BY CALEB JUMA
1 Corinthians 1:4-9
I thank my God alwaysconcerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Himin all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Before I get into it, just a bit of a back story. Paul wrote this epistle to the church in Corinth after he had heard about the contentions and divisions within the church. Paul knew that the church in Corinth was in a mess and he was well aware that there was a lot wrong. People were treating communion with contempt, there was sexual immorality in the church, spiritual gifts were being misused and everyone was being controlled by pride, women were out of control, wrong doctrines had entered the church and there was a whole load of evil practices within this church. With all of this, and a whole lot more, going on, Paul still thanked God for them. Paul had a different perspective, or should I say, as was said of Joshua and Caleb, he had a different spirit (spirit meaning attitude, we have been baptized into Christ by the same Spirit, who is God). Paul saw that even in the midst of all of this, God's hand was still there. Paul did not only look at the wrong, but chose to see the good God had done in the church and give Him thanks.
The bible says in Psalm 100:5, The Lord is good. It is His nature to be good, it is not like He has to choose whether to be good or bad, He is completely and absolutely good in spite of us, as Christ Himself said when He walked this earth, no one is good except God(see Mark 10:18). Having this in mind, God also abides faithful, He never changes, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. God's nature is not dependent on us, which is why He loves us, in spite of us, because He is love. God will always be good, we just need to be aware of His goodness, as Paul also writes in Romans 911:22), continue in His goodness... Which is why we do not gain God's love or righteousness by works but grace. Though we do not deserve it, He still loves us and is good to us. Praise God for grace!
Thankfulness will make us more aware of His goodness in our lives. I'm talking about an attitude of gratitude, not just merely saying 'thank you'. When I becomethankful, i become more aware of how good God has been to me. I begin to see everything in the context of grace, I cease to complain of what isn't and start to appreciate what God has done for me thus far. When we become more aware of God's goodness, we put ourselves in a better place to actually draw from His goodness. Thankfulness removes the veil that covers our eyes and creates consciousness of blessings which we would otherwise not see if we complained. The Bible speaks of the Israelites who were destroyed by the destroyer because they murmured and complained (see 1 Corinthians 10:10) yet scripture tells us God provided for them, they ate to their fill, there was none feeble amongst them, and even their clothes and shoes never wore out (Ex 16:35; Ps 105:37, Deut 29:5). When you complain, you actually magnify what is wrong, you feed the problem and give it power over you. What you feed will eventually overpower you. They dug their own grave by complaining. They empowered they own doubts, and doubt is the breeding ground for the destroyer, and they were destroyed and that particular generation did not make it to the promised land.
Many Christians often wonder what the will of God is in their lives, but here is something to consider, the bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17,18 Rejoice always, Pray without ceasing andIn everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning us in Christ. There you have it ladies and gentlemen, the Will of God summarised. We need to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.It helps you to rejoice even in the midst of trials because you're more aware of God's goodness, though the attack of the enemy is apparent to you. It helps to put your prayers in context. Thanksgiving creates the context to keep prayers on focus, it creates a consciousness of blessing, it refines the focus of prayer therefore we pray from a point of victory and not desperation because we know that our God is good. A thankful heart remains aware of God's presence. God says He will never leave us nor forsake us, which is a promise that we hold onto, but sometimes we cannot tell He is there because we have not developed an awareness of Him, and this is how we can.
Proverbs 18:20 says a man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth, and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled... then Hebrews 13:15 says let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name... Therefore, continually giving thanks to God will not only make us aware of what we have but also increases our capacity to receive from Him.
@re-defined
@dailyrhema1
Comments