Examples of Th(i)nkfulness

God’s Journal

/ thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Thankful Remembrance

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.”

Malachi 3:16

God is God. He doesn’t need to write something down to remember it. But this passage states that God is listening to certain human beings. He listens with interest and delight as believers who are in awe of Him talk about Him and think of ways to honor His name. He has ordered that a “book of remembrance” be written about those believers. It seems that this is His ongoing journal covering centuries of conversations between believers.

There are a few verses that talk about books in the Bible:

  • Exodus 32:32 says that Moses referred to God’s book
  • Psalm 56:8 refers to a book where the Lord keeps count of our tears
  • Psalm 69:28 references a book of the living
  • Daniel 7:10 says the books being opened
  • Daniel 12:1 mentions names being written in a book
  • Revelation 13:8 mentions the Book of Life
  • Revelation 20:12 mentions the books being opened
  • Revelation 20:15 The Book of Life and the books are opened

It is interesting to note that ancient kings, like the kings of Persia, had books to keep track of memorable deeds that needed to be rewarded.

On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”

Esther 6:1-3

In Malachi, God is dealing with Israel because of their sin. He addresses their empty, hypocritical worship, teaching error, adultery and murmuring. But then as a great encouragement He says that He has been listening to the faithful ones. Of course nothing is hidden from the Lord. He sees our hearts and motives. He knows us better than we know ourselves. But He has apparently directed an angelic scrivener to keep an ongoing Book of Remembrance about the faithful ones and their conversations.

God is thinking thanks!! What!?

The Lord states that He remembers. He even says that those who feared the Lord and spoke to each other about God would not only be remembered, but also be His own special and treasured possession, like jewels were in ancient times.

They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

Malachi 3:17

The Lord God doesn’t need to thank anyone. He is the author of all! He deserves the praise, the gratitude, the worship. That is why it is so fascinating that He, God, would “write down” the names of the faithful ones.

Searching For My Name

But … is my name in His journal? If I could do a word search, could I even find my name? If so, what was the quality of my words, and were they unmixed with self-interest? How many times has He listened while I spoke to others about Him with joyful amazement and high esteem?

Or have my sentiments about the Lord and His works just been private and kept to myself? Private feelings don’t get recorded. A journal entry requires the Lord to hear us talking to each other about Him.

Your Book

To be “godly” is to be “god-like.” God keeps a journal of people and conversations He is thankful for. Do you have a book of remembrance? Do you write down things for which you are remembering to think thanks?

I also wonder if those words in Malachi 3:16-17 were written for us to remember that God will reward righteousness. The Bema Seat is coming. And the beauty in all this is that whatever we thought, said, or did that was pleasing to the Lord we could do only with His help. Yet, He says that we will be spared as a man spares his only son.

The Lord Jesus exhorted His disciples to rejoice because their names were written in heaven (Luke 10:20). In Colossians 1:12-14 the Lord exhorts us to give thanks because He has delivered us from the domain of darkness.

“… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.“

Delayed

God’s reward is delayed. It is like the student that works hard all year and then at graduation is granted an award. The Israelites in Malachi had grown weary from waiting on the Lord. They felt like He didn’t see, He didn’t really care. They grew envious of the wicked.

We, too, can begin to grow weary and feel like it doesn’t really matter. “The Lord doesn’t see what I do, what I think about and treasure in my heart.” But that is a LIE! He does see. He does know all things, and nothing can be hidden from El Roi (the God who sees).

Be encouraged, you who fear, esteem, and converse! The Lord knows who you are, faithful ones. He will remember and reward. He wants us to keep on keeping on till the end. Even our precious Lord Jesus kept the end in view.

“looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2

Start them young!!

A Knife At Her Throat

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The Attempted Hijacking

All four ladies were chatting pleasantly as they drove up to the intersection. Adaleen’s window was halfway down due to the hot temperatures outside. Out of nowhere the assailant’s hand reached in through the open window and pulled the keys out of the ignition, stalling the car. Shock gripped all the women. Adaleen crossed her hands on her chest and became completely still.

Her coworker in the front passenger seat quickly locked the doors as the assailant had forced the locks open. The war of unlock – lock went on for a second or two. Then the hijacker put a knife to Adaleen’s neck. She did not see the knife, but the passenger in the back saw it, and proceeded to throw her lunch pail at the man, which caught him off guard. At that very moment, a security guard drove up behind the car being hijacked. When the attackers saw the guard, they ran. The guy who had taken the keys threw them behind him as he ran.

A Guard’s Witness

The guard came up and checked on them. After telling him that no one was hurt, he asked them to drive up the road a bit to get out of this dangerous area. He wanted to chat with them. They did so. The guard said, “God protected you. I never come down this way, but for some reason I did today” (thank you, God!).

Wow! All four of the women were so shaken up. The one lady who had thrown her lunch pail, realized that her ID as well as her brother’s insulin medicine was in the pail that the men had taken. So they needed to go to a chemist (pharmacy) to get more medicine.

