GIVING THANKS: THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOUR LIFE!
1 Thess 5: 16-18 (p837) Nov. 13, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
I have some genuine questions as I approach this text this morning…As Paul wraps up his first letter to the church in Thessalonians he hits on some specific but essential ingredients for unity…His final instructions…
[Respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you…Hold them in highest regard in love because of their work… Live in peace with each other…Warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, and my favorite “Be patient with everyone…make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else….(! Thess 5: 12-15)
Sounds like simple, great practical advice doesn’t it? Respect, encouragement, kindness…the ingredients that keep people growing the church and connected in the church… But then Paul turns his advice into something much more general…something we all deserve to know…or at least we say we desire to know…”God’s Will”… But here’s my question…or questions as I look at our text. Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances…for this is god’s will for you in Christ Jesus”.
Why did the Apostle Paul put this short and simple command right in the midst of his practical advice for unity in the church?
Are there attitudes and thoughts that continually let us live in relationship with others and Our Lord that we can cultivate daily? Let me answer that first question…the question about why Paul put it right in the middle of his practical adv ice to the church…
I believe it’s because God is always telling us…don’t be selfish…consider others as more important than yourself…do nothing out of complaining or arguing…don’t live life out of selfish ambition or vain conceit…don’t just seek your own interests, but also the interests of others…your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus (Phil. 2: 3-5, 14)
God’s plan for those who have surrendered to Him is…”I’m gonna make them like Jesus…Romans 8: 29 says “To be conformed to the likeness of His son”
The battle for that to take place in any of us comes because “My Nature” My natural sinful heart” doesn’t just go away…my nature lives in a today of flesh that hungers to get its own way…and now this body has become the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit…His temple, if you will according to 1Cor 6:19.
So, if I want to put to death my selfishness. I need to choose to let Christ live…specifically in the way I treat others… I need my attitude to become more like Jesus’ attitude…and it won’t happen unless I work at it… intentionally seek it…with others and with God….
That’s why Paul tells us an attitude of Gratitude is the will of God for every Christian..It’s not fake…it’s not a plastic smile and saying, everything’s fine…it’s possible because
I JOY IS POSSIBLE ALWAYS
Dr. Dale Robbins writes, “I use to think people complained because they had a lot of problems…But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain. Complaining doesn’t’ change anything or make situations better. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for the devil to cause havoc with our lives.”
Max Lucado says “Gratitude is always on option.”
There is nothing that smothers joy quicker than grumbling and complaining…in the person doing the grumbling and complaining and those around him or her…
And the sad part is many times the grumbler is rewarded…instead of being held accountable or called to be more mature…Fear, and intimidations causes people to try, and make them happy…(good luck with that!)
Joy is something that grows as fruit from the Holy Spirit…it’s 2nd in the list after Love in Gal 5…I don’t believe it’s that high in priorities out of coincidence… because it’s our joy in the Lord that is our strength.
Joy isn’t happiness…Happiness is brought about by something external…It feels good to buy a new car, get a new promotion, have the girl of your dream say “yes”…but all those things can change in a heartbeat…A fender bender, a lost job, the gorgeous girl isn’t so pretty on the inside.
Joy is a calm security…a peaceful trust…even when the storm comes…it’s provided from God’s spirit…it cannot be taken away by externals because it’s external.
And how can the child of God choose Joy always…Romans 8:28 assures us “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called already to his purpose.”
Joy choosers focus on this truth…God’s purpose is for me to become like Jesus…that means God is working…and some of that work will involve trials and struggles…I can choose to complain, grumble or argue…or I can choose Joy…God’s will is for you and I to choose Joy…ALWAYS.
The 2nd ingredient for an attitude of Gratitude is
II PRAY CONTINUALLY… (EVEN WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT!)
Satan’s number one goal is to keep us out of relationship with God…He knows his time is short…so he’s intense about it…He’s good at it…If we are lost…He will continually keep us seeking self…If we are saved he will continually try to attack our connection to God…that connection comes through prayer and His word. Our power to live victoriously does not come from any of our own resources…it comes from God…And the two ways we communicated with Him for this power…Prayer and His Word.
And you might think…If God already knows everything why does he want me to talk to him about it…why doesn’t he just fix it!!!?
The reason is He has created us for relationship with Him…and relationships can only grow and be healthy if you’re talking to each other and listening to each other.
For some amazing reason God loves us…He wants the best for us… to become like His perfect Son Jesus…Jesus lived in constant relationship with His Father…they were one…His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane “not my will but thine be done…was the constant focus of His life…so much so that the most painful words Jesus spoke on the cross were “My God My God…why have you forsaken me.”
We know why God forsook Jesus on the cross…We know why God turned His back on His son…for the 1st and only time in the relationship…sin separated them….but it wasn’t His son that caused the separation…It WAS MINE.
1 Peter 2: 22-25 (p858)
You see if we pray continually we are constantly trying to keep the lines of communicating open…Sin clogs the lines…Sin causes us to keep God at a distance…like He doesn’t already know…Satan turns our focus from God and His purposes to self…and selfishness and pride have us running away from the Father instead of into his arms.
Remember Satan is a Liar…His very name means “The Accuser”. His plan is to keep the connection broken…God won’t forgive you…You blew it…why would God let you back now…you’ve done this way so much, just give up…
When Satan accuses remind him…”If I confess my sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive me of my sins and cleanse me of all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9 (p 862)
If I need wisdom God promises in James 1:5 if I ask Him He will give it generously and He won’t find fault in me.”
And sometimes my faith will have to grow as I wait for God to work…and I unburden my heart when I don’t understand…the Holy Spirit speaks comfort…listen to this amazing promise concerning our prayers…
ROMANS: 8: 24-27 (p800)
I’m gonna try to tell God my every feeling, my struggles and thoughts, but when I can’t feel the words…God’s spirit speaks to Him for me…He intercedes…And God, the one who knows my heart and spirit….Hears…and is at work….WOW!
It’s no wonder Christians who are seeking an attitude of gratitude take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ so they can demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5) The Holy Spirit moved Paul to write…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus…
The final ingredient….
III THANKFUL LIVING NO MATTER WHAT
The two words “All circumstances” make this directive from the Lord tough…It would be easy if it said, “In some circumstances” or “in good things”
Here’s a truth I was sharing with some ladies during our Bible study time in Joplin…
“We often see God doing His most powerful work in our lives when we are the most uncomfortable”.
It is not natural to choose self denial…It’s completely uncomfortable to take up a cross daily…It’s scary to follow Jesus footsteps…We know where they went.
Why do we believe that we’re smarter than God?
It could be that for many of us God isn’t central…He’s peripheral…
God only becomes central when pain rears its ugly head… Someone once said we American Christians…Worship Our Work, work at our play and play at our worship….we have become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying it’s power…no wonder Paul told Timothy…”Have nothing to do with them”..
You cannot trust God to be at work in all circumstances…if you only live in need of Him during the difficult ones.
It would be like a husband only wanting a relationship with his wife during meal times or bed times…see how that works for you. The reason I can be thankful in all circumstances is that I’ve learned over time what God can do with the worst things possible…sometimes they end up being the best things possible…He’s proved it.
[Two of my favorite people in the world are Gerald and Melissa Mitchell…Gerald is called Kebo by everyone “don’t ask him why? He won’t tell you.” I’ve known Kebo and Melissa for a long time…over the last 5 or 6 years we’ve become close friends…mission trips, He’s helped put a roof on my mom’s house…Melissa works for Bob Evans and gave Kari a job this last year…I think they both enjoy each other.
But Kebo didn’t marry Melissa until he was 46…I won’t tell you how old she was…because she will kill me. Melissa is amazing, she’s tough…independent, just good in about every way possible…Kebo married way above his pay grade…
But when they first got married Melissa was afraid of getting hurt…she didn’t want to give up her own identity…so she kept her last name……….Kebo pretended that it didn’t matter…for 4 years she kept her last name…and then on their 4th anniversary, she went and had all her important documents…driver’s license, passport, business cards…all of them changed to say “Mitchell…and on their 4th anniversary she handed Kebo a long envelope with all those documents…everyone of them saying Melissa Mitchell…
Why would she do that? Because she’d come to trust the relationship…she’d come to a place in her heart where she knew the man…and knowing Him she wanted to honor him by taking his name…
God often tells us…”Test me in this…”Try me in this….” Here’s what I know….I want to carry the name of Jesus…I want to wear it proudly in all circumstances…I’m thankful he loves me and I’m thankful He is at work…and I’m thankful He knows what’s best better than I do…therefore, I can pray continually, be joyful always, and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is His will for me….and you.
Let’s pray.
