Thanksgiving Devotional (1 Thes 5.18)

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year to reflect on what God has done for you in your life and a time to bring family together.

My family told me to stop telling Thanksgiving jokes ... but I told them I couldn't quit "cold turkey.”

Why did the police arrest the turkey? They suspected fowl play.

Who is not hungry at Thanksgiving? The turkey because he’s already stuffed!

The day before Thanksgiving, a man in Jacksonville calls his son in San Diego the day before Thanksgiving and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.

“Pop, what are you talking about?” the son screams. We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the father says. “We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Denver and tell her.”

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. “Like heck they’re getting divorced,” she shouts, “I’ll take care of this,”

She calls Jacksonville immediately, and screams at her father, “You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?” and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. “Okay,” he says, "Good news, the kids are coming over for Thanksgiving and paying their own way, now what do we tell them for Christmas?”

... but I told them I couldn't quit "cold turkey.”

Why did the police arrest the turkey? They suspected fowl play.

Who is not hungry at Thanksgiving? The turkey because he’s already stuffed!

The turkey because he’s already stuffed!

Giving thanks is all about perspective.

(NKJV) “18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Often times, we think of being thankful only when times are going good, but the Bible says In Everything give thanks.

Jesus, being the best example we could ever follow shows us how to give thanks in everything. Let’s look at three less than ideal circumstances where Jesus gave thanks!

When He didn’t have enough: 4000 men and seven loaves

(NKJV) “35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.”

Jesus didn’t have enough food for the entire multitude.

4000 men = 1 man + 1 woman + 2 kids = 12,000 potential people that need to be fed.

Negative perspective = there are way too may people to feed with only seven loaves. Complaining that we only have seven loaves. It’s hopeless. It’s impossible. Even if we had a bakery store in our midst, they still couldn’t bake enough food to feed the people. Even God couldn’t provide for all these people.

Positive Jesus perspective. It’s not about how big the crowd is, it’s about how big my God is.

At this moment, things were not going well for Jesus. They were on a mountain near the sea of Galillee. This wasn’t close to the shops and was a deserted place. If Jesus dismissed everyone, then they would faint along the way for they needed sustenance to get back home. No matter how much they divided the loaves and fish, it would only satisfy a few grown men and leave the bulk of the multitude to faint on their return home. This was a major problem and everyone was looking to him for an answer to the problem. But Jesus does something that doesn’t make sense to us. Instead of complaining about the little that He has, instead He gives thanks for it. It is when Jesus gives thanks for the little He has that God performs a miracle.

Do you need a miracle in your life? Rather than complain about the little you have, start by giving thanks and see what God does with the little you do have!

Here are the facts, 7 loaves of bread cannot feed 4,000 men or 12,000 people. But choosing where your perspective lies changes everything. You can choose to have a big problem or choose to have a big God. Miracles happen when you choose to have a big God.

When He was being blamed for showing up late for Lazarus

(NKJV) “32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” 38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.””

Here is another time when things weren’t going well. Jesus had been informed that Lazarus was sick and rather than head directly to Lazarus’ house, stayed in the place where he was at for 2 more days. He then heads towards Judea which is problematic for two reasons. One is that Judea is where the Jews tried to stone Jesus and the other problem is that Lazarus had died.

When Jesus returns Lazarus’ sister Mary says, Jesus if you had been here, my brother would not have died. In other words, I gave you two days to get here so you could heal him, but because you didn’t listen to me, my brother is now dead. In essence, she blames Jesus for not coming fast enough to save her brother from dying.

So Jesus is in a town that has already threatened to stone Him and now He is being accused for not being able to save Lazarus’ life. By the way, Lazarus is dead.

Negative perspective = All I did was minister two more days to people that really needed me. Now I am risking my life to only be told that I am responsible Lazarus’ death. I can’t make anyone happy. Now that Lazarus is dead, there’s nothing I can do, it’s already too late.

Positive perspective = I was faithful to minister two more days where God had me minister. Now that Lazarus is dead, God can be truly magnified for bringing Him back to life.

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

Jesus gave thanks in the midst of an impossible situation. How could He possibly save someone who was already dead? By giving thanks to the God who is greater than death! Jesus would prove this by raising Himself from the dead, something no one else has ever been able to do.

When He was about to be betrayed: Last Supper

(NKJV) “19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

(NKJV) “26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.””

Here is the difficulty Jesus faces at the end of His ministry. This is His last evening on earth. He knows Judas is about to betray Him because Judas has already left the supper to betray Jesus to the high priest for 30 pieces of silver. None of the other disciples knew this for they just assumed Judas was buying things needed for the feast. However, Jesus knew that Judas had left to betray Jesus. In Judas’ absence, Jesus takes a moment to give thanks.

Negative perspective: I’m about to die a gruesome death and one of my own disciples has just betrayed me. Nobody has it as tough as me, I wish I was never born.

Positive perspective: God there is a plan you have set out to accomplish and I’m grateful that I get to be used. Therefore, I am going to give thanks and use this time to remind My disciples about the new covenant I have established so that they may be effective ministers of the gospel.

Facts are Jesus just got betrayed. But Jesus still chose to be thankful for the plan God had and that many people would enter into a relationship with Jesus through His death and resurrection.

Summary:

We don’t always need to be happy to give thanks.

When you don’t have enough and more is needed. Don’t have a negative perspective and think there is no hope, but rather, give thanks for what you do have and watch God work miracles.

When you’re life is threatened and you are being blamed for things you didn’t cause, don’t have a negative perspective and feel sorry for yourself, but rather, give thanks in the midst of an impossible situation and watch God work miracles.

When you have been betrayed by a good friend, don’t have a negative perspective and wish that you would die, but rather give thanks for the friends you do have and watch God work miracles in not only your life, but theirs as well.

It is easy to give thanks when things are going well, but a positive perspective, a Thankful perspective on life’s tough moments will open the doors to God’s miracles in your life!