The Test of a Wrong Response

The first pharmacy was located right next to a liquor store. Adaleen was the only believer in the car. She is a young Christian who was baptized only last December, but before Christ, she struggled with sinful addictions. One of the other ladies said she would run over to the liquor store and buy some alcohol for Adaleen so she could stop shaking, but Adaleen said no, she would instead go home and talk to God to calm her.

That phamacy didn’t have the insulin needed so they had to go to a second pharmacy which was located right close to where Adaleen used to buy weed (marijuana). She was again tempted, but refused to run to those sources to cope. She dropped off her friends and headed home to her little flat, where she lives alone.

Th(i)nkful – The Right Response

That evening was the time that we normally met online for counseling, so a little after 7 pm, I got the whole story. Our church text group lit up with thankfulness and prayers for Adaleen because we were all sure that she wouldn’t sleep so well that night.

My heart was so touched with all that Adaleen had experienced just a short time earlier. As some of you may remember, I also experienced an attempted hijacking years ago in Johannesburg with my daughter Elly. When you have a traumatic experience like that, it is so easy to go right back to the emotions you experienced when you later hear a similar story. I sought to help Adaleen as much as I could. We read Scripture and we prayed. I shared what had been helpful for me to think about when I went through that test. Adaleen was shaken, but it was amazing to me that somehow this young believer was so fully conscious that the Lord had been with her and helped her.

I asked her to write down things that she was able to thank God for in the ordeal. I said to please send me screenshots of what she wrote down. Adaleen wrote down twenty different things for which she thanked God. She was able to go to sleep and even slept well. Praise You, Father!!!!

The next day Adaleen went to work again, and her co-workers could not believe how calm she was. They said she must be in denial or not processing the trauma correctly. Adaleen used the attention she had to give God all the glory. She said that God had saved her. God helped her. God had given her good sleep and was giving her peace.

The Aftermath

The aftermath of a very traumatic experience is delicate and important. To choose to take every thought captive is extremely difficult.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

2 Corinthians 10:5

It involves thousands of decisions. We can do the right thing initially – the first big decision is usually the hardest, but then the reinforcing echo-decisions are of critical importance.

I have found that having a friend to walk through that pivotal time is so helpful. Just touching base with a daily text on how things are going can be the thing needed to stay on track with choosing to think thanks.

Ataraxis, Not Anxiety

Ataraxis: (Ancient Greek), a state of tranquility, freedom from anxiety and mental disturbance

Ataraxis was a new word for me. I love the meaning. However, true tranquility can only come from one source! When Paul exhorts the Philippian believers to not be anxious, he wrote that they should instead pour out their specific burdens to the Lord with thanksgiving, and then the ataraxis of the Lord, which defies understanding (as it did with Adaleen’s coworkers) would keep, hem in, shield and protect them (Philippians 4:7).

I wonder if you have ever taken God up on His challenge in Philippians 4:6-7. When a new challenge comes your way, I urge you to try. It may not be an attempted hijacking with a knife at your throat, but whatever is trying to hijack your thoughts and lead you to despair, arrest it! Emotions are real but they are not reality. Still, they can be wild animals that continuously claw and bite at your soul.

Choose to take those thoughts captive. With strength and clarity, think thanks for God never leaving or forsaking you during the incident He chose in order to build your proven character. Thank Him for using every and all things to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-29). It may be a wrestling match in your mind, but as you win with the Lord’s help, ataraxis comes. It may seem illusive at first through the fire and fog of the trial, but it will eventually come into focus.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Adaleen gave me permission to share her story

Wow! She Did It!

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Anna’s Example

Listen to what my friend Anna shared with me:

“You know those weeks where the Lord gives you dramatic opportunities to practice what you say you believe? I’ve had one of those weeks!

Monday, we traveled to OH for a family reunion. Tuesday afternoon, we fell under a tornado warning and soon lost power at the home we were visiting. We watched some crazy wind and rain from the basement, where all 11 of us gathered to wait out the storm. Later reports confirmed 4 tornadoes in the area, one of which was less than a mile from us. The tree and power-line damage we saw on the dark drive to our sleeping place that night was extensive. We had to try multiple routes to even get there, as most of the roads were impassable. 

The next morning, we heard that over 400,000 people were without power! So, we continued the rest of the week together without power and navigating constantly-changing road closures. Needless to say, it will remain a memorable reunion. 

But, in the midst of the inconveniences, I kept thinking about God’s command (and desire) for us to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Th. 5:18). Further, Karin Brown’s blog th(i)nkful has consistently exhorted me to “choose to download grace/strength from the Lord to think thanks about every circumstance in my life and to express that thanks orally or in written form.”

One exercise that she suggests is to make a list of as many things as you can think of to be thankful for in the midst of that difficult task/circumstance. And I needed that this week! 

Instead of focusing on all of the negatives, I started my ‘list.’ I thank the Lord that:

1) Everyone was safe

2) No damage to either house we were staying at

3) We eventually found a way to the parsonage where we were sleeping (even though it took over 4x as long, and we drove under some low hanging power lines and tree branches!!). Thank the Lord for a grid system of roads!

