1 Thes. 5:18 - "…in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." NASU
Tomorrow is the day that has been set aside for us to give thanks for all the blessings we have been given from God. I am sure we do not wait until this one day of the year to give thanks.
For years I have had people say to me that they want the Will of God to be done in their lives. I would say to them be "thankful and you will be doing the Will of God." They always got this strange look on their face and would say, "Yeah, I am thankful, but you know, I really want to do the Will of God." I would always tell them, "According to the Apostle Paul, if you are "thankful" in everything you will be doing the Will of God."
Instead of me answering that question since I have never had one of my children die I quote a man who was familiar with the death of a child. In fact, he lost 10 children in one disastrous day. Job's wife even wanted him to curse God for what had just happened to their family. Job 2:9-10 - Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. NASU Job had just lost his 10 children, all his animals, his herds or in other words, his wealth. But Job's ATTITUDE guides his BEHAVIOR. He didn't sin by saying things that he would later regret. Job wasn't "thankful" for the death of his children or the loss of his wealth, but his attitude was he would accept good from God, and now that adversity had come into his life he would accept it as well. Many times in life we have to accept things that we don't like.
We must wait upon the Lord and in time once the pain has decreased some we will start to allow God to give us the answers to the trials we face. Job's attitude guided his behavior. The scripture says, "In all of this Job did not sin with his lips." In other words he didn't curse God and ask to die.
If you do a little inspection of your life you will find you have more to give thanks for then you might realize. Develop an attitude of thankfulness and you will never regret it. Think On This: It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart. Many times we don't get all that we want, but we should be thankful that we don't get what we deserve. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Share this Pump Up with others by Sharing on Your Facebook Page, Twitter or Forwarding to a friend.
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1 Kings 19:11-12 - So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. NASU
Where does God want you to be standing to see Him? Is the Lord trying to get your attention as He was with Elijah? God wanted Elijah to learn that He wasn't exclusively in strong winds, earthquakes and fires. In the previous chapter God did come down in the fire and burnt the entire sacrifice and the altar, but God was now trying to show Elijah that He was also in the quiet and peaceful times of life. Many people have thanked God for the difficult times in their lives. They attribute the difficulties they were enduring as that which led them to God and changed their life for the better.
You might say, "Everything in my life is awesome." Then make sure you are communicating with God now as well as when you are going through your tough times. God wanted Elijah to know that He was in the peaceful, refreshing, and gentle blowing seasons of life. Some humans have the tendency to forget about God when everything is going great for them. The best thing we can do is remember to "Thank God" for the good times as well as the times when we have to struggle. God wants us to know that He is with us all the time. Remember the meaning of the name Emmanuel, it means "God with us." God is with us when our life is a peaceful gentle breeze and He should not be overlooked. Think On These: Our favorite attitude should be gratitude. He who forgets the language of gratitude can never be on speaking terms with happiness. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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