Thankfulness

On the Path to God’s Promises – VOTD.03.20.18

Let joy be your continual feast. Make your life a prayer. And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

In today’s verses, Paul identifies three areas of our lives we must focus on as we wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled to us: 1) unbounded joy; 2) praying continually; and 3) giving thanks to God no matter happens. Last time we began looking at what we can do while we’re waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled. We began by looking at rejoicing.

As we wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled, we need to be faithful to what we know we are supposed to do. Here are 3 ‘basics’. Psalm 16:11 says, “You will show me the path of life…” The devil is roaming about “seeking whom he may devour”(1 Pet 5:8). Jesus is our safe path (Jn 14:6). Most towns have a Main Street, every Christian has one also. As we stay on it we’re in Jesus’ protective care. But, especially when we get anxious to see God’s promises fulfilled, we look for shortcuts, and we end up needlessly exposed to the enemy’s harassment.

So here’s a few ways to stay on Jesus’ path while we wait:

Don’t look Around (Avoid Distractions)
It’s easy to be lured away into worldly thinking (1 Jn 2:15) and be deceived by the enemy by the “innocent” distractions that are presented to us… To fixate on what is not Jesus; obsessing over something that is beneath Jesus’ high calling for our minds: “So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.” (Phil 4:8)

Many of us know the Proverb that says, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is”(23:7). We become what distracts us.

Don’t Look Down (Avoid Fixation on the Need)
Never once does the Bible tell us to look down. We are always told to look up. Some of us are so wrapped up in longing over our unfulfilled promise that we exude dissatisfaction with our current state. Self-pity and then resentment press in and our relationships with other believers (especially those who God has fulfilled His promise to) are disrupted or damaged.

Many believers miss God because of negativity…don’t join them. We need to keep our gaze on Jesus, not our problem. And we know that we’re looking at Him because when we’re looking at Jesus we’re possessed by thankfulness instead of dissatisfaction. (more…)

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Wisdom Brings Peace – VOTD.11.28.17

The wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace… Let your heart be always guided by the peace of Christ, who called you to peace as part of his one body, by always being thankful. James 1:17, Colossians 3:15

There are so many verses in the Bible that combine wisdom, peace and thankfulness. But the bottom line is Peaceless people don’t give thanks. Thankless people don’t have peace.

The expression and mindset of thankfulness has an amazing cleansing or healing nature within us that results in inner peace and when we’re at peace on the inside, external circumstances are changed. “The peace of God which passes understanding” permeates our lives in such a way that it is contagious. Gratitude brings the Spirit of peace to the giver and the receiver alike.

To really experience God’s peace, we must come to Him with thankful hearts. To really express thankfulness within us (and outwardly), we must “let the peace of Christ guide (our) hearts, since as members of one body (we) were called to peace and thankfulness” (Col 3:15)

Peace isn’t the absence of difficult circumstances. And we know that we can pray about these difficulties. But praying is not all that we can do. Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything”—good start, but how? He continues, “but in everything by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God. And THEN the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7 emphasis added). (more…)

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Wisdom: Gift for the One Who Has Everything – VOTD.11.27.17

For although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.  Romans 1:21,22

God owns everything. That’s a simple theological truth. There is nothing we can give Him that He doesn’t already own. We can’t increase or add to Him. Part of the inescapable truth of the Gospel is that we are entirely and unavoidably recipients. We even “love Him because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). “He is not served by human hands as though he needed anything” (Acts 17:25).

That’s just basic truth. But it raises an obvious question: if God owns all (1 Cor 15:28), how can we (who are nothing and have nothing by comparison) please him?

And that is the wisdom of giving thanks. God is so magnificent and so awesome, we have to respond somehow, but how can we respond in a meaningful way to Someone who’s got it all? We can’t add to his glory, but we can honor it. When you come down to it, there’s only one real answer to the question: What can I do for God? —To live for His praise and glory. (more…)

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Wisdom: The Opposite of Pride: Ingratitude – VOTD.11.21.17

For although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.  Romans 1:21

The Israelites grumbled in the wilderness, though God fed, clothed, and led them through it (Ex 16:2; Deut 8:2). We look at them today, and find it hard to believe how their ungrateful hearts took God’s daily miracles for granted, and we often miss the reality that we walk in their footsteps. Ingratitude is epidemic in our day in our society as well as in our churches.

The foundation of ingratitude is self-idolization. When it’s all about me, there’s not much room for gratitude. All that’s left is grumbling, complaining, arguing. That’s why Paul wrote this command: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…” (Phil 2:14-15).

We look at our circumstances in pride, and our hearts tell us we are good, that we should get what we want, and if we don’t, it’s not fair and we’re justified in our complaining and demanding our rights. Because being comfortable and convenienced in every way…it’s our right. And the result is that anger wells up inside of us over our inconveniences and perceived inequities. That is false wisdom (Rom 1:22); it’s “showing contempt for the riches of His kindness” (2:4); it’s ingratitude. (more…)

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In Search of a Thankful Heart pt 2 – VOTD.08.08.17

Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.  Hebrews 12:28

Last time we saw that a genuinely thankful person is satisfied in the moment. (How many songs proclaim that ‘Jesus is all I need?’) But we miss that in the ‘now’, because other emotions take center stage. We looked at a few of these seemingly innocent gratitude-breakers and today we’re going to look at a few of the more diabolical ones:

We can’t be thankful and be Arrogant, Impatient, Greedy, Bored, or Judgmental. Why would this be? Because thanksgiving can only come from a humble heart… Thankfulness can only be felt by those who know that no one owes them what they’ve gotten.

In the same way Impatience stems from an attitude of, “my time is more important than yours.” In other words, it stems from arrogance. Thankfulness stems from Love…Love is patient, and true gratitude can only spring forth from love (1 Cor 13:4).

Thankfulness can’t be greedy. The two are opposites. Thankfulness says, “I am satisfied.” “I have enough.” A greedy spirit never has enough. (Col 3:5)

Bored?? Yes, a thankful heart isn’t bored. Boredom nearly always results from dissatisfaction in the moment; this is the opposite of thankfulness. Face it, there are always things to do. But a bored person isn’t stratified with the options… that person wants MORE… No wonder it’s often said that boredom is a tell-tale sign of moral issues at some level or other. (more…)

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In Search of a Thankful Heart pt 1 – VOTD.08.07.17

Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.  Hebrews 12:28

According to today’s verse we are receiving the kingdom of God… the very presence of the King is being received by us… not just once, a long time ago at an altar, but continuously, right now… It’s not some day in the future in heaven, either. It’s continuously, right now…

Since we are receiving the presence and majesty of Jesus on a continual basis, “Let us be thankful”. What an understatement! You would think that since we’re receiving a Kingdom we’d be overwhelmed with gratitude, but apparently Hebrews has to remind us to be. I wonder why?

Why do we have so much trouble being thankful in the NOW? Today’s verse suggests it’s because we aren’t satisfied with the Kingdom we’re receiving. I suspect that’s because we have trouble being satisfied with Jesus in the now.

There are some seemingly innocent emotions that can be gratitude-breakers in our lives. Fore example, how can we be thankful and be Angry, Depressed, Discouraged, Jealous, or Full of self-pity? These things are incompatible with genuine gratitude. Here’s why: (more…)

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Blameless and Pure – VOTD.06.20.17

Do everything without complaining… so that you may become blameless and pure children of God. Philippians 2:14,15

When we speak of Biblical Contentment, we’re not talking about stoic, “grin and bear it” resignation. Nor are we speaking of sticking our heads in the sand and pretending all is well when it’s not. We are talking about TRUST in a good God who wants the best for His children.

But what can we do to be more contented believers?

TRUST: Discontentment often manifests itself in the form of complaining. Often when we find ourselves complaining (either verbally or in our hearts) we are really showing a lack of trust in God. A better use of our emotional energy would be to pray, “Lord, give me a trusting spirit that believes that You are Lord of this situation.” We may need to pray that prayer a whole lot. But God is faithful to answer it!

THANK: Thankfulness is the result of contentment. You and I simply can’t be thankful and discontent. Intentionally, ponder what it is that we have to be thankful for. Write out a list if that would be helpful. Become obsessed with thanking God. Pray for God to fill us with an attitude of gratitude.

MODEL: Consider and/or write down some ways that we can model contentment to those around us…To our workmates, our family, our churchmates… and then act upon them. The world and even the Body of Christ is full of people who are not content. Talk about the meaning of contentment. Ask those complainers (ask ourselves!) what it is that would make them happy. (A lot of times, they don’t know; or when they stop to think about it, what would make them happy is so far outside of reality that they recognize it’s silly.)  Brainstorm ways to show contentment. (more…)

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The Poor in Spirit – VOTD.11.01.16

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
  For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

A reader sent me an interesting quote related to the spirit of entitlement that we’ve been talking about in these meditations. It’s too long to reproduce here, but the sum and substance is this:

The result of being poor in spirit is you get it all…the whole Kingdom. That’s not a reward…it’s the consequence. That suggests there must be a result of NOT being poor in spirit. It, too, is not a punishment…it’s a consequence.

The poor in spirit have access to everything. Being poor in spirit is what enables us to experience repeated “Yes’s” to prayer without it leading us into a spirit of entitlement…without it destroying us. If God blesses us with many “Yes’s” and we’re not poor in spirit, we will not be able to get away from an inner “You owe me, God” mentality no matter how much we cognitively know that it’s wrong to feel that way…no matter how much we know that God is a giving Father who will not withhold any good thing from us (Ps 84:11).

And it gets worse: Without being poor in spirit we will not be able to get away from an inner “I deserve God’s blessing” mentality…no matter how much we know it isn’t true. We know God’s blessings come from His grace (undeserved favor) yet we’re insidiously taking silent credit for God’s blessing us and that attitude is so far from the reality of His grace and mercy that He will not feed it. He won’t feed it because He loves us too much, not too little. (more…)

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An Attitude of Thanksgiving – VOTD.10.31.16

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published (saying that anyone who prays to any “god” except the king would be thrown into the lions’ den), he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Daniel 6:10

As we saw last time, when God tells us to give thanks in everything (Eph 5:20), He is actually prescribing the way for us to position ourselves to receive what He promises us.

Daniel is a great example of this. When he got down on his knees and thanked God he actually released the power of God into his dire situation. He released the favor of God upon himself.

Thankfulness releases blessing. It is an access to anointing God gives us to do great things for Him…to receive great things from Him…and to facilitate the fulfillment of His promises. Just like parenting children, it’s difficult to get into a situation where we’re rewarding an entitlement spirit by giving our children things they don’t appreciate. (more…)

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Lifestyle Glory – VOTD.08.09.16

Be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:17-21

Last time we were looking at what being filled with the Spirit looks like: First of all, it looks like worship, Public Worship, Private Worship, Experiential (thankful) Worship and Lifestyle Worship.

We saw that lifestyle worship is treating our brothers and sisters in Christ as if they were Jesus. If we are involved with sins against our brothers and sisters in Christ and we have not made things right with them the Holy Spirit’s filling is still available but we won’t experience it.

How do I know that? In introducing the passage in Eph 5 that we are looking at, Paul says “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph. 4:30,31) (more…)

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