Tag Archives: thanksgiving

5 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF GRATITUDE, THANKSGIVING, PRAISE AND WORSHIP

Christian Life, ,

5 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF GRATITUDE, THANKSGIVING, PRAISE AND WORSHIP

The life-long process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds brings about a change in our perspective and attitudes. The conviction that Jesus is in charge of our lives produces security, confidence and peace.

Our hearts begin to sing instead of being fearful, anxious and complaining. GRATITUDE for God’s goodness and mercy replaces discontent and becomes a settled attitude that undergirds our responses to life’s ups and downs.

THANKSGIVING becomes the overflow of grateful hearts, but thanksgiving is even more than that. Thanksgiving is the language of faith, the verbal expression of confidence in God. It is one thing to be thankful for what God has done but quite another to give thanks for what He has promised to do.

Thanksgiving before God has responded produces an attitude of expectancy – not expectation. Expectancy is open-ended, giving God freedom to act according to His nature and will. Expectation, on the other hand, nails Him to what we want.

Expectancy frees us to accept joyfully whatever God does in response to His promises. Expectancy reflects our confidence in who God is, and that’s what we look at next.

The meaning of THANKSGIVING in ancient Hebrew thought helps us to understand the role it plays in releasing the power to change us on the inside.

Before the development of modern technology such as GPS positioning and direction-finding, sailors navigated by the stars. The light (shining) of the stars indicated where they were positioned in the heavens.

The Hebrew word “hallelujah “, translated “praise Yah” actually refers to “the shining of a star”.  When we praise the Lord, we focus on the glories of His attributes (His “shining”) which give us direction for our lives.

Put these three together, GRATITUDE, THANKSGIVING and PRAISE, and we have yet another set of powerful kingdom qualities that produce changes in the way we think and act in an environment of sinful and ungodly people.

Through the renewing of our minds and the changing of our attitudes, we are developing immunity to the infectiousness of sin all around us. We are also changing the atmosphere in our environment by being spiritual thermostats, not thermometers.

It is important to note here that being grateful and thankful are always a choice because our emotions often interfere with our thinking. Our choices must follow what we believe (the TRUTH), not how we feel. Our feeling will follow our beliefs and will eventually result in peace.

WORSHIP, falling down on our faces in absolute submission before this God whose beauty and glory we have contemplated, is our final destiny.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24 NIV

It is this attitude of unquestioning submission to the nature and will of God that enables Him to work unhindered to restore the image of Jesus in us.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Prescription For Life

Bible Study, , ,

A PRESCRIPTION FOR LIFE

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7.

Such familiar words, almost as familiar as John 3:16! We can repeat them parrot fashion and often do, but what do they mean?

Paul’s prescription for life is encapsulated in these three verses. If there was ever a “Four Easy Steps to Successful Living” statement, Paul did not need to write a book to make it. This is it!

Step one: Rejoice in the Lord always.

This is both a positive and negative prescription because no one can both rejoice and be miserable at the same time. If we allow our circumstances to dictate our moods, we will live an emotional yo-yo existence. When things go well, we are happy. When we hit a rough patch, we descend into depression. Up, down, up, down – depending on what each day brings. What a way to live, but many, even believers, do!

What’s the solution? Simple! Rejoice in the Lord! He is the most stable, unchanging and reliable person in our lives. It’s all about choices. If we choose to dwell on Him and His promises instead of riding the roller-coaster of circumstances, our emotional storms will calm down. What appears to be disaster will become just another step in our journey of faith in Him. Rejoicing in the Lord prepares us for the next step.

Did you notice how Paul said “always”? Not just sometimes or when circumstances are favourable. God works in “all things” for our good. “Rejoicing in the Lord always” tells Him that we are willing to trust Him when we cannot see the way ahead. That’s when we have to exercise our faith muscles.

Step two: Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

What’s this about? When life goes sour on us, there is a tendency in all of us to dump our emotional pain on other people. We are moody; we lash out; we withdraw into ourselves; we erupt for very little reason; we punish those closest to us for the way we feel. Don’t we all do it? It’s our coping mechanism, but is doesn’t work. We build an emotion wall between ourselves and other people, and ourselves and God.

Paul’s answer, again, is simple. Stop focusing on your circumstances and set your mind on God. He hasn’t gone anywhere! He is near. That’s the problem. When trouble hits, we lose sight of God. Stress replaces rest as though God has suddenly lost control or gone somewhere where we can’t reach Him. Remember Job? His complaint was, “Oh that I knew where I might find Him,” but He was there all the time.

Step three: Do not be anxious about anything. It’s all very well, Paul, to tell me not to be anxious, but how can I stop being anxious when my whole world is falling apart? My child is deathly ill. My finances are in ruins. My husband has been retrenched. My house is being repossessed. The list of adversities is endless.

Again, we cannot experience two conflicting emotions as the same time. We are either anxious or at peace. The one cancels out the other. If we practise rejoicing in the Lord, our circumstance will lose their power to terrify us, and our hearts will be prepared for the next step in the crisis. What do we do with our anxiety which threatens to overwhelm us when we are staring down the barrel of a gun?

Step four: In every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

What is prayer? Not bringing our grocery list to God every morning and expecting delivery the next day! Prayer is, firstly, changing our awareness. God is near but we are more aware of ourselves than of Him. Why must we change our awareness? Because everything looks different when we see things from His point of view.

Instead of rehearsing our anxieties and dwelling on our fears, Paul said, “Be real with God. He knows how you feel, but He wants you to open up to Him. Expose your heart to Him, Spill your guts!” It’s amazing what happens when we stop telling God what we think He wants to hear and start being honest enough to tell Him the truth in all its ugliness. Tell Him about your anxiety – everything! Bitterness, hatred, insecurity, fear, guilt, shame, even your mistrust of Him. Offload!

When you have got rid of all the rubbish, something awesome happens – peace that transcends understanding replaces all the garbage you have offloaded onto God. It’s an exchange. You have given to Jesus all the trash He died for, and He’s taken it from you and given you the priceless gift of peace. And guess what? What was so big before has shrunk to nothing because it’s no longer your problem.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.