Be Thankful

 

At the beginning of Thanksgiving week my thoughts turned to gratitude.  The first words of thanksgiving were the usual ones:  for family and friends, for love and relationships. The blessings of a comfortable home, abundant food, the material goods that I enjoy, and the privilege of living in a safe and secure place in this world were high on the list, too. More reflection brought me to expression of thanks for God’s love and the faith that secures my hope of life eternal.  Thankfulness is not difficult on the sunny days, is it?  But, what about those times of hardship, of pain, of disappointment, of struggle, of lack? 

The wisdom of the Word calls us to this constant choice: "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)  Wait, don’t just nod in agreement or say, ‘that’s right, Jerry.’ Think about it.

Does an attitude of gratitude
shape your thoughts, your words,
your interaction with others?
Do your prayers include sincerely worshipful praise all of the time? 

Gratitude that is real, constant, and soul-deep is rooted in humility. In a society that values the individual, where we are trained to cherish our rights, we can quickly step over the line of healthy self-esteem into self-love and a general feeling of entitlement that says to God and others – “You owe me.”  

When someone appears to disrespect the self-entitled person even in the simplest way, the response is angry and quick, a snarl, a complaint, or in the extreme – an act of violence. That ‘me first’ person prays ‘bless me’ prayers incessantly and complains when God does not  answer every plea with the ‘right’ answer. If we want to become truly grateful, the place to start with our heart. “God, dethrone Self and be lifted up in my thoughts.” When we find critical or angry words flowing out of our mouth, we need to check our heart and ask ourselves why we need to be right, to be served.

I know this for a fact – our Ego will devour as much attention as we are willing to 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!)  pride will tell us ‘you deserve better’ and the temptation to shrink into a little ball of self-pity and to marinate in the sauce of ‘poor me’ will be strong. Then, we are open to the deception that tells 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.  So the Spirit whispers to us this direction shared a moment ago- "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.

Some suggestions that can help us to move into the discipline of gratitude are these.

• 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.
• That first person you encounter in the morning – let your first words be thankful and again, make it real!   
• When irritation stirs in you, meet it with prayer and the choice to “Let go and let God.”    
• Change the channel (literally!) and figuratively. “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)

Like all disciplines, gratitude will grow with practice, becoming a habit, a true value with life enhancing gains. The more thankful we choose to be, 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 we wish 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) 

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Give Thanks

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because He's given

Jesus Christ His Son

 

And now let the weak say I am strong

Let the poor say I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us

 

Give thanks

 

Henry Smith

© 1978 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by Integrity Music)

 

Be Content!

Little Micah is a sweet little guy about 9 months old. He smiles when I see him, making sounds of contentment … until I pick him up and carry him where his Mom is out of sight. He doesn’t cry but the wordless sounds reveal that his heart is anxious. He wants his Mom. When she is in sight, his little world is all right and he is content. So what’s your idea of contentment?  Would your friends and family describe you with the word ‘contentment?’

Paul was inspired by the Spirit to encourage us with these words: "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." (Philippians 4:11-12, NIV)  Can you say that of your life?

Before I explore the idea of being content further, let me tell what it is not. Complacency is not the same thing as contentment, nor is apathy.  Some give up on effort choose to live in a mess, literally and/or figuratively. They may seem to be at peace with the disarray, untroubled by the weeds and junk that clutters their lives, unwilling to pursue excellence in much of anything. 

Is such happy 'contentment' a good thing?  Perhaps it is in the short term. Such a person is easier to be around because he makes few demands of himself or anyone else. But, eventually disorder becomes decay. The apathy that masquerades as contentment has real consequences. Proverbs is direct about it. "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man." (Proverbs 6:10-11, NIV)

Jesus spoke to a group of complacent, self-satisfied Christians with this stern rebuke. "Since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me-gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference." (Revelation 3:16-19, NLT)

So, what is contentment?

Contentment grows out of faith that knows that God is sufficient for my every need, which leads to an acceptance of what God provides! Like that baby I mentioned in the opening who is contented when his Momma is in sight, we can live contentedly when we are worshipping, loving, surrendered people who know the Presence of the Spirit in our lives.

We can be broken-hearted over our circumstance and still be contented by the God of all comfort!
We can be facing critics on every side and still be contented because we know His love is richly given to us!  
We can be confronted with financial straits and yet be contented with the little we have because of the assurance that He will provide what we need, if not what we want.

We can be fighting the very demons of Hell and experience contentment because He said, "I am with always, even to the ends of the earth!"

Paul, though a Spirit-filled man, went through life's up's and down's. Some days he was hero (even thought to be a god by some pagans!) and some days he chased out of town like a criminal by the local authorities. Sometimes he enjoyed the esteem of the churches he taught and sometimes they ignored him and followed smooth talkers! He felt the joy and the pain equally. Yet, his life remained constantly committed to the Christ he loved because his true contentment was not circumstantial, but fixed on a Person greater than this world.

