When I see this picture of an elderly hand grasping a tiny apple, it brings emotion. I’m not sure what the feelings are, but I think it’s a mixture of sadness and humble gratitude.
I don’t know the story behind the picture, but I do know three billion people in the world make less than two dollars a day. To that portion of the world, this small apple would be precious and the people would be thankful.
Am I thankful for a small apple? Sadly, much larger apples have spoiled in our fruit bowl and become chicken food. Compared to the poorest people, I live in a country with a medium income of over 50k. I’ve never wondered if I’d have food for the next meal. Has this deadened my heart to being appreciate for what God provides?
I don’t want to take for granted God’s blessings, but I have.
Lord, develop in me a continual heart of gratitude which extends beyond a single day of thanking.
Gifts Point to the Giver
Moments after I pray about having a more grateful heart, my wife enters the room, fresh from her time of solitude.
“I was just reminded of the doxology,” she says. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”
God had been showing her how easy it is to focus on the gifts and forget the Giver.
Every gift, from small apples, to turkey feasts, to breath for another day comes from God the creator of all things.
I take what she says as an answer to my prayer for God to develop in me a continual heart of gratitude.
When I notice any gift, from food, to provision, to creation, to relationships, to …, may the gift send me directly into thankful praise to my King.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you .. (Philippians 1:3 NASB).
And When people give me praise or compliments may I also see these as reasons to thank and praise God.
When people come up and give me a compliment… I take each remark as if it were a flower. At the end of the day I lift up the bouquet of flowers I have gathered throughout the day and say, ‘Here you are, Lord, it is all Yours.’” Corrie Ten Boom
Being Thankful for Eternal Blessings
Something else which comes to mind is how many things God has done for me in eternity which will never change.
As I focus on these eternal blessings, life’s gifts become cherries on top of a continual thanksgiving feast.
The Bible is full of reasons to be thankful, but here’s a summary of the unchanging truths in Ephesians 1:3-14:
I have every spiritual blessing available to me in Jesus.
God loves me and chose me to be in Christ before the world began.
In Jesus Christ, I’m holy and totally blameless.
It’s God’s pleasure to adopt me as His child through Jesus.
God did these things for me so that His glory, His infinite greatness and His worth, would be demonstrated in kindness and mercy toward me.
I’ve been redeemed, rescued from God’s wrath because of Jesus’ life blood shed on my behalf.
God lavished His grace and mercy upon me, forgiving my every sin.
God has made known to me His intensions to summarize all things into Christ Jesus, my Lord.
I have a secure inheritance because God’s purposes are never thwarted.
God has sealed me with the Holy Spirit as a promise and pledge of my inheritance.
I belong to God and my life is to be a testimony to the praise of His glory and grace.
These, and many more truths, give me reasons for unending thanksgiving.
May Thanksgiving day launch a mindset of thankfulness in me which will never change.
Prayer
Lord, what a gift today has been. You’re giving me a thankful heart. You showed how even the smallest apple is a gift from Your hand, never to be taken for granted. You are the source of every blessings. Please help me to be continually thankful for You and not just the gifts You give me.
There are so many blessings You’ve given me which will never change. Please develop in me a continual thankful heart for what You’ve bestowed upon me in Christ.
I’m so sorry for the apples I’ve allowed to spoil because I didn’t treasure them. Tender my heart so that I will never take anything for granted again. They all come from Your hand.
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Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.
Novels by the Author:
What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for? Beyond Time
By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains
It could be argued that the main thread of the Bible is God’s desire to be WITH us.
The Creator of the Universe gave up His only Son to have Eternal fellowship with us. But we don’t have to wait until we die. He wants to be with us now.
Ongoing, intimate fellowship with God can begin at the point of our salvation.
Jesus promised it: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23b NASB)
Paul confirmed it: “having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13b-14 NASB)
What a pledge of our inheritance! GOD HIMSELF, in the form of the Holy Spirit given to us!
Sealed in Him – marked, for security from Satan, concealed and hidden, stamped in order to confirm, to authenticate.
As believers in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of Jesus indwells us.
In light of this, how do we live?
In what some consider a summary of the Christian life, Galatians 2:20, Paul answers the above question: I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
We died. Christ lives in us now. Our new normal is to live a life of depending on Him to live His life through us.
Our lives are to be marked by the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control exemplified by Jesus’ life on earth.
But how does “Christ lives in me” work out in our everyday lives?
Treasuring God Above all Else
As with other aspects of our Christian lives, living WITH God starts with us realizing, trusting and walking in His love..
