Choose Thanks

 

This week was not a great one for me. Without boring you with details, let just say that I allowed myself to wallow in toxic thoughts that did not bring out the best in me. I knew that I could do better. In prayer in the small hours of this morning, the Spirit reminded me of a simple choice that I can make, moment by moment, one that is God’s will for me. I spoke His Word in prayer and it my thought for you this day - "No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT)

Here is the reality with which we deal. People will do things we do not like.  Some will be rude, others just thoughtless.  The food may arrive at the table cold. Our spouse may come home from work weary and difficult. And the list goes on …  the natural response? Life stinks! People are terrible! God does not care about me!  How often have we heard people say that or said it ourselves?

Christian, by the power of the Spirit and the discipline of our mind we can choose a different path. We do not have to sink to the depths of the world that surrounds us living in ways that are dark and irritable. Joy is possible, regardless of our situation!   We can, through Christ Jesus, choose to find a reason to offer thanks. Quickly I must add- not the phony or forced kind of ‘thanks’ that just polite but an overflow that comes from security in Christ Jesus as Savior. Real thanksgiving rests on a rock-solid confession of our beloved status as ‘children of God’ which is His declaration.  

G.K. Chesterton reminded us that we need to get in the habit of “taking things with gratitude and not taking things for granted.”  A Christian who wants to reflect the heart of Jesus to the world will learn to be grateful – to God, to others – consistently. It takes practice.  Paul, in his letter of joy, Philippians, acknowledges the reality of his circumstances which were not good. He was in custody and being criticized, yet he speaks of his joy. Then he tells us – “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”  That includes choosing JOY!

The Self will devour as much attention as we give to it.  When life becomes difficult, when people disappoint us, when things do not turn out as we had planned, when friends forsake us, when health fails, when loneliness surrounds us *(misery can make a long list!)  we may be tempted to shrink into a little ball of self-pity, marinating in the sauce of ‘poor me.’   The blues come naturally at such times as we sing “Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen.”  

 In that moment, it is quite easy to be deceived into thinking that gratitude is impossible, something that only someone else can know.  If we wait to feel thankful, we will not be thankful often, if ever.  That is why the Lord directs us to choose thanks as a way of life.  So the Spirit whispers to us - "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV)

Henri Nouwen, a man who knew deep inner conflict, reflects on his own journey writing that “In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”  Re-read that line. It is powerfully true!

November is supposed to be the month of Thanksgiving. You and I can start with choices today that will make that date about more than turkey and mashed potatoes.

 

1. Begin the day with thanks to God. Do not let it be a perfunctory, “Thank you, Lord, for all You have done.”
   Make it personal, from the heart, authentic. Speak it.
2. That first person you encounter in the morning – let your first words be thankful and again, make it real!   
3. When irritation stirs in you, meet it with prayer and the choice to “Let go and let God.”     
4. Change the channel (literally!) and figuratively. Yes, too much ‘news’ will destroy your gratitude. Put on the praise and sing. “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—” (Psalm 103:1-2, NIV)

From experience I can tell you that it is absolutely true that the more thankful we are, the more natural it becomes to respond to life and others with gratitude.  Yes, we can, through Christ Jesus learn to accept life, not as it might be, but as it is.

Here is the word from the Word. Let’s live it!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.” (Psalm 107:1-2, NLT) 
“Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation.” (Psalm 107:31-32, NLT)

Would you say “amen?”

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Goodness Of God

 

I love You Lord
Oh Your mercy never fails me
All my days
I've been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
I will sing of the goodness of God

 

All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God

 

I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In darkest night
You are close like no other
I've known You as a father
I've known You as a friend
I have lived in the goodness of God

 

Your goodness is running after
It’s running after me
Your goodness is running after
It’s running after me
With my life laid down
I’m surrendered now
I give You everything
Your goodness is running after
It's running after me

 

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Listening to all the words

 

In a loud or crowded room conversations can be difficult because my hearing is not what it once was. I cope by mentally ‘filling in’ the words I miss, making an educated guess based the context of the conversation.  I don’t always get it right and that can be hilarious and sometimes, unfortunate!  It is better to just admit, “I did not hear what you said.  Would you please tell me again?”