4) The parsonage not only still had running water, but hot water too!

5) The ‘day home’ had large windows letting in lots of daylight

6) It also had a generator to keep the fridge going to keep 12-18 people fed

7) The weather cleared up to allow for playing outside, but also remained semi-cloudy, keeping the temps more comfortable inside

8) One of the young, local cousins (not with us that day due to sickness) ended up having a fever-induced seizure that evening at home, going unconscious, and expertly cared for in an ambulance before being taken to the hospital. They were in a nearby town that was not hit by the tornado, allowing the EMS crew to get there quickly despite the crazy storm damage. 

9) Several in our group are used to dealing with no power, so they were prepared and proactive, keeping us well-cared for….water, food, and “powerless” fun!

10) Lastly, I thank the Lord for the opportunity (even though I still had to work sometimes to see it as such!) to reflect on all His graces to me that I take for granted, but still give thanks for Who He ALWAYS is to me whether I have those conveniences or not. Our Giver is good.

God is honored by our thanksgiving, and I know I express it too infrequently. This was a wonderful week to remind myself of how much I have to thank Him for. May you and I both grow in our ability to think thanks in all circumstances, glorifying the Lord and spurring others on to do the same!“

You, my reader, are now privy to this admonition. Be like Anna. When you are presented with a difficulty or challenge, put thinking thanks into action. Get that list going!

The Only Thing We Need To Do

Do you realize all the opportunities that the Master affords you? Every day when you wake you are given a clean sheet of paper to use for His glory. I love how we don’t have to stay on yesterday’s sheet of paper. You get a new chance to live for the Lord and please Him.

I have come up with 3 D’s of living for His glory. It just helps me stay on course. It is so easy to waste time and energies on things that don’t matter and seep out my strength and focus. Reading through the Scriptures it becomes apparent that it is crucial for me to discover His will. When Jesus walked this earth and exemplified how we should live our lives, He carefully sought to do His Father’s will (John 6:38; Hebrews 10:9). But there is more. I need to not only discern, but also choose to do in obedience what His will is for me. It is a beautiful reality that God has given me enough wherewithal to do His will. What a comfort!

And I would add that just a begrudging or apathetic obedience is not enough. So I have inserted a middle “D.” We should delight in doing the will of the Father. Why? Because we can trust our sovereign Lord. He loves us and does what is best for us. Yes, even when we don’t see it.

  • Discern the Father’s will for me (Romans 12:2)
  • Delight in….. (Psalm 40:8)
  • Doing the Father’s will for me (Matthew 7:21)

Anna, Carla, Me and You

A few months ago our dear friends, Andy and Carla, visited us in Africa. Carla and I discussed the 3 D’s as we walked the beach on the majestic Indian Ocean. If we truly lived by that simple mantra, we would come to the end of our days with no regrets.

On a sober note, you realize, don’t you, that you only get so many days? Perhaps for you or me there are not many left. Wrestle the opportunities to the ground. Don’t waste another day, but instead live life on purpose. Discern what the Lord wants from you today. It may not be what you wanted. Be flexible to His ways. He is “the God of the bend in the road!” Let Him guide your thoughts and direct your choices, and when you come to full knowledge of what His will is, choose to not only do it in obedience, but embrace it! Delight in doing His will. You may not feel it at first. Emotions are fickle, but they come around as you choose to do what is right.

Carla and I walked on the beach and prayed. We prayed for our difficulties and we prayed for us to have God’s perspective. He loves us so. He wants what is best for us. He knows what that best looks like. He asks us to trust in Him with all our hearts.

Walking The Talk

I have been working on a manuscript for a book on Th(i)nkful. One thing I am clearly reminded of is that if I want to teach others, I have to be tested as well. So lately I have had lots of opportunities to practice what I preach. It’s not easy!! To choose gratitude when you are hurting, when you feel like you will never be fully well again, takes grace from the LORD. Remember though that He wants to give that grace to us as we come to Him with our burdens and cares.

How will you put into practice what you believe?

What will your sheet of paper look like today?

Hard Times Harder

/ thinkfulkarin / 4 Comments

Can Hard Get Harder?

“Oh, no!” a friend cried out as she lost her balance and fell to the floor. Her left wrist caught her fall and yielded to a small bone fracture.

My dear friend ended up in the emergency room, had to have her ring cut off, and her left hand is now out of commission for four weeks, right during the holidays!

In a totally different part of the world my dear daughter in the Lord, Adaleen, also had a challenging Christmas. She went to worship with the church on Christmas Day and then returned to her tiny apartment and enjoyed Christmas all alone.

She writes:

It was so peaceful
Gave thanks to the Lord
Opened my gifts
I ate until I couldn’t move 😄
And then took a little nap🙏🏽

“The hardest time to go through a hard time is in the good times.”

David Brown

Another friend and coworker is missing a recently deceased spouse. The internal conflict of going through that first Christmas without a special someone is legendary.

