Do You Have A Thankful Heart In The Midst Of The Challenges Of Life?
Good Morning Friends,
Today people around the world in Leadership Foundations will be praying for One by One Leadership Foundation, the organization in which I serve as Executive Director.
Nice birthday present on this the day of “The Game,” that rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan.
And what I would like those who read this to know is how joyful and thankful I am for these encounters that explore the heart of the matter to discover more about oneself and those on the team.
And the very first revelation I want to share with you is that in prayer on birthdays it is so much more hopeful and practical to look at life through the perspective of what we have and not the spirit sapping, deficit thinking of the world. The team that wins today will win with what they bring to the game. The same is true for us. Yes some of the players, like the world in which we live, are fractured and broken and limping in pain. But it damages us further and makes us incapable of living out our life fully, as we were created, if we do not look for and find the God of glory, Jesus bringing everything together through His reconciling and healing energy. Perhaps today we will see how Jesus sutures, knits together and heals everything that we bring to the table. So understand this, today’s game is the inheritance of a legacy for the two schools. My birthday is really the inheritance of a legacy from my parents. But friends, in the middle of it all we have the inheritance of God, His counsel and good pleasure, His Spirit, and this shows us how to be thankful in everything. That is the legacy of life. And we all need to unwrap that present. Indeed in Christ we are made abundantly free to live and give thanks in every emotion and every experience, even in prayer, even on a birthday, even in the middle of a game that makes me nervous just thinking about it. Do You Have A Thankful Heart In The Midst Of The Challenges Of Life?
Scripture: give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NRSV)
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:11-14 (NRSV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NRSV)
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
James 1:2-7 (NRSV)
Message: In today’s devotional readings we explore the power of the common experience of the joy, challenge and thanksgiving for life through prayer. We explore a God that is the continuous compassionate provider of peace and grace when we are anxious. In today’s letter of Paul, written to some believers in Corinth that did not fully understand this law of love, we see the tension. In fact we see the challenge. But are we comforting and thankful? The Corinthians just did not get the fact that God commands us to comfort each other. So Paul, imitating Jesus, enters into their pain so that they might learn. Paul in harmony with the will of God demonstrates for them what they are to do. He responds with peace, that fruit of a relationship with God. No, the Corinthians did not know what to do when they met people who were distraught, depressed or anxious. They did not know how to react themselves when they shared these same conditions. They did not understand that they had to get through the hard times with others, suffering for Christ, to work out their own healing and salvation. But despite the difficulties, Paul is positive. He shouts out that there will be hope for those hurting; he shares an untroubled heart for a troubled world….one that replaces anxiety, through experience, with comfort. And one of the greatest comforts of all is knowing each of us are included as one of God’s prized possessions. So today be thankful that God identifies you as one of His own, a genuine member of His kingdom. He made you and paid for you. He has saved you to have an abundant life that is not without challenges. Enjoy the game today if you can. But since I never played college football let me make the point though an experience I had in racing sailboat. You see friends, humans like ships sail best with a heading slightly into the wind. We are to set a course not away from challenges but into them and here experience joy. The words are of tremendous encouragement. The theme is similar but not the same as saying that necessity is the mother of invention. It is more of an account of how life demands and God supplies both a challenge and the wisdom to address all the messy problems we face. On life’s voyage we are to feel God’s firm foundation and stability in our keel. We cannot experience that when we run from the challenge. From a biblical perspective it is more than demonstrating the ability to make right use of nautical knowledge or to make the right call in a game. It is the convergence of spiritual knowledge and practical skills which enables a person to make right course changes that honor God. It is in facing the challenge with joy, thanksgiving and hard work that we console others and honor God.
Pray we realize that we are twice as priceless when we reflect God’s presence through a thankful heart.
Pray we realize that the Christian life is about loving, giving, caring, and comforting. Pray that we discover that peace is not found in material security. Pray that God come along side us when we are going through hard times and brings us alongside someone else who is going through challenges, so we can be there for that person just like God is there for us. Pray that we endure the challenges in fellowship so that we might together then enjoy the good times. Pray that God comfort us so that we might learn how to comfort others.
Pray we face up to our lack of wisdom. Pray that God create a demand for wisdom in our hearts. Pray we ask for wisdom. Pray we have faith. Pray we have an attitude of trust. Pray we realize that alone we are insufficient for the day. Pray we realize that there is hope when we are thankful for what we have. Pray we imagine how God can put all the pieces together and set us on the right course in the challenge of life.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 