The Reach of Our Thanksgiving - Part 2

Got them to this weekend – podcast the child family first Thessalonians 5 verse 18 to give thanks in all things at the command not so simple to fulfill. Today's podcast is the key to cultivating a truly thankful heart, what is on the tonneau in order to be able to give thanks with everything in module self does not want to give back or here's the key and listen without this key. You absolutely will not. You cannot emotionally or mentally truly, genuinely give God thanks without this key.

His third song in the 19th verse, the Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all now if you don't believe that you not going to be able to thank God for everything because once this what this verse says God is in control of your circumstance, no matter what it is he's in control of whatever's come against you. God's in control. Whatever is causing you pain God's control. Whatever is causing you joy and happiness and peace. God's in control. Whatever has caused your friends to turn against you. God is in control.

Whatever physical suffering that you're going through. God is in control. That is, there's not anything in the life of a believing which God is not in control of the truth is he's in control of everything. Now the many examples in the Scripture look for example at Joseph in the 15th chapter of the book of Genesis. Look what God did, he took Josie was a 17-year-old teenager hated and despised by his brothers put in a situation where his brothers threw them in the pit were going to kill them. Finally sold him into slavery in Egypt went to prophesy household was very successfully turned everything over to wife lot about them. Try to seduce him got him thrown in prison is in prison. If you think about the time he was about 17 till he was almost a bout 30 years of age he could've said God where are you, nothing in my life is been good.

Nothing nothing nothing is been good for all these 13 years and I'm supposed to trust you Jehovah God and you're in charge and my father, my mother taught me to trust you that you the only true God, where are you, until one day they called for them, dress them up and stood in before the Pharaoh of Egypt and the Pharaoh said I hear you can tell about dreams, you can decipher.

You can interpret them and probably in just a matter of an hour so he was announced he would sit second only to Pharaoh and all the land of Egypt, which was the greatest civilization of the time and one of the greatest that is ever existed.

So for 13 years, whereas God is nothing good about being in prison.

Nothing good about being betrayed that one thing to rejoice about until the day God said I was causing all things to work together for good. Listen, according to my purpose. My purpose was to save you place you in a position of absolute authority in order not only to save Egypt, but the same your family back there in Canaan, and to fulfill my awesome purpose of the Messiah through this much a Hebrews.

That's one thing for me to see the other side of pain.

What you now must learn to do is to thank him on the side of it when things aren't going so well, so let me just say this, we think about God being involved in everything in the life of the unbeliever.

For example, you not a Christian you say will. How could God be involved in my life. The common unbeliever nominates his arm an agnostic, God is not involved in my life. Yes, he is he is involved in your life. In this way, his offer of grace is still extended to you as an unbeliever. Secondly, that illness is off of grace still there but God and his judgment is still hanging above you. That is because you have disobeyed him. His judgment is still hanging in there. His wrath is chastisement. Likewise, when I think about how he's involved. Think about in this life and the life of every unbeliever there is a limitation of your wickedness. There is a limitation of what you can do and how you can respond in the things that you do in and through your life and by your life and to others. God has a limitation on you so he's working even in your life is an unbeliever, but only to see also that God's involved in the lab. Even in our sin you mean God causes sin never. There's not a single verse in the Bible is that God causes sin does he know about it yes does he allow sin. Yes, as he prompted no does he leaders in the sin never does he know about it. Yes, listen, will he stop us from sinning. Sometimes he does and sometimes he allows us to have our way. You say will of God is a God of love well when he stop us because he's a God also who loves us enough to give us a choice. Is he involved in that. Yes he is sometimes he stands back and watches us make mistakes that are devastating you civil. How can any good come out of the fact that God if he loves me and he allows me to do this if he loved me he won't allow it in my life, but you say he loves me unconditionally.

These allow this in my life. How can any good come out of that will have you not learned our greatest lessons by making mistakes. How do you learn how awful the penalty of sin can be best sinning against the probably all of us can look back in a life and thing will I sure wish that never happened in my life I had done this or had done that one may be something that you did many times. Then there came a time and you were tempted you that all God I can't stand the penalty that I can't stand what I experience.

After that what you are doing. He's working your sin for your good. He's turning your disobedience for your good by doing what making it painful enough that you don't even want to do it again. You will even want to go there again. You don't even want to participate in the is he working good and that yes he is. So let me just give you some specific things that jot down first of all, he allows us to send on the shores our own weakness and pride that is listen. If you just lived a spotless life all the time. You know what you be doing. I can handle it.

I'm a spiritual money person you get prideful and would ruin your testimony so he allows send her like he didn't choose and he doesn't send it. He doesn't instigated, but he allows it to simply say one of the reasons he allows. It is because he reveals our weaknesses. A second thing is this. We learn in those situations to depend listen upon his strength and his knowledge and his understanding, not our own, and it's in those times and we are tested and tried we learn those things that, of course, sin is never good that at any time but listen, he will turn it for our good.

Every single time. If we allowing you say well there's that mean that if I want to live a godly life. I do send more and more, I would suggest that at all. But what I'm saying is this, that God loves us enough even when we disobey even when we falter and follow. How did you grow as a godly person. How have you matured in your Christian life reading the Bible and praying and assaying him read about praying go to church and give and just be good. That's how I'm going to grow know you don't grow that way you grow about what stumbling and falling and making mistakes and sinning against God and experience his forgiveness experience his kindness and experience his love and being driven back to the word to find the solution what happened. What I do this. What is got up to in my life. That's the way we grow so he teaches us by our failures. The bitter fruits of the consequences of sin and once you do, he's turning in for good.