Suffering a broken wrist when you want to serve others in the kitchen, or being alone at a time when family gathers, or navigating a joyful season when your life partner will no longer share it with you. These things are hard…..

……but even harder at Christmas.

Why Is It So Difficult?

We have an expectation inside of what is right and good, and when Christmas comes, and one or more of those conditions are not there, it exaggerates the pain. Imagine Christmas without any music. Or Christmas without any lights or decorations anywhere. It would just seem so wrong, downright disturbing and dystopian.

But play the music and put up decorations everywhere, and then imagine Christmas where you cannot participate in any meaningful way due to illness, injury, or responsibilities elsewhere, or Christmas without dear ones who have passed away. Again, it just seems wrong. The radiance of the Advent turns up the contrast on the darkness in your heart. I remember when my mom died that I didn’t want Christmas to come. I wanted to avoid it because it hurt so much.

I often think of the advice given to Ciara when she returned home from quadruple amputation last year. Her friend told her to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

She wanted to give up. It was too hard, but God gave her grace to pursue gratitude and trust in a sovereign God. She started to think thanks. Her slogan has become Always grateful.

You choose to think the right thoughts. It’s a work in progress. We fall. We get back up. We choose to be strong and let our hearts take courage, we who wait on the LORD (Psalm 31:24).

You download grace from the LORD’s inexhaustible storehouse to think thanks in every circumstance.

This is not easy! This is maturity above immaturity. This is warfare of the mind!

“I WILL offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.”

Psalm 116:17

It’s a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Sacrifices costs you something!!

Processing the Hard

You don’t ignore the pain. You are allowed to pour out your heart to the Lord. You can do it in anguish even, but run to Him with your pain and not away from Him. He wants to make you better, steadfastly faithful through this, more like His Son, Jesus.

Learning to search for thankful thoughts when you are sad and struggling is a feat indeed.

My friend Debbie, who broke her wrist did that. In fact, she found comfort and inspiration in Ciara’s godly response. How beautiful is that!!

Ciara and Debbie are both worshipping God with their gratitude in the midsts of their pain and frustration. It is like pouring fertilizer on their reward one day in heaven.

We don’t get to choose what kind of tests the Lord will take us through. He chooses our crosses. But we get to choose how we respond.

Having a friend to walk with you during these times is helpful. Just to express to that friend:

“Yes, it is hard, but I am choosing to think on truth.”

  • The Lord has not left me (Isaiah 43:2, Hebrews 13:5b)
  • It could have been worse (Revelation 16:17-21)
  • It will pass; even if it lasts as long as this earthly life, we are headed to a Celestial City where there is no more pain (Hebrews 11:14-16, 12:22-29, Revelation 21:4)
  • God’s Word is a rock of refuge to us (Psalm 71:3a)
  • Others may gain inspiration from me thinking thanks which in turn brings more glory to God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Embrace the Hard

I am challenging myself here, as well as seeking to inspire you, to not run away from the “hard,” but instead face it, run toward it, embrace it. You will get through it!!

Step by step, download grace. Cry out to the Lord for help and think thanks!

My two friends who are downloading grace to think thanks in their hard times.

Joy Fuel

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Your Joy-Fuel Gauge

This girl brings me joy. 😃 She is a “fueler” for me, not a “drainer” – spending time with her increases my joy, settles peace in my heart, and expands my imagination. She mentioned that the song by Steph Schlueter entitled, “Counting My Blessings,” is one of her favorites. 🎶

Most of us are very familiar with the fuel gauge in our cars. It reflects what level of fuel is in the tank. But, try to picture an “emotional gauge” inside of you. It reflects how much strength and resilience you have in your “emotional tank” to meet new events and people and struggles each day. People who care a lot and give a lot can empty their emotional tank. If they do it too often without sufficiently refueling, they will struggle with burnout. And your emotional gauge affects your physical and spiritual gauges as well; these three are tied together.

There are several fuels that can slowly refill your emotional tank, like peace and solitude and meditating on God’s truth. But there is nothing like the fuel called “joy.” Joy is the #1 fuel for your emotional tank. When you have no joy, you can barely move forward. But joy acts like a medicine.

“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Proverbs 17:22

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:10

So, where can you get this fuel? What is the level of your joy storage to refuel your emotional tank? Is it brimming to the fullest and pouring over?

Joy Is Different

Most of you already know that joy and happiness are not the same. Happiness is a response to positive external happenings; happiness disappears when things go sour. Joy is an internal mindset that sustains you when things are sweet or sour. So, how can you get this “internal frame of mind?”

Meg Bucher gave us the insight that “Happiness is a reaction to something great. Joy is the product of someone great.” True joy is connected to the Creator. In the biblical worldview,

Joy is my calm enthusiastic confidence in the presence of God’s face shining on me, the goodness of God’s character, and the perfection of God’s sovereign plans. In short, God’s delight in me, God’s kindness to me, and God’s control in my life.

