Now be thankful

I have found myself singing the following this week:

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks, because He’s given
Jesus Christ, His Son.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One;
give thanks, because He’s given
Jesus Christ, His Son.

And now let the weak say “I am strong,”
let the poor say “I am rich,”
because of what the Lord has done for us;
and now let the weak say “I am strong,”
let the poor say “I am rich,”
because of what the Lord has done for us.
Give thanks.

I stopped in at luncheon for our Connection Ministry (widows and those single ladies of age). I shared with them that I have never found a person who just wants to grumble and complain, that after they are finished can say they feel better. But I do know that those I have met in the worst circumstances of life who are thankful even yet, are an encouragement to any that meet them.

This week, most of us will join with or meet up with others to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. And the conversation can be encouraging or discouraging, based on whether you grumble and complain — or find thankfulness in your heart for all that God has done in, though and around you. And if this isn’t enough urging to not complain and grumble, Philippians 2 tells us what Christ did for us and the spirit in which He did it. And then in verse 14-16, we are told “Do all things without complaining or disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” Be thankful in spite of the circumstances, for our God is always faithful.

Pressing on…

Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor