Thanksgiving

I was very happy yesterday; there was something about it that I can’t explain but it was a good day with family and also a friend was over and my grandkids other grandma stopped by.  There was good food prepared by my million dollar wife and it was delicious.  Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful but we need to be thankful all year long if we are believers.

I would like you to read Paul’s final instructions in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-23, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Rejoice always and give thanks is a tall order when you are facing very difficult times and circumstances; Paul didn’t just say this, but he also demonstrated it in many extreme situations and circumstances.  Are we to be thankful for everything?  I don’t think so, not for the evil things that we experience that do not come from God, but we can have a thankful attitude knowing that God loves us and will work out everything for our good in the end.  Another thing, depending on how we handle the things that come our way we may learn from them and even benefit from them.

Paul was doing a good thing, setting a lady free from a spirit of divination and this is what happened, but that didn’t stop them from praising the Lord.  Read about it in Acts 16:20-25, “And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, ‘These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.’ Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”

Because they were willing to suffer, they ended up experiencing miracles, but if all they did was feel sorry for themselves, it would have been a different outcome.  Being thankful and praising the Lord are very important.

Read something else Paul said about our attitude in Ephesians 5:18-21, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”   

Then there are the ten lepers in Luke 17.  Ten were healed but only one thanked Him.  Read verses 17-18, “So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’”

So, even in your struggles, try to thank God and you will probably feel better.  Something to think about!  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours.  And don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!