Nov 25, 2021
Hey, welcome back to the Follower of One podcast. I'm your host, Mike Henry Sr. and I'm glad to be here. If you're in the U.S. and hearing this on-air date, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm recording this message to be aired on Thanksgiving Day. And today our passage is 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." That's from the New American Standard. In everything we want to give thanks. We're talking now about expressing gratitude to God. We talked about expressing gratitude to others a little bit yesterday as well but expressing gratitude to God is worship.
And here Paul is exhorting us to give thanks to God for everything that happens "for this," and that word, "this" is not specific. Whatever's happening in our lives. What's going on in our lives. It's the will of God, for us. Notice that we give thanks in everything.
When good things happen, it's easy to give thanks. But when not-so-good things happen. Well, that's a different story. At least it is for me, I'm quick to complain when the not-so-good things happen. If I can break that habit and be grateful when those not-so-good things happen, I demonstrate my faith. Others will be prompted to ask because I'm acting so differently than I typically do.
And then I get an opportunity to explain how Jesus is the source of my ability to respond to everything with gratitude. Today, it's easy to think about being grateful, but I hope you can. Some days, some holidays are difficult for some of us as well. But I want to encourage each of us to express our gratitude to God today, for whatever our circumstances are.
Because of this grateful life puts us in touch with God. It's the avenue to receiving his peace and his joy, even in difficult circumstances. I hope that we can live as a way where others can see us as grateful to God and then they can know that he is the source of the good he's the source of the not-so-good too, but he makes everything right.
I want to challenge us today. Enjoy your day, wherever you are. I pray that you have a great holiday or a great workday if you're working in another country. But ask God to help you be more genuine in your gratitude to him, even in the things that you don't appreciate. He will do that. He will help us to be more grateful because it glorifies him.
Life is hard and we broke the world as humans. But God gives us the ability to cling to him, partly through being thankful and being grateful. We get to join him and experience his joy. Thank you for being a marketplace minister and thank you for making a difference with your faith. I pray that you have a great day and that you make a difference in the lives of others today.
Thank you very much.