Give Thanks part 5
We've been talking about the attitude of gratitude, right? And about how when you give thanks for something you are blessing it. So let's finish this Rant series by taking it to the next level. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." And notice that it doesn't say give thanks FOR all things. Even though we know all things work together for good. It says IN all things. Which to me means you can find something to be thankful for no matter what. Remember the other day when we talked about how its always darkest before the dawn? Even when it seems like everything is going wrong... every cloud has a silver lining. Its never as bad as you think it is. Because even in the beginning when it was dark, the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the face of the deep. In other words, God (LOVE) has sworn to never leave you nor forsake you. And for that we can give thanks. When we start looking for things to be grateful for, things to bless, the things that don't look so good don't seem to matter. And when we REALLY take it a step further we'll be able to follow Jesus' advice (or instructions) in John 7:24, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." We'll start walking by faith and not by sight. Because truth is higher than fact. And the fact of the matter might be that it doesn't look so good. But the truth of the matter is, God's got your back. He will carry you through. Which means LOVE will carry you through. And that right there is enough to be thankful for. Love will light the way. No matter how dark it may be. And when you LET love light the way, when you're thankful for what you've got instead of always focusing on what you haven't got, that's when people start getting blessed. Remember that story about--I think it was Peter, and I don't want to look it up right now--when Peter's shadow fell on a sick guy and immediately healed him? That's the kind of stuff that I absolutely believe we are capable of. And if you think that's extreme... fine. You have to at the very least admit that we are capable of laying our lives down for each other. Giving everything we have and everything we are. Because that's what love is. That's what we have. Letting what we have inside, come out, is how we experience this gift of God (eternal life, knowing the one true God and the One whom He sent... knowing God as our loving heavenly Father and ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased). But the key is: We have the gift. We don't need to (and can't) earn it. We ought to just be thankful for it. And use the gift we've been given. Live Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life by letting Jesus live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. Give away what we've got. Share it. And in that way, experience it. In that way, enjoy it. Give thanks for the things and (more importantly) the people in your life. And in that way BLESS the things and (more importantly) the people in your life. Enjoy what you have instead of always chasing what you don't have. Or, worse yet, what you THINK you don't have. Don't rob yourself of what you've got, by trying to earn something that can't be earned. Something you already have. Something you simply need to receive and release!