A few moments ago I quoted his witness to contentment, not just ‘happy talk,’ but the truth about his life.  Here it is again. "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." (Philippians 4:11-12, NIV)

Christian friend have you allowed the deception to overtake you that you would content if only l… you had more money, you lived in Florida, you had a different job?
Do you think that God is good when life is good and that God is unworthy of your love when things go wrong?

Do you do what is right when you are at peace, but ignore things like worship, prayer, or Scripture intake when you're life is full of problems? A Christ-centered person will experience the full range of emotions and yet keep his commitment intact, for he will be contented with the love of His Savior.

Contentment is not external, not outside in,
but rather inside out,
the result of a new mind that is settled in
the sufficiency of Jesus Christ for every need!

 A last thought today before I close.  Contentment will not found by trying to ignore our sorrow, our sins, our pain, or our problems.  We must live in reality, dealing with life as it is – the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly. We can be content when we take those things to our loving Lord, who shares the burden and blesses with peace.  The word from the Word is a familiar passage.  Read it prayerfully, asking for faith to live the promise. 

Stop fuming and fretting and focus on the fullness of His care. "Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:5-7, NIV)   Now that’s contentment.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Wonderful Peace

Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm
In celestial-like strains it unceasingly falls
O'er my soul like an infinite calm

Peace peace wonderful peace
Coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit forever I pray
In fathomless billows of love

Ah soul are you here without comfort and rest
Marching down the rough pathway of time
Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark
O accept this sweet peace so sublime

Warren D. Cornell | William G. Cooper

© Words: Public Domain

 

Be Grounded!

 

“I am so thankful that you are steady and grounded.”  She is dependable, self-aware, and faithful to the calling God gave. The wild swings of emotion that make life stormy for some do not rule her life. She is capable of being warm, loving, joyful, sorrowful, but her emotions enrich her life, not govern it. 

God made us with the ability to know joy, to be able to feel afraid, to become anxious, to know serenity, to feel love however, when our transitory emotions are the primary influences that shape our decisions, we will become unstable and unproductive, often childish. We expect a toddler to plummet from giddy heights of laughter to stormy tumult of tears within 5 minutes. That same emotional roller coaster in an adult is cause for concern!  At the opposite extreme, the person who represses emotions, who refuses to experience them, is bereft of true humanity.

Christian are you grounded in your faith or are you chasing a feeling, at the mercy of the up’s and down’s that are part of life?

God has given us the Truth and He is the foundation of our faith.  Isaiah, in his inspired word, says of the LORD,  "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock." (Isaiah 26:3-4, NLT)   Jesus extends that metaphor urging us to find our security in Him. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." (Matthew 7:24-25, NIV)

In no way do I mean to imply that we must divorce our feelings from our faith. Our spiritual experience includes the enriching gifts of joy, love, and peace that can be found in times of worship. There are moments when I find myself so full of emotion that it spills over in tears or bursts out in a rolling laugh. But, Jesus taught us to love God beyond the feelings.  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’" (Mark 12:30, NIV) Our walk with the Lord is a combination of passion and discipline, of feelings and Truth.

Days will come when our hearts are cold, when sorrow is nearly overwhelming, when disappointments roll over us in waves. What then?  We KNOW that God’s love for us is still real, greater than our hearts. He does not only love us when we feel all warm and fuzzy inside when they sing our favorite worship song in church! He is present when tears spill over in a particularly touching time of prayer and still God on those days when we are numb, our prayers without passion. He is still Lord when exhaustion overwhelms. He is still Lord when anxiety about the future produces a temporary soul paralysis.

Disciple, don’t fall in love with a feeling. Choose to be grounded in the Truth! If we build our salvation on a special state of mind, on emotional well-being, we are resting on a foundation of sand. Yes, we will find ourselves then chasing a feeling, looking for a religious high, running here and there wanting somebody to renew the excitement.  Zephaniah reminds the people of the Lord to trust the Truth! "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17, NIV)   Do you see the focus of that faith? It is not on the person, on finding a state of mind, even on doing something to provoke a response from the Lord. That person who would stay consistent in devotion focuses on God’s faithfulness!

Here is a word from the Word. Make the Truth of it yours today and be grounded.  "Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And a righteous person will live by faith." (Hebrews 10:35-38, NLT)

Steady on, my friend.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Immortal, invisible

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

In light inaccessible

Hid from our eyes;

Most blessed, most glorious,

The Ancient of Days;

Almighty, victorious,

Thy great name we praise.

 

Unresting, unhasting

And silent as light;

Nor wanting, nor wasting,

Thou rulest in might.

Thy justice, like mountains,

High soaring above;

Thy clouds, which are fountains

Of goodness and love.

 

To all, life Thou givest,

To both great and small;

In all, life Thou livest,

The true life of all;

We blossom and flourish

As leaves on the tree,

And wither and perish

But naught changeth Thee.

 

Great Father of glory,

Pure Father of light;

Thine angels adore Thee

All veiling their sight.

All praise we would render,

O help us to see

'Tis only the splendor

Of light hideth Thee.

Amen