God’s love is the reason He rescued us to begin with. Our greatest command is to love Him back. Delighting in God accentuates our longing to be WITH Him.
Skye Jethani, in his book With, writes, “the life with God posture is predicated on treasuring God above all else.” [1] He goes onto say that treasuring the world and a long comfortable life is not a life of living with God.
Our pathway to living out our union with Christ must begin with love for God above all earthly gains: our possessions, success, popularity, comfort, etc.
Our love for God must be absolute. Jesus told his disciples that coming to Him and deeply loving Him, makes human love seem like hate in comparison. [2] Our love for God must be extreme and the more we love Him, the easier it will be to delight in His nearness.
Story: In my human weakness, I sometimes forget that God Himself is my highest delight, especially when I don’t feel love from people who are important to me. During these times, I can easily shift from enjoying the experience of God’s abiding love, to chasing human love to fill my heart cup.
However, more and more an awareness of God’s great love for me is growing. I’m understanding that the love of people are like sprinkles on top of a decadent hot fudge sundae, complete with the dark chocolate sauce, nuts, whip cream and the cherry on top.
God’s love completes me. May I love others out of the abundance of His love, not to try and satisfy my need for love.
Draw near to the One who indwells you and invites you to revel in His love.
Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth (Psalm 73:25 NASB)
I No Longer Live
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;for he who has died is freed from sin (Romans 6:4-6 NASB).
For me, our crucifixion with Christ has always been hard to comprehend.
How can a person who lives and breathes be dead? To understand, we must seek deeper truths, beyond the temporal.
In the above verse, Paul says our old self has been crucified. Before our flesh reigned, but having been crucified with Christ, it’s been rendered powerless.
However, until we physically die, we can still choose to walk in the old ways of death. This is why Paul warns us, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:12-14 NASB).”
So, on a Wednesday afternoon, in the midst of duties and temptations, how do we live out “I’ve been crucified with Christ and I no longer live?”
Our old fleshly choices have worn paths not easily broken. Even in the splendor of God’s love and His life within, idols and addictions chain our souls. Carnal pleasures, seeped in death, can seem more real and viable than God’s loving presence.
Imagine you were in the Marines and you had a sergeant who was constantly picking on you. Eventually you serve your time and are honorably discharged. As a civilian, you come face to face with your old nemesis on a street corner. Assuming a familiar position of authority, he orders you give him 25 pushups.
Out of habit, you drop and begin churning them out. But then it hits you; you’re free from his reign. He’s lost all authority over you. You stop and walk away. Being a marine is in your past, but that life is behind you. You’re dead to it’s authority and power.
When we’re tempted to walk in our flesh, it’s like meeting that old sergeant. We can still choose to follow Him, but why should we? Now, we can refuse and “present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness to God.For sin shall not be master over us”.
Story: One of my strongest temptations to operating in my “old self” has to do with trying to handle problems in my own strength. Historically, when challenges come I try harder rather than recognizing my weakness and walking in newness of life.
Recently, I fell and severed my quad tendon. I was down the hill from our house at our barn when it happened. When I heard the pop, I knew something had happened, but my first response was to try and stand up and walk. Impossible! Helpless on the ground, all I could do was crawl like a crab and scream for my wife.
During the time of recovery after the surgery, I was helpless. My wife even had to put on my socks. It was a forced time to slow down and realize how little I have to offer. A real life experience of true weakness. What a blessing!
I Live by Faith in the Son of God
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5 NASB).
After promising to send us the Holy Spirit, in John 14, Jesus gives us an earthly example of what life WITH Him is like.
A wine branch, connected to the sap enriched vine, is able to produce luscious fruit. But, a branch detached from the vine of life, yields nothing but death.
Our lives are like that. Sure, we can busy ourselves with all manner of seemingly good things, but any activity detached from the source of life is life-less, no matter how good it looks.
We’re familiar with a bowl of plastic fruit. Painted up and shinny, it can look so real, so delicious! But try tasting it. There is no life.
Our souls are to be governed by the Holy Spirit, not our flesh.
Jesus commands us to “abide” in Him, His Holy Spirit. Over many years I’ve had two wrong understandings about what this means.
First: that abiding is a level to get to in our maturing process as Christians. Wrong. Abiding is not a level. It’s not a “nice to get to.” Abiding is the process. Abiding is the way Christ is formed in us.
Second: I assumed abiding took great effort. With great strain and discipline I sought to tap into Christ’s life within. Actually, it’s just the opposite. The Greek word translated as “abide” also means to remain, stay, stop, tarry, live or dwell.
We did nothing to be placed in the love of Jesus. God did it. [3] So, abiding is not an effort to get somewhere, its a command to stay where we’ve already been placed. Dwell there, remain there, stay there, tarry there, abide where you’ve been placed. Don’t move.
Story: My wife recently bought us a small plaque which we placed on the window seal above the kitchen sink, where we’ll often see it.
I need Thee every hour.
The longer I live the more I believe these words. Not only do I need to depend on Jesus to know the Father’s will, to speak His words and love in His strength, but I also need Him every second to fill to overflowing my longing heart. I so easily forget and begin to look around me at the world to love me, to deem me successful and to value me.
Lord, show me quickly when I stray.
Conclusion
Living out our new life of total dependence upon God is not an option. The New Testament is saturated with the truth of God being WITH us now. The Holy Spirit of Jesus indwells us. We’re to enjoy His nearness every moment of our lives. Jesus is the source of all joy and life, but we must continually chose life over death.
We’ve been crucified with Christ. We’ve been raised with Him in newness of life. But, we can still be influenced by our old, worn out fleshly patterns. We must recognize our death in Christ and choose to depend upon Him.
By faith, we rest in Christ’s finished work and remain in His love. We yield to His life within us that His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control might be displayed in our lives.
Prayer
Lord, I’m seeing it now. My life with You is not about me following a bunch of rules and trying to pattern my life after Your example in my own strength. I died because You died in my stead. Thank You. You love me so much You want to be with me forever. Please give me a moment by moment dependence upon Your Spirit within me, that I might speak with Your words, serve in Your strength and love with Your love. Please stop me in my tracks when I move ahead of You and try to do anything apart from Your abiding Spirit Amen.
the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26b-27 NASB).
Personal Study
Highlight Romans 6:4-14
Explain it in your own words
Apply it to your life
Respond to God in prayer
[1] With, Skye Jethani, Thomas Nelson 2011, p. 131
Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.
Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading.
Novels by the Author:
Rob Buck
What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for? Beyond Time
By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB).
Eternal Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is here. However, in this COVID-19 year, nothing is normal. Perhaps shaking things up a bit is a good thing. So far this year I’ve learned, among other things, to detach from sports and politics, to truly quiet myself and rest, and to more fully appreciate the people and world around me. What will this year’s Thanksgiving be like?
In a recent message, Pastor Steve Berger[1] used the term “Eternal Thanksgiving” in describing how we have reason to be forever thankful for blessings which do not change. If we can latch onto this concept of always being thankful for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus, life’s many blessings become like cherries on top of a continual thanksgiving feast.
These Things do not Change
Pastor Steve used Ephesians 1:3-14 as an example of unchanging things we can be eternally thankful for as believers. To paraphrase these great truths as God might state them to us:
I have given you every spiritual blessing available in my Son Jesus. I chose you to be in Him before the world began and for you to be found in Him as holy and totally blameless. In My pleasure and love for you, I’ve adopted you as my child through My Beloved Son. I did this so that My glory, My infinite greatness and worth, would be demonstrated in kindness and mercy toward you. In Jesus, you have been redeemed, rescued from My wrath because of Jesus’ life blood shed on your behalf. I’ve lavished My grace and mercy upon you to forgive your every sin. In Christ, I have made known to you My intensions; that in the fulness of time all things will be summarized and brought to completion in My Son. You have an inheritance, which is secure because My purposes are never thwarted. And I’ve sealed you with the Holy Spirit as a promise and pledge of your inheritance. You are mine and your life is a testament of praise to My glory and grace.[2]
Certainly, as mentioned before, this is a paraphrase, but the truths stated are right out of Scripture. May they begin to form in us reasons for unending, eternal thanksgiving. May this holiday season launch a mindset of ongoing thankfulness which is not dependent on any circumstance?
Thanksgiving Leading to Joyful Living
We’ve been discussing God Himself is our highest Joy. How can thanking the Lord be a pathway to a deeper experience of our Joy in Him? What’s the connection between being thankful and being joyful? In Nehemiah’s account of the Israelites celebrating the dedication of the wall after their captivity, we see songs of thanksgiving erupting into overflowing joy.
Thanksgiving – Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the dedication with joy, with songs of thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres (Nehemiah 12:27 NASB).
Joy – and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, and the women and children rejoiced as well, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from far away (Nehemiah 12:43 NASB).
