thanks

SATURDAY:

Who are you? I don’t mean your name, age, occupation…your stats, I mean what kind of a person are you? What characteristics define you? A better question: how have you become a better person? As you contemplate that, think about the people and things that made you change. We are influenced from many directions, but the hard, challenging things have a particular energy to create change in us (depending upon how you face them). Today’s thank prompt is aimed at encouraging specific thanks for the hardest things. Facing these is surely a process, and it is rare that we can express thanks when the surprise negative falls upon us. But as we travel through those times, we should be asking God to show us how to see the value that comes from them. One of the most formative events in my life was the death of my brother when he was 20 and I was 17. It took years for me to realize that the root of compassion in me was tied up with that night. We have touched on this concept already this week, but now I am encouraging you to examine only the negative, challenging people and things and to offer thanks. This is one of the most powerful expressions of thanksgiving because it moves us out of our small selves and into the character of Christ!

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:6–7 (NLT)

THURSDAY:

Today, our journey of thanksgiving continues in the sphere of people, but we move from the family of God to our blood family. Though blood family can be spiritual family too, there are plenty that don’t follow Jesus, but we’re “stuck” with them (please read the humor in that)! There are many places where scripture impresses the importance of family, and 1 Timothy puts an exclamation point on it:

“But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.”

Don’t get hung up on “household” as a limit to your thanks. And don’t use “care for” as a filter that allows you to separate tasks of service from relationship. All our family need spiritual, as well as practical care and expressing thanks for them, and to them (for the smallest contribution sometimes) open doors for God’s grace to flood in! Rather than be “worse than an unbeliever”, Think through your family list. Ask God to show you how you can express thanks and begin to bless them through your expression of gratefulness!

WEDNESDAY:

We shift from personal, to public space in our thoughts of thanks today. Though thanking God has its complications, directing that to other people adds at least another level of potential frustration. We are all different and what we see, understand, and do vary wildly sometimes. Then there’s the issue of frailties and failures we bring to the mix. We are concentrating on thanking others in the body of Christ today, but rather than making it easier through our in-common Jesus relationship, it often complicates matters. Paul, the prolific New Testament writer faced the differences and failures of a broad range of church folks, but he still started 11 of his 13 letters thanking God for his fellow Christians. Paul wrote a lot about giving thanks, around 49 times, so we know it’s important. As we prepare to share thanks this coming Sunday, take a quick survey of the biblical letters where Paul thanked God for people: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Philemon. Look at the first few verses of each book and ask God who you should thank Him for this Sunday. If you’re a little hesitant, think how blessed you would feel with a public appreciation in spite of your imperfections! This would truly fulfill scripture:

“…but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25b (NLT)

TUESDAY:

It is a liberating truth that Creator God has a deep desire to have an intimate relationship with us! But the reality of existence is that there is a constant swirl of good, bad, and ugly. It can feel as if life itself is against our relationship with Jesus (the world is broken, remember). But He is still here and fully Himself (see yesterday’s thought), and the inspired Word of God directs us through the battle by directing us to thankfulness.

“…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV84)

“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20 (NLT)

I’m sure you notice that we are not given the easiest path of thankfulness. Not only should I be thankful to God in every circumstance, but also for them all. This is a little sticky, but remember it is to God that we direct our thanks in and for. This well-known verse begins to ease the pain:

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Our thanks expressed (the giving part of thanksgiving), to the Almighty breaks the power of circumstance! So, make a list of your good, bad, and ugly, and ask the Holy Spirit to take you back to the Father to discover the nugget of thanksgiving. For some more help in unpacking this process, look at James 1:2-18. Come ready to share your thanks on Sunday!

James 1:2–18 (NLT)

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. 9 Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. 12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. 16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

MONDAY: Every year it comes around, and we buy turkeys, stuffing and plane tickets (the busiest travel holiday!)... Thanksgiving! It’s food, football, and parades, but what is underneath the holiday? It is simplicity: showing and verbalizing thanks.

But in order for that exercise to be more than surface, we must have gratitude. The best way to think about it may be having a “grateful attitude”. It means that you recognize the positive benefit of someone or something, you feel it! From that appreciation flows the action of thanksgiving.

As we approach our service of thanks and praise this Sunday, November 23rd, we have to acknowledge that in this world of troubles, gratefulness is not automatic. So to aid us in rediscovering our gratefulness, I’ll be sending daily nudges with themes to help us be thankful.

We start at the top with thankfulness to God. More than 150 times, some version of “Thank God” occurs in the Bible. It is because of who He is that the rest of this week’s topics can elicit thanks from us, so we should spend some time reflecting on who God is (we’ll get to what He does later). There is no one place that can give you the whole picture, but take time to look up the scripture passages below and dig into the Word and cultivate your gratefulness to God!

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Thank Resources