HOW? WHEN? WHERE?

Sunday’s Monday

Last week’s title of Sunday’s Monday was Who? What? Why? Speaking in leu of the day we celebrate Thanksgiving. This week I feel led to continue the theme of thanksgiving in the hope of helping to complete the season. The act of being thankful is so much bigger than we mortals imagine, ergo many are satisfied to settle for the status quo. Sadly, most of the many that settle will never get it in this lifetime because they just don’t know. That being said, we all somehow have things we don’t know, which is not bad. However, it becomes sad when we lose our desire to know more. Jesus is always teaching those willing to learn! Proverbs 18:15 (NLT), Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.

“How” may seem to be a ridiculous place to start but think about the act of your being thankful. Is it in the form of a long prayer at church or at the meal table, giving thanks to God for all the good that’s happened or happening in your life and/or all those good temporal gifts you’ve received throughout the year while gathered around a table loaded with food and surrounded by family? Or you could be sending a few extra bucks to a needy cause or spending Thanksgiving day at a soup kitchen, or a clothing giveaway, maybe an old folks home or an orphanage to share with the less fortunate and ease the personal guilt of inaction. All is good but it’s far from great and accurate. To explain biblical thanksgiving is the same as explaining love, words can never convey the sentiments involved in giving heartfelt thanks to another. Thanksgiving is an emotion that has to be acted upon by the giver, to be appreciated by the receiver. Thanksgiving displayed in its supernatural form is your response to God’s goodness and graciousness which is encouraging to others. 2 Corinthians 9:11 (NLT), Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

“When” is the best time to be thankful and to whom? Question asked and answered in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT), 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. There are two ways to look at when to be thankful and that is in the flesh (which is selfish) or in our spirit (which is selfless). With the fleshly type of thanksgiving, one desires the world to see what God has given them. On the other hand, one’s spirit of thanksgiving reflects on this question, God what would you have me do with what you’ve given me? All the while each is grateful in their heart, but one is actionless for the most part while the other is open to God’s will for everything he has to be thankful for. Man does not have what it takes to free himself from his self-constructed prison of guilt! Remember,

Matthew 6:21(NLT), Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. God desires us to live and breathe a life of thanksgiving, giving all glory to Him, no matter the circumstances that surround us we are to glorify Him for being who He is!

Where is way too easy to answer? Everywhere, every thought and every breath should bring glory to God through our daily lives. We should be the ones with a positive attitude, we should be the ones who bring peace to all situations, and we should be the ones who display Christlikeness to all. Our greatest opportunities to present thanksgiving to this world are everywhere and we pass many of them by every day. We have to open our hearts and allow them to break for missed opportunities, open our ears to hear the directions of Jesus, and open our eyes to see beyond the flesh. The spirit of God is inside every man waiting to be stimulated by God’s loving grace and mercy! If one is truly thankful, he or she will act accordingly as directed by God’s Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT), 14 But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.

My prayer today is for God to instill this scripture within us. Colossians 2:7 (NLT), 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Amen

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

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