Our continual thankfulness in all that God has done leads to enjoyment of who He is, drawing us near to Him, the very source of Joy.[3]
Challenge
Think of at least one circumstance which threatens to steal your sense of gratitude? Now, think about reasons for to be thankful, like the ones mentioned above, which are certain and unaffected by this circumstance.
Genuinely thank God for these things.
Now think of one or two blessings which truly gratify your heart. It could be family, friends, your Thanksgiving meal, etc. Continue your thanksgiving by thanking God for these things on top of all He’s done for you in Christ.
Rinse and repeat.
Prayer
Lord, You’ve opened my eyes to a treasure of riches to be thankful for. I see from Your word all You’ve done for me. These eternal blessing in Christ begin now and forever flow into eternity. You’ve given me so many things to be thankful for which are beyond corruption and unaffected by anything in this world. Please keep me from forgetting how thankful You make me. And please keep my heart steadfast no matter what the future holds. No matter what, I have a reasons in You to always be thankful.
Amen.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6 NASB).
[1] Steve Berger is Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel in Franklin, Tennessee
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice (Psalm 51:8 ESV)
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m basking in the unwavering truth that God has made me glad. In spite of life’s despairs, eternal joy cheers my heart, but this perspective doesn’t come naturally.
The temperature is 97, but I prefer our shaded porch at the edge of the forest. At least for now, Lily, our little shih apso, chooses to be with me over the air conditioning on the other side of the door. As mentioned in a previous post, my challenge is to rejoice each day inspite of situations which threaten my gladness. I know from my reader’s comments that I’m not alone. If we live long enough, we all face dire times which stretch our faith.
Jesus said it: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33 ESV)
No one goes through life unscathed. But trials can be more than something to endure. They can have real purpose.
I pause and allow the rhythmic, cascading flow in our water garden to wash my soul and remind me of the Lord’s constant love and presence. I admire the pink, green and white plants my wife and I added beside the pool. Fans above and in front of me yield a cooling breeze which cuts the heat. Beholding my surroundings reminds me that God’s created things are physical extensions of His Glory to be savored. I rest in the joy of His presence.
Peter, a hero of mine, who wrestled to fully surrendering himself to God, speaks of some amazing eternal truths which bring great joy:[1]
We have a Living Hope
Our inheritance is safely stowed away, beyond the possibility of corruption
We are currently surrounded by the powerful protection of God
Speaking of these he says, “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, (I Peter 1:6-8 NASB)
These eternal truths stabilize our hearts even though we may be distressed (made sorrowful) by various trials (provings).
God is at work in our sorrow, inviting us to press into Him more vigorously, by faith. As we do, we realize joy is never dependent on our circumstances.
James agrees with Peter – “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”(James 1:2-4 NASB)
Having joy in trials seems so wrong, but if the trials can add some lasting, eternal understanding and deepen our faith, would our sufferings be worth it? Could we get to the point James is talking about where we lack nothing because we live with Jesus, our Eternal Joy. I’m starting to believe so. See what I wrote in my journal a couple of weeks ago:
May 11, 2019 – I was getting ready to go to bed when a truth I've believed in my head became a reality in my heart. In other words, it went from head knowledge to life knowledge. These extremely difficult times the last few years really have deepened me. I've been forced to come to terms with my emotions and to explore some core level areas with God. He's traveled with me as deep as I've ventured, exposing pain and deep lies He's wanted to heal. I ask Him to go deeper still, as far as He wants to go to keep me focused on what He wants in my life and the lives of those around me. He is my Joy. I need nothing else.
As I pondered what I just wrote, I realize that this deep healing, this walking with God through extremely painful things, this stripping away of what I thought was good, and what I expected would happen, has brought about a benefit of enternal quality which actually outweighs the hard realities of what I’ve faced.
This is something I would have readily said as a spiritual fact, but now its a growing reality in my heart.
Years ago, I wouldn’t have thought I could be sad and glad at the same time, but if these hard times are purifying my faith and teaching me that God Himself is my Joy then they are worth the suffering. And when I realize the benefits, I’m glad.
You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound (Psalm 4:7 NASB)
Lord, in good times and bad, You are my Joy. You make my heart glad. Thank you for the way You’re surgically stripping away all else. You and You alone are my Joy. You gladden my heart.
“You care enough to give me what I need not what I want. You care enough to break my bones in order to recapture my heart.” [2]
[2]New Morning Mercies – A Daily Gospel Devotion Crossway, Paul Tripp (June 1st)
Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures. Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading.