He teaches us the availability of his forgiveness. When you sin against God. The listen. He says if you judge yourself. He will judge when you not sin against God, either with their lips or actions or whatever it might be the proper response is a immediately to confess it to God, which means I'm agreeing with God. This doesn't fit him on in my life I'm asking to forgive me, cleanse me and repent of this I turn around and walk the other way, do you always stay walking the other way know some things you have to learn over and over again is he patient. He's a got a patient is he in that yes he is, how would you ever learn how patient God is if he didn't have to deal with us about the same thing over and over and over again. We learned about remembering listen by remembering the consequence. God is turning our situation for our good and often times we don't even realize that's what he's doing, but if I don't believe he is in control our golf and some direction, some tension blaming somebody else living in misery and wondering where God is. He teaches this is one of the things he teaches at cytosine. He teaches us the scope of grace is grace to watch this. It's one thing you are gossip about somebody else or God forgive that yes he will. Let's say somebody gossiped about you. Suppose they damaged you emotionally in a way that takes you for your while to get over it.

Then what your response. Eventually, if you're living a God in life you gonna forgive them, is one of the reasons you gonna forgive because you begin to think about the awesome grace of God, of how many times he's forgiven you. How many times he's cleanse you how many times he's brought you become at times he's answered your prayer.

How many times you can tested and he said yes every single time God is in all these things in her life and the most important thing is this. When you add all this up this awesome God of ours is teaching us about himself.

He's teaching us the forgiving and loving and kind and patient and generous and that he is a God who loves us so much he chastises God is in the process of teaching us about himself. That's what he wants us to learn the process go back to Romans eight this phone. Again, this is a verse. Most people don't even think about. They don't they read Romans 828 and praise the Lord till difficulty comes but listen what he says in the 29th verse following verse 28, of course, but those whom he foreknew he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the first morning when among many brethren. Look at this. He says he causes all things work together for good to those who love those colic on this purpose. Now he says for those whom he foreknew what is that me he knew before you were ever born Jim going to be say that watch this carefully.

Somebody says do you believe in predestination. You know why believe in because the apostle Paul believed the listen what he says God predestined, that means he predetermine before you ever born. He predetermine that when you were saved. The moment you made that decision from that point on God's work in your life and my life would be primarily this every single thing that he allowed all these things we don't like and do like all the good times all the bad times all the hard times. He predestined to use all of that to do what shape you and me in the likeness of the character of his son. What harmonica God pay you and me than to say I want you to be like my son Jesus is he's the best he's it. I want you to be like him, so he put all this together.

He says that he's working all things together for our good. What's good, good is it, listen he's predetermine, to conform us to the likeness of his son.

Therefore, on the basis of this, that he is in control of all things all times all circumstances, all situation.

Does that mean I understand why he allow something to happen. No, there's some things you and I will never understand to we get the glory.

He doesn't say I have to understand I don't have a right to insist on understanding but he says listen I am to give thanks for everything because he is an absolute control of all things, and he's working all things together for our good and for his purpose and his purpose is to conform us to the likeness of his son. Therefore, I have all the motivation I need. I may have to struggle with some things I go through but have all the motivation I need to thank him in every circumstance because he's working for my good and he's going to use that to conform into the likeness of his son.

Therefore, not only have the expectation I have the motivation to say Lord I'm not. Thank you and this I don't like it. It is painful it hurts. I don't understand.

I wept and wept and went by rescue why, thank you anyway. While Megan a thank you because I know you are in control. So you've allowed for reason you're working it for my good and some grateful for that. And number three it's part of your predestined predetermine conformity to the likeness of your son thank you God. No matter what it is now when you not come to the position place in our spiritual life where we can thank him for everything. Here's what you can expect number one have faith in God will prove unshakable faith in God prove unshakable because you rooted and grounded in the truth and you can thank him knowing these working up your good predetermine predestined to be conformed as likeness.

The second thing is is that are commonplace for the people will not leave us better about habits they may hurt you.

You know what somebody says yeah but you don't have better been hurt none of us know how bad anybody else been hurt.

God knows all about hurt but if I thanking we will be better. You can thank God for what's going on in your life the better in the right number three will be comforted in times of heartache and sorrow. Why because I'm thanking him for.

I know he's in control he's working it for my good and he's conforming me to the likeness of his son, then, that being true even in my most difficult trying times. I can thanking number four a circumstances will not be able to steal our contentment why because we know he's up to something good and think about this. This is the God of unconditional love who has no desire to punish his children who has no desire to have to chastise us who has our best interest in all times.

He wants us to be content. And Paul said in Philippians 4, chapter he says I have learned in every circumstance of the content, look what he went through to learn that lesson and the last thing is will sincerely be able to give thanks in everything. When you learn the key caliphate.

These three things together member I'm to give thanks in everything.

That's because I believe it is an absolute control he's working everything from market and he's paying me the eyes on I will make like my son. That's how you and I can give thanks in everything. Thank you for listening to the reeds and our Thanksgiving. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley, intense ministries intense that OIG is not casted the presentation of index ministries Atlanta, Georgia