Thanksliving

Thankfull living

October 9, 2018October 8, 2018 Karla Lees

Thankful.

Every Thanksgiving, we are reminded to celebrate all we have to be thankful for in our lives.

But God doesn’t want us to just be especially thankful once a year. He longs for us to be thank-full every day, in every situation, every time we can.

You recall that verse “Give thanks in all circumstances” we hear every year around Thanksgiving? There’s more to it….for it wasn’t meant to stand on its own!

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be cheerful no matter what.

Being of good cheer is part choice, and part based upon how we handle the emergencies and hard situations we face. Which links it to the next instruction in this verse:

Pray all the time.

All the time. Out loud, in your mind, or with your spirit, constantly bringing everything to Him in the moment.

And when we connect with Him as we do so?

(We can) Give thanks in all circumstances.

Only when all three occur together does the last part of this verse make complete sense:

This (cheerfully praying with thanks every step of all we encounter) is the way God wants His Beloved to live….

Choosing joy.
Connected with Him.
Celebrating with thanks.

This Thanksgiving season, take the time to look back on how God has been with you in every season, and what He walked you through.

Smile. (Laugh, twinkle your eyes or flash your dimple!) Because cheerful inside usually leads to a sign on the outside! 🙂

Pray. However you pray. Whether by speaking it. Thinking it. Writing it. Singing it. Drawing it. On your own. In two or three. At home. At work. Over coffee. While walking.

Thank-fully. We are so extra blessed when we are part of God’s family! We are loved beyond measure by our Father. We belong. We are inheritors of the Kingdom, made whole and clean in Jesus. We are free. We have access to resources surpassing our comprehension through Holy Spirit. We are never alone.

Because God is fully with us through all things, we can always, and in all ways, have a reason to be thank-full.

And then these verses, in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, become as they were intended by God in our lives: Thanks-living as we express how thank-full we are to Him!

#thankfull #hopefortheharddays

snapshots of thanks

November 26, 2015November 25, 2015 Karla Lees

Giving thanks doesn’t have to sound melodious or look beautifully wrapped in order to be genuine, or appreciated.

God looks at the heart, and we should too.

One of my children had a teacher when in grade 2 who positively impacted me in this area.

I may have mentioned how she referred to each child as her favorite, and treated them as if they were as well.

But the reason she was able to do so was because she was thankful.
She showed it in how she worked with kids. She loved to be there, showing them she cared and how happy she was to spend the day with them.

Thankfulness speaks through our actions most times louder than our words.

The Psalms are filled with verses of thanks, which I used to think was despite all the woes and pleas for rescue & intervention.

I now know the thanks is there because the psalmists discovered the wondrous truth that God was with them through all they faced, and couldn’t help but give thanks for the revelation…

Even if the circumstances didn’t change for the better in the waiting.

When David was pleading with God to spare his first son with Bathesheba, He fervently fasted and worshipped.

When the child died and afterwards, he still continued to worship God.

For He knew the same God who had been with him facing the lions, Goliath, King Saul and the Philistines was still with him.

And David could still praise Him for who He is despite his loss.

Sometimes it is in the hard places where the deepest encounters with God and revelations from His Spirit can be found.

And I believe being thankful is key.

There was a widow in the New Testament who Jesus pointed out, who gave two small coins as an offering. Those two coins represented a good amount of her budget, and I suspect God highlighted her to show she gave out of her great thanks for His provision.

And I saw that same characteristic in my child’s grade 2 teacher.

That teacher impacted me not because her life was perfect, but because she lived out an attitude of gratitude for all the blessings she had, instead of focusing on what she was lacking.

We can do the same.

We have the Maker of Heaven & Earth. We have God with us, alongside us and within us.

Knowing He is with us, forever, outweighs any lack we might be encountering in the temporary.

And because of His great love, grace and mercy which He extends to us, we can always have Him to be grateful for.

Thanksliving is living your life with a visible attitude of gratitude.

Nor because everything will always be going your way, but because the God over everything is guiding your way, from right beside you and will never stop doing so.

We can give Him thanks at all times, for He never fails to reveal His love for us, and He doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit!