanksgiving should include the benefits of life as well. When the Israelites focused on what they didn’t have, they failed to see ALL that they DID have. We are constantly adding to our prayer list but more than anything we should be adding to our praise list. Geoff Moore sings a song in which, at the beginning of a new day, he says, Well, I wonder what today will see. Will I find my dreams OR stare in the face of tragedy? Whatever may come, whatever may be, of this I am SURE, I’m forgiven and free and I will live like I believe - It’s good to be alive... It’s good to be alive, to feel the wind in my face, see the blue in the sky. It’s days like this, I realize what a gift it is - It’s good to be alive. Believe me friend we have all had some difficult times. Maybe even times that we have despaired even of life itself. But, if we really look at all the benefits of life, I think we will find that its good to be alive. To feel the wind in our face, to see the sunrise, to fall in love, to see our new born child for the first time, to feel our child or parent or even a friend hug us and tell us we are special. Recently, I read of an experiment that was done in New York’s Central Park where an advertising firm dressed a man up as a blind man and gave him a cup to collect money. One day they put a sign around his neck that read, I’m Blind. On that day he collected about $4.00. The next day they dressed him the same way, placed him in the same place but changed the sign to read, It’s Spring and I’m Blind. That day he collected nearly $40.00. That day, those people realized how blessed they were by the beautiful flowers, birds, the sunrise and sunset. Friend as Christians there are other benefits of life. We can be sure that we are forgiven and free. Oh, It’s good to be alive! Friends, I believe that our thanksgiving is expected. Paul says we are to give thanks in all circumstances BECAUSE this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. This is God’s will for us. And He knows, if we will do it, that our lives will be changed. I also believe his is the mark of a Growing Christian. For example, a baby is ungrateful. You can take a little baby when it has colic and walk the floor with them for hours and when you put that baby down - they don’t say, Thank You. More than likely, they will just yell a little louder. A child has to be taught to be thankful. It just doesn’t come naturally. Sometimes you have to almost force them to say thank you. When we realize how blessed we are by others and by God and express that - we are growing. If you are thankful to God then you will be glowing. Your will not be constantly critical and pessimistic but eternally Thankful. Though the difficult times are just that - they will not break you. Paul says in II Cor. 4:8, We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed...For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. Henry Frost served for many years as a missionary to China. In his journal he wrote of a very difficult time in his life. He says, I had received sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. I prayed BUT the darkness did not vanish. I summoned myself to endure, BUT the darkness only deepened. Then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these words: ’TRY THANKSGIVING.’ I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return. Yes the Psalmist was right, ’It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. Have you been going through some difficult times? Have you prayed but they’re still there? Have you told yourself to keep on going and it would some day disappear - but it got deeper? Then why not try THANKSGIVING? I believe I will.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 11:01:46 +0000
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