Am I a Thankful Person?
I am just wrapping up my sermon preparation for this weekend and my thoughts are turning toward Thanksgiving Day. Turkey, family, football, mashed potatoes, friends, and maybe a nap! Oh, and remembering to thank our great God for Who He is and what He has done. Did you remember the “thankful” part of Thanksgiving?
I just want to ask you three questions.
First question: Am I a thankful person?
I’m not asking if you think if I am; I’m asking you to ask yourself if you think you are. Ask yourself the question, “Am I a thankful person?” Am I? Well, let’s go to school on thankfulness just for a moment here. There are three levels of thankfulness. Elementary school. High school. Higher education.
Level one: Thankful. Just thankful. Hebrews 13:15 says, “Let us offer onto God the sacrifice of praise.” That is the fruit of lips giving thanks to His name. Level one—elementary school—is the sacrifice of thankfulness. “Thanks God. Okay? Is that what You want to hear? Okay. That’s right. You did do that for me. Thanks.” Now that’s not nothing, but it’s not much. As long as thankfulness is just a sacrifice, like, “Well, I’ll do it if I have to, I guess”, you might get to the edge of the Promised Land, but you won’t find a lot of the joy that’s there.
But there is a better place. We’ll call Level two—high school thankfulness. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” In every situation, I can always find something to be thankful for. Always. I can make that decision. I could look away from what’s wrong and focus on what’s right and give thanks. “In everything give thanks.” That’s kind of a high school version.
But if you want the real joy—if you want to be done with the poverty-cheerless-joyless-wilderness thing, Level three—higher education is thankful for all things. Ephesians 5:18-20, “Be filled with the Spirit, giving thanks always to God for all things.” Even the bad things. Even the things you wouldn’t choose.
Maybe you have a health crisis or a great sorrow that won’t go away. Maybe you’ve got a financial need. To get to the place, by faith, where you can thank God for that thing— “Thank You, God. This is the thing that You’re using in my life. Thank You, God for that!” When you can do that, get ready for the land flowing with milk and honey.
Second question is: Am I seeing the blessings of thankfulness in my life?
Am I? Am I seeing the blessings of thankfulness in my life and the joy that comes with that? Is my life like a wilderness?
What percentage of my thought life is focused on good, positive, praiseworthy things? How often do I go out of my way to recognize with gratitude a person that God has used to bless me? A parent or a neighbor or a friend or a Small Group leader. Is thankfulness part of the discipline of my life and am I seeing the blessings of that?
Third and last: Am I choosing thankfulness over complaining moment by moment?
Am I choosing thankfulness over complaining? Because it’s at a moment. It’s like freeze-frame! Am I choosing thankfulness right now? Am I? Remember, attitudes are patterns of thinking formed over a long period of time.
Find a 3” x 5” card, but don’t write on it. What you want to do is to take it and put it on a photocopier and make three hundred sixty-five of them. Then put it by your night-stand. Now I’m telling you, in Jesus’ name, you fill out that card every night before you go to bed. Big things. Little things. Something good today. Things you’re thankful for.
You lay your head down to sleep with that on your mind. You get up in the morning and you read that before you begin your day. That will change your life—that will absolutely change your life. You say you want to live in the Promised Land? Do you want to know the fullness and the fulfillment that only God can bring? That card right there—that was worth the price of admission of this morning. Guaranteed.
Nobody’s life is perfect, but we dilute the complaints of life with thankfulness. It’s all a matter of perspective. It’s what we choose to focus on. God’s fullness comes to those who turn from complaining and embrace thankfulness as the focus of their thought life.
Happy Thanksgiving,
James
Categorized as: Christian Life, From James
November 25th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Wow! The card idea is a good one. I think I will use it around the dinner table and have everyone write one thing they are thankful for every day and we can look back on these pages as a family and see God’s goodness!
I so appreciate your thoughts and the direction God gives to you. It is clear that the Holy Spirit lives in you James!