There is a similar problem that can develop in the Christian as she approaches the Scripture. God speaks to us in the Holy Word but we can miss the message when we bring our own conclusions to the text, forcing the words to fit into what ‘we think it must mean’ rather than listening to the Spirit as He speaks to us.  More than a few times I have heard Christians say, “I know the words but I just don’t accept them.”  Or,  I hear others re-interpret passages with tortured logic to forced them into the framework that they have already created.  

I will be the first to admit that there are passages in the Bible that leave me wondering, others that pierce my heart with conviction, others that stretch my faith.
When I read them I have a choice to make.
Will I invite the Holy Spirit to speak to me, approaching the Word with reverent faith?
Or, will I ignore the text because it is ‘hard to understand?’

Let’s go to the Gospels for an illustration of this. When His disciples questioned Jesus about cursing a fig tree that withered he said “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:21-22, NIV)  

 That is a challenging text for me!  My mind immediately forms an objection to the text by insisting that mountains cannot be moved!  If I read it completely literally, I am left with just one conclusion – nobody has great faith. Why? Because I know of no recorded instances in all the years of Christianity when anyone commanded a mountain to go throw itself into the ocean.  The second part is equally challenging. “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  I understand those words, too, but I also know that I have prayed about some things with the deepest of faith and have not experienced the answer I sought!  If I read that text and conclude that every unanswered prayer is solely the result of a deficit in my faith I will become afraid to pray at all.

Both of those objections to Jesus’ words grow out of the preconceived ideas that I drag into the text. If that is how I read the Word, I will become partially deaf, missing God’s message.  So, I come at it with prayer, with faith, and with acceptance of something I call ‘mystery.’  When I find my mind objecting, I ask God to grant me insight, to help me to hear the words as He speaks them. While I may not understand why Jesus talks about throwing mountains into the ocean I can hear a teaching about great faith, about trusting Him radically with the obstacles in my life that look like mountains in the way.  I hear Jesus’ invitation to greater faith for the daily needs of my life and focus on Him, not on myself, willing to live with the questions.

Tish Harrison Warren writing about the many ‘deconstructors’ of Christian faith, people who decide to destroy Christianity because they have issues with how other practice it or because of their own inner conflicts urges us to trust both the truth of the Scripture and the voice of the Holy Spirit.  One line she writes needs to be heard – “Many of those who most vocally deconstruct Christianity jettison a thin version of American fundamentalism and mistake it for the whole tradition … what a sinful Church needs is not deconstruction but deep construction. We have to forsake shallow critique to build a more faithful vision of the community of Jesus, but we cannot do it without holding to the deposit of faith we have received from the historic church.”  (Christianity Today, November, 2021, pg. 32)

Are you wrestling with faith? Have you come to a place of questions?

You are not the first.  In John’s Gospel, chapter 6, Jesus said some hard things about being a disciple, about ‘eating His flesh and drinking His blood!’  Many who heard Him, turned away. Even the inner circle struggled. "On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

The word from the Word is a confession of faith I make. Will you?  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:60-69, NIV)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Lord I Need You

Lord I come I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
And without You I fall apart
You're the one that guides my heart

Lord I need You oh I need You
Ev'ry hour I need You
My one defense my righteousness
Oh God how I need You

Where sin runs deep Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me

So teach my song to rise to You
When temptation comes my way
And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You
Jesus You're my hope and stay
And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You
Jesus You're my hope and stay

Lord I need You oh I need You
Ev'ry hour I need You
My one defense my righteousness
Oh God how I need You
My one defense my righteousness
Oh God how I need You

Christy Nockels | Daniel Carson | Jesse Reeves | Kristian Stanfill | Matt Maher

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“We”

 

It is a curious paradox of the 21^st century. Despite having technology that makes us the most ‘connected’ society in history Americans are lonely! Just prior to the outbreak of COVID a reputable national survey found that three in five (60%) of Americans reported that they felt lonely. They described themselves as feeling “left out, poorly understood and lacking companionship.” 

There are many reasons that account for this.  Our families tend to be more scattered than they were a generation ago. We live longer and loneliness is an issue especially prevalent among the aged who are no longer able to be active.  We marry less and have fewer children.  We turn to television and computers as a substitute (very poor ones) for complex real friendships! We no longer ‘join’ clubs, churches, and community service organizations like we once did.

Sometimes, too often really, the loneliness we feel results from being ‘left out,’  unable to find a place where we can build and sustain relationships. From the time of childhood, right through adulthood, we human beings have the awful capacity to ignore or marginalize that person who is different - in color, in race, in religion, in language, even in ability. 

During World War 2, Americans decided that being of Japanese descent was enough to make a person suspicious. This nation, which prided itself on being free and open, because of great fear took thousands of citizens and locked them in internment camps. I wish I could say that was a singular aberration but it isn’t.  20 years ago, after the attacks on 9/11, Muslim citizens endured awful discrimination.  More recently, when COVID was made a ‘China’ issue, people of Asian descent dealt with hatred and rejection in many cities and town. 

Our pastor at FDC reminded us yesterday that we are called to bear the image of God, our Creator and that basic to that image is the idea of community. God, the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit – exist in eternal community and we are made to be like Him!  He has designed us to share life – with Him and with others. We can know Him because Christ Jesus restores us, by grace through faith, to a right relationship. And, loved by God, we become people who seek to create relationships with others, who care and share.

Let me remind you that God loved us not because we are wonderful, charming, or beautiful. He did not love us because we were eagerly seeking to please Him. Scripture tells us that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" He stood with us and His genuine love is to change us, making us into people who love people. 

Yes, we care about (not pity!) even those that are rejected or marginalized by others. We identify ourselves with them, standing with them. This is what Jesus did and so must we. The Scripture says, "Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world." (James 1:27, The Message)

We need to guard against a patronizing kind of assistance that reaches 'down' without really coming alongside of those in need.  The person who struggles to fit in, that one who has material need, the one who is rejected because of her skin color or ancestry does not want us to pretend to care so that we can feel noble or like we have ‘done our duty.’  We cannot love as God desires without becoming one with those we consider to be ‘other.’ Simply offering a meal or a pat on the back or a check to help with rent is a nice gesture and relieves some measure of suffering, but such efforts do not change people's lives or show them God's salvation.

Only if we are willing to get involved in a way that makes our lives intersect with those in need, can we hope to really make a difference. This is what Jesus did in the Incarnation! "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14, NIV)  He moved into the neighborhood, joined our church, and made life with us. This is our model for the kind of love and community that God desires. We cannot just ‘let it happen.’ We must work at it, be intentional, strategize to create a strong churches that honor the God who calls us into His Body.

My friend, it is time for those who are ‘in Christ’ to work against the divides of America. We are too ready to be politically, socially, racially, religiously, and economically divided. We paint those who are ‘other’ with broad brushes of generalizations that really do not fit. We tend to see only the caricature not the reality.  Let’s start to pray that God will start to heal our land starting in our church.  Let’s pray for the ability to love and accept those who have different convictions about the world. Let’s invite others to join the ‘family’ of God. 

It’s not a dream, it’s a calling! It can happen because God supernaturally makes us one. Here is a word from the Word. Would join me in praying that these words will become more than ‘words’ turning into truth we live by?  "So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-28, NLT)

A simple prayer for this day – “Lord, change my love for ‘ME’ into a love of ‘WE.’ Amen.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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If We Are The Body

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying
Farther than they know
Farther than they know

(But) if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
(There is a way) 

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly
Sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances
Tells him that his chances are better
Out on the road

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ 

Jesus is the way

Mark Hall
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