Give Thanks: In The Midst Of Struggles

In a time where things sometimes seem out of control it can be difficult to see the good in life. Many of us are struggling financially. Some of our friends and family members are battling disease and illness. Many marriages are on the rocks. In spite of it all, we shall give thanks.

1Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This verse in 1Thes 5 tells us that we should give thanks in all circumstances. Sometimes I wonder to myself if the Biblical writers knew what they were talking about. Did Paul have any idea of the things we would have to go through? Answer... yep!

Paul was no stranger to struggles and difficulties and in them he continued to glorify God. I think the key to giving thanks in all circumstances begins with perspective. When we are focused on the here and now and our own personal comfort we tend to have a more difficult time giving thanks in everything. However, if we can learn to follow Paul's example as he follows Christ (1Cor 11:1) we can develop an eternal perspective. When we start to see God as loving in all things and working each difficulty and struggle toward our good then we can start to understand how to give thanks in everything.

Daily In Christ - Give Thanks

Today I encourage you to be thankful. Even if it is a struggle, look around and start with the little things. God has put so many good things into our life. I admit, sometimes we miss them due to our own pain in our circumstances.

Blessings to you as you draw near to Him.

Keith

Give Thanks: God's Love Never Ends

Today I am thankful for the never ending love of God Almighty.

Rom 5:7-8 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

How far would you go for someone to show them that you loved them. There is a poem that says, "I would climb the highest mountain, swim the deepest ocean, and walk the hottest desert just to have you by my side." I find it quite intriguing that there are so many songs, poems, and other stories where people will talk about the things they will do for someone to show their love, yet I have never seen it happen. When was the last time you saw someone climb a mountain to show his love? Or even swim 100 yards into the ocean for that matter?

We have great intentions when it comes to love, but true love doesn't just talk, it acts. God shows His love for us not only by the things He speaks to us, but through the unselfish action of Jesus. He laid down His life for our sins so we could be right with God. He loves His children so much that he didn't only say He would do something, He did it!

So then, how do we show our gratitude to God for the sacrifice that was made in Jesus? Eph 5 tells us in the first two verses...

Eph 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Daily In Christ - Give Thanks

Today I am encouraged to give thanks to God for His never ending love. While we were yet sinners... He not only said he would climb upon the tree and die for us, but he did it. As you reflect on the love of God today I encourage you to take the verses in Eph 5 to heart. As gratitude to God be an imitator of Him and give back His love to Him, and the people you encounter.

Blessings,
Keith

Give Thanks: I Am Thankful For Reconciliation

Rom 5:11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

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Today I am thankful for reconciliation. I believe that regardless of your country of origin, race, or other factors, we all seek a relationship with God. Many cultures create different gods for different purposes. There is a god of love, god of earth, moon god, god of travel, god of war, etc... And then there is God. We try so hard to create ways to be right with the gods, often times missing the fact that God made a way for us to be right with Him.

Today I am thankful for reconciliation. Without reconciliation we would not be in God's favor. We would be lost, searching for our man made gods to satisfy the place that only He can fill in our life.

Many people believe to be reconciled to God you have to have your life together. You need to be free from sin, obey all the rules, and live in a way that is pleasing to God. But that is just not true. If we go one verse prior to verse 11 in Romans chapter 5, we see that Paul tells us "while we were yet enemies of God." (Rom 5:10)

God not only loved us when we were His enemy, but he also teaches us to do the same. He instructs us to love our enemies and pray for those who hate us. (Luke 6:27)

Daily In Christ - Give Thanks

Today I encourage you to thank God for the reconciliation plan He laid out for us from the beginning. Reconciliation to God comes through faith alone in Jesus Christ. I also pray that you will be reconciled to your enemies.

Blessings to you as you live like Jesus and learn to forgive those who have harmed you.

Keith

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Give Thanks: I Am Thankful For Grace

Today I am thankful for God's grace. Being a person who has always strived to find value and identity in getting things accomplished, understanding God's grace was quite a challenge for me. I began my Christian life with an understanding that in order to get more of God's favor I needed to do more for Him. And on the flip side of that, I believed that if I was in a funk or not performing up to expectations that God would love me less... then came Grace.

The grace of God frees us from religious performance and allows us to be able to walk with confidence into His throne room. We can mess up and not be condemned. We can struggle and be forgiven. We can walk confidently, understanding that He will help us in a time of need.

Heb 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Daily In Christ - Give Thanks

If you are stuck in a religious rut and don't understand God's grace, I encourage you to seek it out through prayer and reading of the scriptures. A great resource on this topic is a book by Timothy Keller... "Generous Justice"
Check it out.

Jesus didn't come to keep us in bondage, He came to set us free... Be free in His grace today and give Him thanks for it.

Blessings to you as you bathe in His glorious grace.
Keith

Give Thanks - Delight yourself in the LORD

Psa 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

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I have heard this verse many times in my Christian walk and it was often associated with what God will do for me. "He will give you the desires of your heart!" As I wrote in last weeks Give Thanks post, often God's promises come with a premise. So instead of focusing on what God will do for me, I find it in my heart to look at the first part of the verse.

The premise in this Psalm is that we "delight ourselves in the LORD." So today I want to dive into what it means for us to delight in Him.