We can differentiate joy and happiness in several ways, including:

  • Source: Joy is a fruit of the internal workings of the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22), while happiness comes from things outside of me (having a flowing spring within rather than seeking a stream nearby – John 4:14).
  • Duration: Joy is a long-lasting state of being, while happiness is temporary and fleeting.  
  • Origin: Joy is developed internally, while happiness is achieved externally. 
  • Nature: Joy is a deep enthusiastic peace that comes from within, while happiness is an outward reflection of circumstances. Happiness may be more animated than joy, but joy has more staying power over time and through hardships.

Creating the Fuel of Joy

How do we create the fuel of joy? We extract it from God’s truth and from deposits God has placed within our circumstances. It takes a choice. It takes thought. We must choose to meditate on the good things that God has given us. Being th(i)nkful is what creates the fuel of joy.

Even if our circumstances are not that great, we stop and think for a bit, and find these deposits of joy. In fact, we are to count it all joy when we face trials. Why? God is building long-term virtue in us, and God loves long-term virtue in His children. Our calm enthusiastic confidence in God’s love, goodness and perfect plans for us fuels and sustains our steadfastness when driving down the sometimes long road of sorrow and heartache. Joy heals. Joy gives power.

Gratitude is the first step to building joy into our lives…

Jim Wilder

We are at God’s table every day, and it is free, whatever we have. It is accounted very unmannerly for a man at his friend’s table to find fault with things…Now when we are at the table of God (for all God’s administrations to us are his table)…for us to be finding fault and to be discontented is a great aggravation of our sin.

Jeremiah Burrough, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

So many of us are trouble-shooters, problem-solvers, which has a nasty side effect – we spend our days focusing on trouble and problems. True, we can’t just live all day in the bliss of thankfulness and militant contentedness where we leave everything a mess and get nothing done. But in our mornings and evenings, and repeatedly oscillating throughout the day, we need to focus on things we are thankful for.

Think the thanks, express the thanks, remember and honor the One to whom the thanks is due. You are creating the fuel of joy for your emotional tank. The ancient word “rejoice” means to intensify joy by repeating it, recalling it, and expanding upon it. It is a sister to being th(i)nkful.

“I do not think the church rejoices enough. We all grumble enough and groan enough: but very few of us rejoice enough.”

Charles Spurgeon

Why Invest in Joy Fuel?

Perhaps the first reason should be because God asked us to rejoice in Him (Philippians 4:4), to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18), and to even rejoice and give thanks when we face persecution (Matthew 5:11-12).

But also, when we purposefully develop a habit of gratitude, and discover the huge deposits of joy in the discipline of thankfulness, we become gospel-contagious. So few people in this world see joy. Their eyes and hearts are heavy with sorrow, regret, and guilt. A joyful person is an anomaly. Many people are skeptical when they see a truly joyful person. “Why are they being that way? That can’t be real.” But a follower of Jesus who knows the gospel well has a treasure trove of things to be thankful for and joyful about.

Most of you know this good news, but some do not, so read this carefully. Jesus of Nazareth was God in human form who came to die in our place and for our sins to save us from God’s judgment. Hundreds saw him after he rose from the dead, and the news of his teachings, death, burial, and resurrection has spread around the world. One day soon, Jesus is returning to planet earth.

A person can only be forgiven of their lifetime of sins when he or she believes in what Jesus did and asks God to save them (Romans 10:9-10). When someone turns from their sin to the Savior, God declares them fully righteous in His court, gives them spiritual rebirth, adopts them as His children, and sends His Spirit to live inside them beginning the lifetime work of transforming them to become more like Jesus. They have peace with God and begin to experience the peace of God.

When Christians sin, we can confess that to Him, be cleansed from that unrighteousness and be restored to the joy of a clean conscience. That joy is catchy! Joy is attractive. Your obedience in cultivating thankfulness and joy could be the catalyst that brings another to Christ!

“You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.”

Psalm 4:7

Endorsement

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A Scientific Study in Brain-Psychology

In this excerpt from a recent article dated May 22, 2024, notice what the secular scientific community has observed are the effects of thinking thanks:

Brain scans have shown that expressing gratitude activates the prefrontal cortex, a crucial area responsible for decision-making and emotional regulation. This neurological activation prompts the release of dopamine, the ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter, enhancing mood, increasing motivation, and sharpening attention.

Over time, a consistent gratitude practice goes beyond ephemeral emotions — it fosters lasting changes in the brain. By engaging regularly in gratitude practices, like journaling, mindful reflection, and expressing thanks, we modify our neural pathways, transforming a simple act of thankfulness into a sustainable habit. This habit enhances our mental resilience and facilitates a more optimistic outlook with ease, establishing a solid foundation for emotional stability. 

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-gratitude-may-be-your-brains-best-friend

Interesting!! This is not from a biblical source. But laboratory science once again testifies that what God has exhorted us to do is really healthy for us to do.

Our “Take” on the Matter

When we take the time to process, and we deliberately choose to discover things for which to give thanks, we are opting to have a certain take. We could select things about which we are especially aggravated in the same situation, and would thereby go for a completely different take on the matter.

