Faithbase

Always thankful. Look at verse 17, I mean verse 18, excuse me. In everything give thanks. Why? For this is God's will, His desire for you in Christ Jesus. Listen, when you choose to have an attitude of rejoicing, when you choose to have an attitude of praise, and an attitude of prayer, here's what's going to develop. You're going to develop an attitude of thanksgiving. You're going to develop an attitude of gratefulness in the midst of hard times, in the midst of tough times. And for us as believers, hear me when I say this, our attitude, especially with our families and in public, and I'm preaching to myself as much as I'm preaching to anybody else in this room, it is vital for us to have an attitude of thanksgiving. It is vital for us to be seen as people who are thankful, and not constantly complaining, and constantly whining, and constantly moaning. Now, did I say that your life is going to be nothing but sunshine and rainbows, and you'll have nothing to complain about? Well, if you've been in this church any amount of time, you know I don't preach that stuff. Because one, it ain't biblical. Two, it ain't practical. A lot of times when we come to faith in Christ, Satan will ramp up the attacks. Because you've now picked a side. It's the winning side. But you've now picked a side. So it's so vitally important for us to be people who have an attitude of gratitude the world can see in the midst of those hard times. Because it tells us, Ephesians 5, verse 18 through 20, one of the main characteristics of a believer is not church attendance, it's not how much you give to Lottie Moon, it's not volunteering for VBS, it's not handing out candy to Trunk or Treat, it's not scooping stuffing down in the gym a little bit later. Now, are all those things good things? Are all those things necessary things? Absolutely. But Ephesians chapter 5 tells us very clearly that one of the main characteristics of a believer in a lost world is they will see an attitude of thanksgiving within us. They will see people who are grateful. They will see people who are thankful for what our God has blessed us with that we do not deserve. I love what Paul says in Philippians chapter 4, verse 13. And athletes love to put it under their eyes, they tie it on their, or they mark it on their tape. Philippians 4, verse 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. All I got to do is write that on my tape and now I can get up here and hit a curve ball. That verse ain't got nothing to do with sports. That verse has got nothing to do with hitting a ball, throwing a ball, catching a ball, anything like that. When Paul says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, if you read chapter 3 and 4, he talks about, hey, there's been times in my life where I've been rich and times where I've been poor, times where I've been healthy and times when I've been sick, times when I've been free and times like right now where I'm in jail. And you know what? It doesn't matter what's happening around me because in all things, I can be victorious in Jesus. I can do all things in Jesus. That's what that verse means. It means no matter our earthly circumstances, we can do anything through the power of Jesus. That we're to be people of thanksgiving and gratefulness. Now, conversely to that, Romans chapter 1 verse 21 says very specifically that one of the main characteristics of an unbeliever is ungratefulness. One of the main characteristics of somebody that doesn't know Jesus is somebody who's whining and complaining. You know who he models that after thus as individual believers? He says, listen, don't be like Israel in the desert. That they got to watch the plagues happen and they were safe. They got to watch God lead them by a pillar of fire and a cloud. They got to watch God split the Red Sea. They got to watch God bring manna from heaven. They got to watch God provide them meat from heaven. They got to watch God do all this stuff and what do they spend their time doing? Whining and complaining. They had more to be thankful about and give praise and glory about than anybody else, but yet they spent their time whining and complaining. Paul says, don't be like them, because one of the greatest characteristics of an unbeliever is somebody that spends their time whining and complaining. Listen, I tell you, I'm preaching to myself as much as I am anybody else. Because anywhere in the text, whether it's Ephesians, Philippians, Romans, or right here in Thessalonians, did it say anywhere in the text that Jesus was going to take away all the struggles from our lives? Did it say that He was ever going to take away any burdens, any hurts? He was going to remove all that stuff from our life. He never said that. What He said is He's going to empower us to move straight through them. He's going to empower us to be able to have the faith and the strength to go straight through those things that will cause an unbeliever to complain, but give us a place to praise. That will cause an unbeliever to whine and moan, but give us as believers a place to show thanksgiving and to do as the old hymn says, to count your many blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done. Hey, I was sharing with the NOAH group last week, I'm talking about somebody who eats good, y'all need to come to NOAH, but I was sharing with the NOAH group, the thing about that hymn is do it, literally do it. Take some time, turn the TV off, and write down on a sheet of paper everything you've been blessed with in this life. Start from your earliest memory all the way up to where you are today, and I promise you, you're going to need three or four sheets of paper. You're going to need more than one, because when we really sit down and count our many blessings, we see that we have been blessed with so much. There's things you can complain about, but our attitude teaches us not to. Our attitude compels us to be people of thanksgiving and praise and gratefulness. You see, it's God's will, it's God's desire for us, for you. It's His desire for you to be a person of praise, a person of joy, contentment, and peace, and thanksgiving.