DELIGHT: To affect with great pleasure; to please highly; to give or afford high satisfaction or joy;

To delight in God is more than merely giving up something and begrudgingly serving him. It isn't a duty we perform because we have to. It is the unbridled pursuit in finding all joy, all happiness, and all satisfaction in Him regardless of our circumstances. To delight in God is to find everything else to be grotesque in comparison. Unlike our pursuit of earthly pleasure, there is no satisfying our delight in God. There is no over doing it. You can not pursue your delight in God too much. And when you are done at the end of the day, there is no regret, no shame, and no guilt. Unlike the desires of the flesh, our delight for God is unquenchable.

Our pursuit of delighting in God will bring us ultimate fulfillment and joy. When his joy becomes our joy there is nothing more satisfying. When we go to work, take the Joy of the Lord with us. When we go to school or even to the grocery store, if we are delighting in the Lord we will possess and inexpressible joy that is contagious to others.

Daily In Christ - Give Thanks

Today I encourage your to give thanks to God by finding all of your delight in Him. Turn away from worldly desires, lusts of the flesh, and delight solely in Jesus.

Blessings to you as you delight in HIM.

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Give Thanks: I Am Thankful For His Provision

Php 4:18-19 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

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This post was a bit difficult for me to write today. It is humbling to praise God for His bounty and provision when so many are going without. I am in a season of few financial, health, or personal difficulties and I praise God for that. Yes, we have had many struggles, and I have often wondered where God was during those times. But, right now I am truly being blessed and I can not point to any reason other than the grace of God.

As I think about the provision of God in my life I can't help but also put some thought into the people around the world who have far less than I do. There are even many in my own neighborhood who live on the streets or have very little. Living in a country of abundance, it is easy to take all that we have for granted. Our typical American family has a couple of computers, several television sets, cars, and all sorts of clothes and toys. We live in big houses and almost always have plenty of food in the refrigerator.

So when I look at a verse like this one in Philippians, I have to stop and wonder what it might mean to someone living on the streets, or someone living in an oppressed country, or to a little child starving and without water. If I walked into the streets of Haiti today and told them that my God will supply all of their needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus, how would they respond?

First, I wish to clarify one thing... I am not an expert on the ways of God. God makes it extremely clear in scripture that His ways are not for me to understand fully. (Isa 55:8) So with that said, I want to share that I am thankful for His provision in my life. This post is not to answer all the questions surrounding suffering and evil in the world, it is to glorify God in the amazing bounty He has bestowed upon me and my family.

One comment I would like to share today regarding Phi 4:18-19 is this. This verse is often misapplied. God allows people to suffer and go through trials for various reasons and at different times in their life. Being in a trial or going without does not negate the promises of God. It often confirms them. Paul, when addressing the Philippians in this verse qualified the blessing with a premise. (See verses 14-18) Often God's promise comes with a premise. (2Cor 9:6-8) The premise was this, "We must be generous to others." The other misinterpretation of this verse assumes that the needs were merely physical needs, (money, food, shelter). This verse does not necessarily refer to just our physical needs, but our spiritual needs as well.

So here is what I do know about the character of God when it comes to meeting our needs. God requires us to serve Him (Mat 6:33). He knows your needs and mine (Mat 6:8). He has the abundant resources to supply every need that we have (Eph 3:20). God often allows us to suffer for a time, and when the time is over blesses us greatly (Job 42:10). Some people will suffer for a lifetime and their abundance comes in eternity. (Luke 16:19-31)

God is good, God is loving, and God shows mercy on His children. I am thankful today first and foremost for the gift of salvation. I am also thankful for the provisions of God in my life.

I pray that you will be blessed by Him as you faithfully serve.

Blessings,
Keith

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Give Thanks: Tell Of All His Woundrous Works

1Ch 16:8-9 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! (esv)

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As I read through 1Chronicles today I am struck by these words in chapter 16. "Make known His deeds among the peoples; tell of His wondrous works." In our walk as Christians it is easy to give thanks to the Father for all He has done. It is something we often do when we are with our Christian friends and family. But how often do we make known all He has done for us to the people we encounter at work, school, or in our community. Opening up to non-believer's about God's wondrous works can be a vulnerable thing to do. It requires us to openly proclaim our faith in Jesus and show others that what we have received is a blessing from Him and not our own efforts.

Daily In Christ - Give Thanks

Today I encourage you to be intentional in sharing some things with non-believer's that you are thankful for. Ask God, in your morning time with Him, to open up doors of opportunity. "Proclaim them to the peoples" giving all the glory to God.

May the Lord place in your path those who need to hear a message of thanksgiving from you today.

Blessings,
Keith

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Give Thanks: I Am Thankful For Jesus Today

Col 1:12-14 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (esv)

There are many instances in my life that I am blessed by God and then take it for granted. Being thankful can be so difficult at times because so much of what I have is generally just expected because it has been there my entire life.

Today I want to focus a moment on being thankful for the Son of God. Every morning when I arise I give very little thought to my gift of Salvation that God has granted me. I am far more interested in getting the morning cup of fresh coffee, basking in my nice hot shower, and figuring out the business of the day. And every morning I am blessed with a gift, that for the most part, I forget to be thankful for.

So today I am thankful for Jesus. He has brought me out of a life of struggle and temptations. He has healed a broken soul. He has helped me recover from years of difficulties and pain.

Daily In Christ - Give Thanks

I encourage you today to think about the things you are thankful for. If you so desire, leave a comment and publicly profess your thanksgiving to God.

Blessings,
Keith