You decide what you can “take” from any situation. You may say, “I cannot help myself. I naturally notice all the flaws, shortcomings, and disadvantages.” I would like to suggest that you don’t have to. You can formulate new thinking patters. God will help you as you call out to Him for grace to obey His command in Ephesians 5:20.

“giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

What God has called us to do doesn’t feel natural at first, but it is definitely beneficial. The article referenced above reinforces the emerging data that the habit of thinking gratitude is good for you. Your emotional wellbeing is improved, as well as ability to sleep, to name a few benefits. Those are good reasons to pursue being thinkful, but of much more importance is the exhortation from the Creator of the human brain Himself. Even if you did not receive those physical health benefits, it would be very good for you to develop this mental discipline, purely to be obedient to our Creator God.

Do You Have Feet on Your Intentions?

May I encourage you to begin today?

Even if it would just be one item a day for which you give thanks … in a year, that would 365 items.🎉 It doesn’t actually take much energy to choose to be different, to deliberately have a different take on people and situations. However, it does take forethought. You need to actively plan to pursue gratitude, because the natural human disposition is to be negative.

Sanctification is the process of God molding you to be more and more like Jesus. Following Christ’s example, and choosing to think thanks, is possible as the Spirit works in you. Through prayer, you can ask Christ for his enabling help throughout the day …

  • to pause your action or talk,
  • to scan all aspects of your situation,
  • to select something or someone in it or around it for which you can be thankful,
  • to express that thankfulness verbally or in written form, and
  • to thereby develop those neural pathways.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:18

Let God start formulating in you the habit to think thanks and enjoy the natural consequences!

Your Past Can Be Your Friend

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Past Helps

A storm was brewing visibly on the horizon. I could smell that familiar scent of fear.

How could I handle this new trial? I didn’t want more hurdles to feverishly conquer. I just wanted peace, no more problems that disturb and bring up unwanted memories from my past.

Have you ever read the book, “Putting Your Past In Its Place?” I am going through it presently in two different counseling cases. I appreciate Steve Viars’ easy-to-understand style and the way he organizes difficult elements of a person’s past.

One of the chapters describes how our past can be our worst enemy, but in the next chapter he points out that our past can also be our best friend. It depends on how you process what happened, and what God was doing as it happened. He brings out two examples from the Scriptures – David and Job.

In I Samuel 17 David is presented with Goliath’s taunts to the armies of Israel. David overhears the vulgar threats that Goliath is spewing out. Although not a part of the army, David expresses that he is willing to go and fight this giant. He describes to those who try to stop him that in his past God helped him to kill the lion or the bear that came to take one of his sheep that he was watching. He recalled the past blessing of God and it poured courage over him to again trust the LORD for the present challenge.

Likewise in Job 2:10, Job is hit with intense difficulties, even to the point where his wife urges him to curse God and die. But Job responds with:

“Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”

Job remembered all the good God had showered upon him. He let his past help him process his present.

Thankfulness Builds a Resevoir

Developing thinkful neural pathways in your brain can actually reshape a hard past into a faithful friend. You learn to recognize God’s fingerprints. You see deeper than the scarred surface. You record day after day blessings from God that He graciously bestows. You learn to trust this incredible God that is sovereign and loves His children deeply.

You develop a knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2b-3). This knowledge, this mental thinkfulness, prepares you so that when you are faced with new challenges, you can call on your past as a trusted friend for perspective, wisdom, comfort, and courage.

Rehearsing the Past

God commanded the children of Israel to teach their children about how God had helped them in the past.

“… when your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘what do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

Joshua 4:21-24

It is the Father’s will for us to remember how He helped us in the past, and by remembering, we would be emboldened to trust more presently.

God tells us in Romans 15:4 that whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Begin Building

Prepare yourself today for the battles coming tomorrow. Develop thinkful patterns to equip yourself to fight the sorrow and doubts that will doubtless tempt you in days to come. Have a reserve of trusted friends from the past that will testify to your shaking faith that indeed our God IS faithful! He helped us in the past and He will help us now. He will not leave nor forsake us. He will not stop loving us. He will weave all things together for our good, conforming us steadily into the image of Jesus. And one day He will come for us. Why? Because He promised and He never lies!!

LET THE PAST BECOME YOUR FRIEND!

“Careful readers will recognize that what we are really talking about here is thanksgiving. Both Job and David developed the discipline of acknowledging God’s blessing and continually building a reservoir of memories and lessons from which to draw.”

Stephen Viars, Putting Your Past In Its Place, page 52

Picture from my past where my family was sharing about Jesus

Unexpressed Gratitude is Ingratitude

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Unexpressed!

He thought it, but he did not express it.

Does that characterize you?

Dick Hester was not that person. He expressed his encouragement and gratitude frequently and beautifully. He was a Barnabas … a son of encouragement.

I remember multiple times, while he would be encouraging David or myself, if he heard of a difficulty we were encountering, he would ask, “Can we just stop and pray about that right now?” Precious memories!

In the last few days we received word of his graduation to heaven. He will be sorely missed.

