“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS; for this is the WILL OF GOD in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thess. 5:16-18) We see this verse repeated four times in the 107th Psalm, “Oh, that men would GIVE THANKS to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalms 107:8, 15, 21, 31)
If joy has evaded us lately, there’s a good chance we’re going after it all wrong.
We’ll see, the pathway to experience REAL JOY is easily overlooked. It’s a trail often covered by the weeds of materialism, the lust of success, and a lack of awareness. We might be overlooking the key to having joy, even though it’s right in front of our eyes! “In EVERYTHING give thanks” for this is GOD’S WILL! What we see in the Bible is that “thanksgiving” becomes a WAY OF LIFE for us as Christians—in the good times and the bad. “I will give thanks to you, LORD, with ALL my heart; I will tell of ALL your WONDERFUL DEEDS.” (Psa. 9:1) This Psalm was written to celebrate David’s victory over Goliath.
We are told to speak, “…to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. SING and make music FROM YOUR HEART TO THE LORD, always GIVING THANKS TO GOD THE FATHER FOR EVERYTHING, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 5:19-20)
WHAT WONDERFUL INSTRUCTION FROM THE LORD TO HEAL, WITH GOD’S PEACE, OUR BUSY AND WOUNDED HEARTS.
HAVE A HAPPY AND VERY BLESSED THANKSGIVING!
-Bill Stockham