Encouraging Words from God’s Word Message 6

Thanksgiving 2022

When giving thanks is hard.

Me:

I love thanksgiving

a. It’s one of my favorite sermons to preach

i. The joy of being grateful

ii. Sharing that joy

12 rules for living

i. Love God first

ii. Love family/spouse

Be grateful

iv. Have a daily quiet time

c. Being grateful is such an important key to living

i. Prideful ungratefulness is the worst sin imaginable

ii. But being grateful is not always easy

We:

It’s complicated

a. Life has its perplexities

i. Why do bad things happen to good people?

ii. Tragic things happen

iii. There are a lot of things we simply don’t understand

iv. In these times it’s hard to be thankful

b. However,

i. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT) — 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

ii. We may say...

iii. There’s a difference between giving thanks in everything and giving thanks for everything.

iv. But God wants to do both

v. Ephesians 5:20 (NLT) — 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:20 NLT

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

vi. A relationship is broken – Thanks (pretty hard)

vii. What’s God doing here?

God:

God enables

a. God never commands what He cannot enable us to fulfill.

i. If this was not true…

ii. He would be mocking us and weakening His own Word.

iii. When Jesus was ministering on earth, His commandments enabled people to do the impossible.

iv. He commanded a man with a crippled hand to stretch out his hand, and the man did it and was healed.

v. He commanded a paralytic to get up and walk, and the man did it.

vi. When God commands, he enables us to obey that command

b. So, if God commands me to be thankful for all things and in all things.

i. Then...

ii. He will enable me to obey Him,

iii. And the result is I will be a better person because of it.

You:

How does God enable you?

a. You get the worst news possible

i. Thank you doctor for the horrible news

ii. How can you give thanks for all things and not sound like a hypocrite?

b. Three great Christian virtues

Faith, hope and love

c. If you love someone?

i. You are not afraid of them

ii. And when you love someone, you trust them.

iii. If we love our Father in heaven, then we will not be afraid of what He may permit to come to our lives.

iv. If He loves us, He cannot harm us.

v. He may permit suffering and sorrow, but He can never permit His child to be harmed by the trials of life.

d. Real life application

i. Tragedy comes

ii. What do we say? “Why did this happen?”

Why did this happen to me?

iv. Satan will tempt you at this point – If God loved you… If God cared…

v. At this stage in your experience, lay hold of the truth that God loves you, and don’t let anybody steal it away from you

e. Your rock

i. Circumstances may assail you; Satan may accuse you; your Christian friends may even abandon you, but God loves you just as much as He did when He gave Jesus to die for you on the cross. Your circumstances have changed, and your feelings have changed, but God’s love has not changed.

ii. To be sure, giving thanks when everything is falling apart is a real act of faith,

iii. But we Christians “walk by faith and not by sight.”

We:

Faith hope and Love

a. Love increases our faith

i. When we have faith and love

ii. Then we can have hope

iii. You may not understand all you are going through

iv. But God knows and understands

b. Now we can say

i. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT) — 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

ii. Ephesians 5:20 (NLT) — 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.