Pastor Jim Mann
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9, NIV)
I’m writing this on the first day of October. Fall has been here for about a week-and-a-half, but today is really the first day that feels like autumn. As soon as the date on the calendar arrived, despite the 95 degree temperature, I was encouraged by my wife to get the fall decorations out of the attic.
As I sorted through various bins and started pulling out the decorations, I realized that most of them have to do with pumpkins or thanksgiving. Most of the decorations had the words: thanks, be thankful, in everything give thanks, Thanksgiving…
It gave me pause to reflect. How sad that I have to pull thanksgiving out of a box once a year! As a Christian, gratefulness should be a defining characteristic for me. Sometimes it is…but often it isn’t. Let’s face it, there’s plenty in life to grumble about. Often my circumstances don’t elicit spontaneous praise. But they should.
That’s exactly what Paul’s talking about to the church in Philippi. You wouldn’t know it from this passage, but the Apostle was chained in a Roman prison at the time of writing. As bad as his circumstances were though, he still looked for something for which to be grateful.
Believe it or not, if you and I will take the time to look, these aren’t too difficult to find. Of course positive thinking doesn’t make negative circumstances disappear. But it does put things into proper perspective.
That’s why Paul talks about our thought-life. You can choose what you spend time thinking about. What you think about may cause you to rejoice and be thankful…or not. But even the challenging stuff can be brought to God in prayer, petition and request—with thanksgiving. I made a decision the other day that thanksgiving wouldn’t be something I have to pull out of the attic once a year. I’m going to ask the Holy Spirit to make it my default attitude. I hope you’ll join me. See you in church!
Jim Mann, Ph.D. pastors New Life Church at Robson Ranch. This interdenominational church meets at the Robson Clubhouse on Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. Visit New Life’s website: www.NewLifeDenton.org for more information.