Thank God...No matter what
Illus.
The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough.
We can't take it any longer…We’re sick of each other and it's over we're going to quits and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her...there will be no Thanksgiving this year."
Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "Not on my watch are they getting divorced," she shouted, "I’ll take care of This." So She called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father.
"You are NOT getting divorced...you can't I wont allow it!
Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow on the first flight out...
Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"
The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey...you were right it worked. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving, paying for their own flights and they will be here in time for lunch"
1st Thess. 5:16-18 MSG
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
You know thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is only weeks away..
and this is when many people take survey of their lives and their circumstances
And focus on the goodness of God and they stop and take time to make note of how much they have to be thankful for.
It has been said… Even atheists are thankful this time of year, they just aren't sure to whom to be thankful too?
Can you imagine if someone couldn't find something to be thankful for… What a miserable existence that would be
Everybody has something that they can be thankful for..
if not you better check your pulse
Illus. I'm thankful for
....the taxes I pay
....because it means I have a job
....the clothes that fit a little too snug
....because it means I have more than enough to eat
....a lawn that needs mowing and
....gutters that need cleaned
....because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot
....because it means I am capable of walking.
....my huge heating bill
....because it means I am warm.
Yes… If you look hard enough everyone has something to
be thankful for this time of year
But what about the rest of the time?
Isn’t what God is doing, for all of us the rest of the year...
worthy of our thankfulness and worthy of continuous praise?
And the answer is "YES" a million times Yes!
Are you, or should I say..are we giving thanks every day..in every circumstance?
If were not we should be!
Sometimes its difficult to do as it says in Luke 10:27 to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, body and strength...and to love your neighbor
as well as you do yourself
But the word clearly says to;
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Be cheerful… Never stop praying… And thank God no matter what happens in every situation
This might seem hard to do at times, especially when you are going through something trying or difficult.
You know what I’m talking about, one of those Why periods..
you know when you question why..
Why is this happening to me?
Why do I always have the hard road?
Why can't I get the easy breaks?
but it seems like there’s no answer, Or at least...
not the answer your looking for, in the time frame you want it in.
But notice today’s verse doesn’t say...if everything goes just the way you want
and you get everything you think you need to be grateful…
It just says to thank God in every situation no matter what happens
Cause face it, there’s a lot of stuff in life that happens to all of us..
that you wouldn’t wish on anyone
But what God is saying here, and he wants you to realize that it's all temporary and if you really want to live the way he has planned for you to live...
you need to trust him and take Him at His word..
Don’t just focus on what’s wrong in your life; try focusing on whats right with your life for a change, try focusing on what God wants to do in your life.
What your wanting to take place, may not look like its happening, but that doesn’t mean Gods not working behind the scenes,
Moving mountain after mountain out of the path to your victory, clearing the trees out of the way..in the forest of your adversity for your need to be met!
We will never know the extent..The extreme lengths that God goes to, to bring about the good things that he has planned for us in our life to fruition
When you are thankful, it's like you say okay God..You take the wheel
Full steam ahead with your plan and I am going to be okay with whatever happens I know the results will be far and beyond what ever I could hope or imagine
That’s why we should always have an attitude of trust…that says,
“God, no matter what may happen,
I’m not going to moved by it, because i know, you are working all things together for my benefit,
So in spite of what’s happening...even if there is complete chaos in and around you and your life… If you choose to be grateful..God will reward you for doing it.
And I want you to know those aren't just idle words…
That's a promise..that's a declaration
that God has given us and that we can hold on to and stand on..
That’s part of the diligence Hebrews 11:6 NKJ talks about;
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
A lot of people will tell you serving God comes with great expense..
But that's not what the infallible Word of God says!
Serving God comes with great reward!!
The accuser may tell you otherwise but the Lord says to listen to him and he will reward you with abundant life
The life that he has always had created for you to live from the beginning
At times its hard to remember...and the accuser will try his best to distract you because you may not see it happening in the natural..but that is contrary to what the word of God says
Philippians 1:6NKJ
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
You see the accuser says well you don't see it happening do you?
And the correct response would be no..no devil I don't see it happening,
but both you and I know that it is happening…
Because God said it would it would happen if I would only believe...
and I choose to believe...
and there's not a darn thing that you can do about it..so if I were you I would quit wasting both your and my time!!...
The amazing thing is when you Trust God..you don't have to see it happening in the natural..just realize in the supernatural, things are a hopping, working in ways that you could never think or imagine, to make it come together just the way you want...Amen? Are you with me?
And your need won’t only be met by the Lord, but amazingly surpassed,
because He is an over the top, prayer answering God of to much!
That’s part of the prayer of faith, if we can have enough faith to ask Him for a need, large or small, to be met...in the first place
Shouldn’t we have enough faith to thank Him for doing it, as well!
During the creation part of our miracle, is when we should really be excited and pouring on the thanks to God.
Not that He needs any incentive, because He can do anything He chooses to do!
But, its when we praise Him for what He’s about to do, as if He has already done it, He enjoys it all the more.
It's like He says… You know they never stopped thanking me or believing that I would do what they were asking me to do the whole time..
I'm not just going to meet their need… I'm going to exceed it to the level they could never think or imagine!
I know you've heard the old saying your attitude determines your altitude… It's true especially in the spiritual realm
Psalm 100 The Message (MSG)
100 1-2 On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
3 Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him.
We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.
4 Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
5 For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever
He inhabit’s the praises of His people TBS.
So what should we be doing… I think the answer is obvious we should be praising him
Matt. 18:19-20 NKJ
19. “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Well someone might say, I don’t have anyone to gather with, friend if you don’t have a prayer partner,
Jesus will be your prayer partner, He will be everything you need and more,
In fact, He is the best prayer partner, His faith fed thousands, His faith moved mountains,
And when you combine your faith with His, everything becomes possible! Praise God!
That’s why our text is so good to get down in your spirit,
1st Thess. 5:16-18 MSG
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
God gave us scriptures like this, because He knew, there would be times we would need them..."like all the time"
So we would focus on how big He was, instead of how big our circumstances seem.
Will there ever be times when you won’t feel like praising?
Yes, but that’s when you put on a sacrifice of praise..and you say I don't care how I feel I'm going to praise him anyways and trust Him, that he's going to do what he says he's going to do
that’s when your faith shines through like a beacon…and God is moved on your behalf
Jerm. 17:7-8 MSG.
7-8. “But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
the woman who sticks with God.
They’re like trees replanted in Eden,
putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
bearing fresh fruit every season.
We all have so much to be thankful for…
God has truly blessed each and everyone of us
And the more we trust and are thankful to him for what he has given us...
the more he continues to give to us..on an ongoing
and unending supply
Truly the half is not been told… What he has in store for us
and the blessings that await us in this abundant life
that he has created and given us to live!
Thank You Lord right now for what You are about to do
In every believers life and for all those who one day
will believe...
and step into the life you have already have waiting for them
Amen?
Let's pray!
