An Attitude of Thanksgiving!

(1st Thes 5:16-18 NIV) Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus

This morning we continue by continuing to discuss Paul: his life and his teachings. Yesterday we looked at the fact that Paul taught us to focus in on the overwhelming victory we have in Christ, even in spite of trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger, and threats of death. Make no mistake, this is not an easy thing, but it is a necessary thing. Sure, it's awesome to be able to avoid a challenge altogether. When the Father delivers us from something, resulting in smooth sailing, it is definitely a time to sing praises to Him. But what about those times that He doesn't and we wind up enduring the challenge? We have already seen how Paul faced considerable opposition to his life's assignment. So what did he do? Did he cry "Woe is me!"? Or did he take his stumbling blocks and turn them into stepping-stones? We all know by know what he did, but this morning I want to share with you one of the reasons I believe he was able to do it. I am convinced that one of Paul's secrets to maintaining the right attitude was:

THANKSGIVING!

It's hard to be mad while you are praising God. It's hard to be upset while you are allowing thanksgiving to flow from your lips. When you look at the writings of Paul you see a man who was always encouraging others and he often encouraging them to be thankful. His relationship with the Father enabled him to maintain Joy and Peace (Rom 15:13), even while in prison for preaching, while recovering from the physical abuse he endured for the gospel, and while on long missionary journeys in which he encountered all sorts of dangers.

Maintaining an attitude of thanksgiving is an essential part of developing a Warrior Spirit. When you are faced with challenges the enemy will attempt to flood your mind with thoughts like: "You see, God does not love you anymore;" "God could have protected you from this, but He didn't. Why should you continue to worship Him? He is not there for you anymore;" or "Is it really worth it? Why don't you just give up and die? Take your own life, God is not pleased with you anymore and you are not doing anything production with your life... end it!" While the enemy cannot make us do anything, he can sure suggest many things. And if we listen to his suggestions too long it is easy to get bitter. This is where thanksgiving comes in!

In Paul's first letter to the church in Thessalonica he taught them about living a life that pleases God. In his closing remarks (our text) he said,

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

How do we live a life that is pleasing to God? By maintaining our joy, by keeping an active prayer life, and by giving thanks to God IN all circumstances. Now, notice that he said "IN" all circumstances and not "FOR" all circumstances. Not everything that happens is good and we will not like everything that we face, but we should have the confidence in God, because of our relationship with Him, to know that 'at the end of the day' we will still come out on top. It is because we know that God can get good out of any situation that we are able to give Him thanks IN it, although we don't always give Him thanks FOR it.

So what does this mean to you It means that as you walk with God you will not always get what you expect and you may not always get what you want, but you can have confidence in Him enough to know that when it is all said and done, you will not be disappointed. You don't always understand things when you are going through them, but as you look back you are able to see how God worked in it.

So my message to you is not to wait until it is over to be excited! Get excited now! Expect the situation to work out for your good and give Him praise!

Father, I may not always like my circumstances. I may not even be able to thank You FOR my them, but I declare that I will thank You IN them. I know that when it is all said and done, the situations I face will work out for my good, so instead of waiting until I see it to say it, I praise You now! I am excited NOW! I am expectant NOW! I am joyful NOW! I have peace NOW! Instead of becoming bitter, I get better, because I learn to keep thanksgiving on my lips no matter what I face! In Jesus' name. Amen!