Thanks!
November 25th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
[...] I a Thankful Person? Posted on November 26, 2009 by melissasalomon Came across this from Pastor James MacDonald’s blog and thought I would share it here. Good food for [...]
November 25th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
As always James, simple, but so important and deeply profound.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
November 26th, 2009 at 1:44 am
Happy Thanksgiving. Each day is a gift from God. Maybe if I tape these cards around the house, they will penitrate into someone elses life also.
November 26th, 2009 at 6:43 am
Yes I’m thanksful for everythink whot God did and doing in my life. I’m thanksful for Harvest and for you James. Have gret Thanskgiving day with youre family. God bless you
Andrzej, Maria, Lydia & Philip Krupinski
November 26th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Pastor James: thanks for the good reminder of how much I have to be thankful for. Have come through a really tough season (about 9 months worth) in the church I pastor. Times of frustration and despair filled with periods of joy. It is now time for thanksgiving to God for bringing us/me through.
November 26th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Thanks James. No pun intended.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
So true. Good things flourish in grateful hearts. An ungrateful heart is a dangerous place. It opens itself to so many other sins that gratitude forecloses on. If sin were an army, ingratitude expressed through complaining would be General in command. It was the heart condition that gave way to original sin. Discontentment with one’s place in the will of God is an attitudinal prelude to rebellion against God. Os Guinness suggested that: “Rebellion against God does not begin with the clenched fist of atheism but with the self-satisfied heart of the one for whom ‘thank you’ is redundant.” Ingratitude is a serious sin. Paul lists it with idolatry, immorality and testing God (I Corin. 10). Yes grumbling belongs on the list.
Good reminder!
“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2).
November 27th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I thought I had a thankful heart until I got stuck on your second question. An incisive post, James.
November 29th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Pastor James,
As always, I appreciated the line-by-line breakdown & application of God’s truth this morning. For the past fifteen-months I’ve done so with a grateful mom smile too as my 14-year old son leans over and asks for a pen for taking notes. Granted, he may doodle a time or two but his attention to listening to the Word of God & making note of it, well, only confirms the rightness & blessing of our putting down roots at HBC.
As such, I was wondering if you’ve posted the specific study references/tools which you use during sermon preparation, and/or the Harvest Trainig Center recommends for individuals who delight in digging into God’s word? If not, I’d be most thankful for the creation of such.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:51 am
James, I just want to say ‘Thanks’ for your commitment to the Word and your study. I think being consistently thankful is very helpful. Making a book into a few sentences, I’ve been on the Christian road now for 4 decades and currently I’m going through my toughest time. Largely due to finances, our lives are upside down. This is mainly due to being laid off twice and in an intense job search, I’m batting “0 for 200″, even in hourly jobs as well. We’ll be losing our home to FC shortly. In fact it’s weird that my efforts are so ‘not blessed’. However, I do believe in ‘lean not on your own understanding’, as God is not providing right now despite a big effort on my part. My wife is exhibiting deep integrity by working a full time job while I search. That and myriad bills cause stress that deeply stresses our marriage.
However, I really am understanding that He wants to refine me, to deeply cause an unbreakable trust and finally to develop a great story that glorifies Him when this is over. Sorry to vent but I think there are many men with my circumstances and in closing, I’m glad that God gave me the answers before the test. And in fact, a lot of blessings in terms of your teaching, good friends, solid kids, etc. THX in advance for praying.
All the Best,
Grant
December 31st, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I am thankful for your messages, James. We have had an incredibly stressful year, both financially with our business, but our youngest son has Lyme disease with extreme cardiac and neurological problems. When I get to work, I try to listen to your daily broadcast, but then, my computer always follows with the download of “God’s Promises.”… “You’re not looking so great, but you’re here…” It has been uncanny how many times I’ve listened to that message. Thank you for reminding me of God’s faithfulness.
He is faithful.