Give Thanks

“Give Thanks”

How do you put Christ at the center of your worship? One sure way to enjoy worship every time, be it private or the corporate experience, is to make sure that worship is actually happening. Many try to chase connection with God but miss it because they don’t know the key factor of true worship. This is it, are you ready?

Worship only happens when the gratitude inside of you, is pours out.

I’m about to give you 4 ENCOURAGEMENTS: Think about this will me:

1. No one can force you to be thankful.

Most every parents have a desires for their child to become a grateful person. The problem with that desire is this; no parent is given a guarantee that it will happen.

A parent can demonstrate gratitude in front of their child in hope that they will learn to do the same, but still, they have no power to make the child choose to be a thankful kind of person.

(For Example: Children must be taught to say “please” and “Thank you” even before they understand what it has to do with their character.) What else can a parents do? They can pray hard, plant seeds and give the child the Words of God. To contribute to the outcome they desire, but in the end, even then the choice is not up to the parent to make, it’s the child’s prerogative.

So, consider this. If this is what we desire as human parents doesn’t it make since that our Heavenly Father desires the same from his children? He delights in us give thanks because it shows a mark of maturity is taking place in us.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 God revealed that we have the choice, whether we will be, and become, a thankful person. Here it is, these are Paul’s words,

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

So, according to God, neither a child or a parent can opt out. We’re all required to give thanks…IN SOME SELECT CIRCUMSTANCES, when we feel like it’s appropriate to do so, and when it feels easy to show gratitude.) Of course NOT! He says, give thanks…in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

The decision to give thanks is always rooted in God’s worthiness, rather than on the feelings we may have in the moment. So when I feel like it’s to difficult to give thanks in my situation, the first step in changing the situation is to change my perspective by…

ENCOIRAGMENT #2:

2. Give thanks-anyways.

Some people believe that giving thanks all the time means walking around with a goofy smile. Let me tell you, if you do that, you’ll look dumb, ignorant, people will think you haven’t a clue as to what is going on. We need to be observant, ready to morn with those who are morning, but just know that we don’t morn the same way as those who have no hope! Some mistakenly believe we should always feel happy, like we’ve been given a drug that never wears off. Don’t be overly spiritual!

Listen, we live in the real world, and I don’t know a single person, reasonable and sound minded person, who is happy 100% the time. But you can give thanks-always when you’re walking with Jesus’ hand in hand.

I’ve heard it said, "If you were happy every day of your life, you wouldn’t be a human being; you’d be a game show host." But what we find in Christ is this, we can be filled joy despite our circumstance, we can choose to be grateful because it’s up to us without being clueless in hard times.

God’s intention for us is that thankfulness is to be our lifestyle rather than a feeling we fake on Sundays.

Let’s move to Mark 12. I want us to look at a narrative passage that talks about paying taxes, even though paying tax is not our topic today. I noticed there was a very important principle to highlight, a principle that I believe is perfectly fitting for our topic of giving thanks.

And just so you don’t miss it (spoiler alert) Jesus is about to tell us that, we should always give credit where credit is due.

That’s our 3rd point of ENCOURAGEMENT:

3. Give Credit where Credit is due.

Now, if you’ve ever read the gospels, you know they are filled with stories of religious leaders in Jesus’ day, who were always trying to trap him and turn people away from him.

• By the way, that’s a giveaway when you’ve found yourself with unhealthily religious people; religious people will try to get you to follow them and make little of Christ.