In Everything Give Thanks

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

Give thanks. This is a command from God. He wants His children to be grateful, to remember how much you have been given. Expressing thanks helps you remember that everything comes from the hand of God.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 

Many receive God’s blessings and never give thanks or think about where their blessings come from. God’s mercies are new every morning … life, breath, health, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, a job and money to meet your needs. You receive all that God gives, but do you take time to acknowledge the giver?

Give thanks to the Lord because He is good. His love endures forever.  Psalm 107:1

Be thankful for the good things as well as the bad. When you learn to thank God for everything He allows into your life, then you won’t become bitter. You can’t be thankful and bitter at the same time. You can even thank Him for your suffering, because God uses suffering to develop your character.

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Romans 5:3-4

You can be sick and still be thankful. You can grieve and still be thankful. Sometimes things happen to us that don’t make sense. Only God sees the big picture. You may not understand why God allows certain things in your life but God paints on a canvas much larger than our tiny vision. 

 

We all have our share of sorrow. And some seem to receive more than their fair share of pain. We are not able to give thanks in every situation without the help of the Holy Spirit. Left to your own devices, the pain of life can drive you to bitterness and despair. But when you factor God into the equation, and you believe that your life and times are in His hands, then you can say “Thank you, Lord,” no matter what happens in life. If you belong to Jesus this is how God wants you to live.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Dealing with Conflict

Conflict is inevitable. So how are you going to deal with it when it occurs? God wants us to maintain the spirit of unity in the bond of peace. Satan wants to cause division among the people of God, especially in your closest relationships. He is out to kill, steal and destroy. You need to stop the devil in his tracks by obeying the word of God. Pray that God will give the power, grace and wisdom to deal with conflict constructively.

Deal with conflict properly

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.” Matthew 18 15-17

Forgive the one who offended you

Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Try to keep the peace

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3

Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. 1 Peter 3:11

Followers of Jesus show love

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:44-45

Chosen By God

We have been chosen by Jesus.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.  John 15:16

Blessed with every spiritual blessing and chosen before the foundation of the world. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Ephesians 1:3-4

We are predestined to be adopted as sons. This is the will of God.

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:5-6

We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of our inheritance.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:16-17

God chose us to be saved to obtain the glory of the Lord.

God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

We are called with a holy calling.

Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Ephesians 4:1

Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:9

We are predestined to be conformed into the image of Jesus.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29

We are members of God’s kingdom, redeemed and forgiven of our trespasses. 

 

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14

We are justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1

No one can snatch you out of God’s hands. 

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. John 10:28-29

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. 

I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39

Humility and Unity

The Philippian church was a model church but there seemed to be some division. It was a multi-cultural church and they were also being persecuted for their faith. Whatever the source of the division, the apostle Paul wrote to encourage them to conduct their lives in a manner worthy of the gospel. He exhorts them to stand together in unity, practicing and proclaiming the gospel. He reminds them not to be alarmed by the enemy who opposes them and challenges them to diligently pursue unity and harmony with their fellow believers.

Our enemy Satan still causes division today. He divides and then conquers. He prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. With thousands of years of practice, he's good at what he does. We see division today between Christians of different denominations and there’s even division within specific churches. How quickly we forget that we have an opponent, an unseen enemy. We fall into his trap when we promote our own selfish interest, escalate petty differences, gossip or slander each other because somehow we think we are better.

Unity is rooted in humility. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the model for the mindset of humility. His incarnation, life, and death provide us with the ultimate example of humility. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:3-4

Selfishness seeks personal gain at the expense of others. Humility desires the advance of others at our expense. Pride and empty conceit are a part of our fallen human nature, it causes us to compete with others, rather than to contribute to their well-being. If we are truly humble, then we are not desperately seeking to enhance our own standing. We are to treat one another as “better than” ourselves. Their interests are to come higher on our agenda than our own selfish interests. The cure for selfishness is servanthood. Humility prompts me to serve others, assigning my interests a lower priority than their needs.

Paul reminds them of the ultimate example of humility - our Lord Jesus Christ.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8

Though equal with God (or equally God) our Lord did not seize this as an opportunity to further His own interests. Instead, He “emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant”. Jesus never ceased to be God; He divested Himself of self-interest, so that He could glorify the Father and bring about our salvation. Jesus did not reduce His deity; but He added sinless humanity and this was prompted by His humility.

The humbling process had several facets.

1) He left the splendor and glory of heaven to dwell on earth. Since the glory of heaven is beyond our human ability to comprehend it, we have difficulty grasping the sacrifice that was required for our Lord to leave heaven and to live on earth.

2) Then He humbled himself to take on the form of a man, a servant. The Creator became the creature. He came as the “Lamb of God” who would become sin for us. He came to die the most cruel and ignoble death possible—crucifixion. It is one thing to come as a servant, but Jesus' service consisted of being condemned as a common criminal and a sinner against a holy God.

3) Jesus stooped so low in His humility that He was elevated to the highest possible place of honor by the Father. As a result of His humility and obedience, God highly exalted Him, giving to Him a name above every name. Jesus dwelt among men, was rejected and crucified; and one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

We don’t have to promote our own interests. God will take care of that when we humble ourselves.God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time. 1 Peter 5:5,6