Skip to main content

Thanksgiving is God’s Will for Us in Christ by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous

Near the end of his first letter to the church of Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul issued an exhortation that seems both inviting and impossible. He writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

This exhortation seems inviting because it calls us into an ideal and fruitful way of life, and it is a fitting response to all that God accomplished for us and granted to us in Christ. However, it also seems impossible because the standard is so high and our tendencies are so contrary to it. Can you think of even one day in which you have literally rejoiced always, prayed without ceasing, and given thanks in all circumstances? Perhaps I’m blind to the grace of God operating in my life, but I can’t think of one day on which I’ve reached this standard in more than thirty years of walking with Christ.

Yet, perceived impossibilities aside, this way of life is the will of God in Christ Jesus for his people. To rejoice is to inwardly appreciate God for his person, words, and works, and to outwardly praise him for these things. When our rejoicing is rooted in God, it doesn’t ebb and flow with the tides of our circumstances, rather, it persists and even intensifies in times of suffering and sorrow. Of course, we can only rejoice in God as God completes his work in us, but God is surely completing his work is us, so let us rejoice!

To pray is to talk with God in light of his Word, and to intercede is to talk with God about others in light of his word. While it may seem impossible to “pray without ceasing,” Paul is simply inviting us into a way of life in which we’re constantly aware of our union with God so that we’re constantly communicating with God sometime with words and sometimes without words. As we progress in this great privilege, God works in us and causes us to rejoice and teaches us how to give him thanks in all circumstances.

To give thanks means to offer up “good graces” to God, that is, to bless his name. It means to express gratitude to God for his person, words, and works. And as we learn to rejoice always in God and commune with him through prayer, it’s only fitting that we also learn to give thanks to his name “in all circumstances.” Again, this is a work God does in us, but it’s a way of life God wills for us. So, Beloved, let us rejoice, pray, and give thanks! 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflective Glory: How the Moon Displays the Mercy of God

By
Our sun is a fitting metaphor for the glory of God. In the context of our solar system, it is massive, bright, beautiful, powerful, self-sufficient, heat-producing, life-giving, and dangerous. It is, by far, the dominant feature of our solar system and without it the system would fling apart and all living things therein would die.  On the other hand, our moon is a fitting metaphor for human beings, especially for those who believe in Jesus Christ. First, compared to the sun, the moon is tiny and dim. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, its mass is 27 million times greater than the mass of the moon, and from our perspective its light shines 450,000 times brighter than that of the moon. The sun is so much greater than the moon that it’s difficult to quantify and express the difference. Likewise, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is so much great than each and all of us that it’s impossible to quantify or express the difference. Indeed, the Lord is very great and greatly...
Post a Comment
Read more

To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord, by George Muller

By Anonymous
To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord By George Muller “It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. “I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not prayer, but the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, and applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rejoicing in the Wrath of God: Part 1 by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
This Sunday we resume our study of the book of Revelation and within the first eight verses of chapter 6 we will encounter the wrath of God being poured out upon the world. In one sense, being confronted with the reality of God’s wrath is uncomfortable at best, but in another sense, it fills the believing heart with joy.  One of the first essays I wrote in college was on the wrath and love of God, and probably the main effect it has had on my life is to cause joy to rise up in my heart whenever I contemplate God’s wrath. Sometime ago I shared this with a pastor friend of mine and though he said nothing in response, he looked at me as if to say, “If you knew anything about the wrath of God, you would not rejoice in it.” At the time, I wasn't sure how to respond, but I knew that the joy in my heart was not stemming from a belittling of the horror of the wrath of God. Then several years ago, as I was reading through Revelation, I came across a couple of passages in chapters 15 and 16 ...
Post a Comment
Read more