Chris Anderson reminded us of one of the quotes that Pastor Hester is known for: “Unexpressed gratitude is ingratitude.”

How often we are guilty of that! We may actually feel gratitude and even meditate on our thankfulness, but the sentiment does not leave our mouths or pens or keyboards. We do not express our thankfulness orally or write it down. Hence it looses its potential to encourage another person. I am not sure why we hesitate to express our gratitude. Perhaps we are introverted or private people, or we don’t want to give the impression that we are trying to impress someone. But often, it’s simply because we don’t think of expressing our thanks.

The expression of our gratitude, whether small or great, brings a reaction. It is received by others and stimulates them to similar conduct. We have released the gratitude to go and do its job. It is good to be thankful for something, but it is best if we can connect the blessing with its source and be thankful to someone for something.

Look around you. Is someone planning, teaching, or serving in some way? Are you thankful for it? Have you said anything to them? This is what Dick Hester specialized in. He would come up to you, take your arm, and say that he had been watching you and was just so thankful for what you did or said. No one else said a thing, like ever. But Dick would encourage you by expressing his thankfulness for you … and you would float away with this private joy. Why is it that people so often say at a man’s funeral the things they should have said to him in life?

Unexpressed Faith

“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

James 2:17

Thankfulness is like two other virtues … faith and love. Private, personal faith is dead, lifeless, worthless. Living faith creates energy. True faith works. It has symptoms that people can see, and if they get near you, that faith can be infectious.

“For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Romans 10:10

Paul emphasizes the connection between the heart and the mouth – believing and speaking. If we refuse to express our faith in the Lord Jesus, it communicates that we are not truly saved. Living faith creates energy and needs to speak.

The same is true of love. Living love creates energy that oozes out somewhere, someway. What kind of foolish nonsense is a love that is unexpressed, that does not affect your actions or words or even your pulse rate? Faith, love, and thankfulness all express themselves. Unexpressed faith, love, and thankfulness are bizarre, stunted, undeveloped, and useless distortions of the real virtues.

Take Courage, My Friend

In light of our dear Dick Hester’s home-going, can I encourage you to take courage? Ask God to help you express your gratitude to another person today. Make it a daily goal to express some kind of gratitude every single day. You may not have many of those days left.

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”

William Faulkner

We may disagree with Faulkner to some degree. You can stop and think and direct your thanks to God as obedient worship and it would qualify as gratitude, but Faulkner does have a point. The essence of being th(i)nkful is expressing your gratitude orally or in a written form.

“What if you woke up this morning and had only the things you thanked God for yesterday?”

Max Lucado

Blessed

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Blessed?

How would you describe a man whose mother was the ninth wife of a polygamist, and due to persecution by the other wives, chose to flee from the home forever leaving her toddler baby boy to grow up as the abandoned one among all the “other children?” He would never see her again.

When he reached his primary school years, there was so much strife in the home that he left as well, becoming a street-kid sleeping outside under bridges or wherever. Amazingly, he cheerfully and dutifully did odd jobs for people in town to buy food and pay his own way through primary school. In his early teens, he returned home only to find that his father and family were involved in intense witchcraft, so he fled home again.

As he worked his way through high school, there was a German-language teacher who had the boys come to his home for a meal, and he shared the gospel with them. God spoke to this young man’s heart, and he received Christ. He received forgiveness for his sins and a new purpose for living.

A few years later, as he grew in his faith, he worked his way through engineering school, but while working as an engineer, God called him into ministry. Now a pastor for more than a decade, he is finishing his Masters in Theology with NTCGS (National Theological College and Graduate School). David had him in his latest class.

How would you describe such a person given his horrific childhood? Would you have described him as “Blessed?” His name is Paddy Blessed Musoke.

David and Paddy (Paddy gave me permission to tell his story)

Choosing God’s Perspective

As we discussed God’s purposes in suffering during our class time, David mentioned the seven initial responses Christians should have when facing suffering:

  1. God is God and I am not (Ps. 115:3, Is. 40:13-14).
  2. God’s ideas and plans are far beyond my human understanding (Is. 55:8-9).
  3. God is the sovereign over all calamities in and around my life (Job 36:32, 1 Sam. 2:6-7, Is. 45:7, Lam. 3:38, Amos 3:6, Nahum 1:3). Nothing/no one touches me without His love, permission, and design (Rom. 8:28).
  4. God knows exactly what I can handle with His grace, though it seems more than I can handle; He is holding back a crushing amount of suffering that might destroy my faith (1 Cor. 10:13, Dan. 3:17, 2 Pet. 2:9).
  5. God loves me with an everlasting love; He is always good; He is faithful and will never leave me (Psalm 119:67-68, 71, Is. 43:2, Jer. 31:3).
  6. God calls me to be resolutely thankful for so much during my suffering (Phil. 4:6, 1 Thess. 5:18).
  7. I am the servant of the Lord, immortal, invincible, and indestructible until the Lord is finished with me, and then eager to go Home when He calls me (2 Cor. 5:1-9).

Paddy came up after class and after sharing his story, related that during his devotion time in November 2023, he sensed the Lord asking him to thank Him for his hard past, for his painful childhood and difficult memories. “Thank me, Paddy.” It seemed so odd and horrible that the Spirit would ask this … and yet he knew that God had already used his past pain and street smarts in ministry. With tears, he agreed and thanked the Lord … and felt a huge burden lift from his soul knowing that the Lord had built sovereign foundations into his life, making him the man and minister that he is. He thoughtfully nodded and told us, “It is important to be thankful in all things.”

Setting Up God For A Fall

Your view of God is the most important thing about you. To the extent your view is flawed, it will distort, disturb, and disrupt your perceptions of yourself and your circumstances. Your real theology comes out in a crisis, like the squeezing of a sponge reveals whatever is inside. To use another analogy, trials are the tornado that tears off the “street view” your formal beliefs leaving exposed the basement of your functional beliefs.

There are several common ways that Christians think about God that “set Him up for failure” when they begin to suffer. In other words, popular teaching as well as the hymns and choruses we sing require more of God than the Scriptures do, so that when we suffer, we feel He has failed us, wasn’t there for us, did not hear us, or refused to respond to our deepest needs. Let’s look at some of these flawed views:

  1. GOD IS MY GENIE – “When I call on Him, He has magical power to grant my wishes and fix my problems.”
  2. GOD IS CHIEFLY MY FRIEND – “My friends don’t hurt me or let me down but run to help me in hard times however they are able … and God has infinite ability.”
  3. GOD HAS MY IDEA OF LOVE – “God’s love is like my love for my children, wanting only happy and positive things so that I can thrive, and His power guarantees me a smooth ride in life.”
  4. I HAVE FAITH IN FAITH – “If I believe, pray, and give enough, it will go well for me. If God doesn’t answer, there is some unknown sin or problem with me that is stopping Him.”
  5. PSALMS AND PROVERBS ARE PROMISES – “If I do what is right, God will make things good. As my shield and defender and Shepherd and Rock, He won’t allow bad things to happen to me.”
  6. ALL THE PROMISES OF SCRIPTURE APPLY TO ME – “As a Christian in the modern Church Age, I can claim as my own the promises God gave to ancient Israel at any time, even those given during unique circumstances.”
    • “None of these diseases shall come near me” – Exodus 15
    • “No weapon formed against me shall prosper” – Isaiah 54
    • “He only has thoughts of good and not evil” – Jeremiah 29

God has some great relational titles: Creator, Father, Redeemer, Sanctifier, Crafter, Comforter, and Guide. I love all of those. But genie and friend are not on the list. There are no such verses that explicitly say so, and those who say God is in those roles often turn their backs on Christ, the Church, and the faith when hard trials come. “How could God … ?!” And they turn away from a God who is silent or busy or not there or not very loving. Their wrong view of God set Him up for a fall.

The role of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter is perhaps closest to the role of a friend, but God is not committed to making it easy and nice for His children as friends typically are. Ask the Old Testament prophets. Ditto John the Baptist. Ditto Jesus. Ditto all of the Apostles. Ditto the faithful martyrs through the centuries. We are caught up in the workings of a much greater plan than we can imagine, and often we need more personal shaping than we can imagine, so God’s work involves our suffering.

So when God’s Word says to give thanks in all circumstances, He knows that this will be grueling for some of us. And yet, it is curative. It embraces with tears the background sovereign purpose and design behind all our pain and loneliness so that, as Rutherford wrote, I can “praise God for the hammer, the file (rasp), and the furnace.”

“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”

A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous

Are you blessed?

Thankful for Fifi

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Causing More Thanksgiving

This is Fifi!!

I met Fifi for the first time five years ago. She was a 7 Rivers Outreach missionary living on the farm. As we got into the work here in KwaZulu-Natal, I began to understand how valuable this little giant was to the team.

Born on the side of the road in Amahlongwa and facing abuse while growing up in the community around 7 Rivers, Fifi knew the people, the history, and the challenges.

At the age of 16, she trusted in Christ alone for her salvation. It was not easy, but she had watched her adopted father minister to others in home-based care, interpreting while her father shared the gospel with them. Her heart had been touched and softened. One day, she bowed to the Lord and received His precious gift of forgiveness of all her sins, from the cradle to the grave.

Fifi then went to Word of Life Bible Institute for a year to grow in her Bible knowledge and walk with Christ. Afterwards, she amazingly returned to 7 Rivers to work as a missionary, visiting homes and sharing the gospel predominantly with our nearby children. When others would typically run away from such a past, Fifi returned.

As believers in Jesus Christ, one of our motivations for sharing the gospel is that the more believers there are, the more thanksgiving will be given to God. Fifi has been a faithful evangelist in the valley for years now, speaking about Christ with her peers, running a kids’ soccer ministry several times a week, and helping me by interpreting our weekly evangelistic Bible studies with local marginalized women. As a result of her work, more people are giving thanks to God.

For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 4:15

Pulling In Closer

I got the privilege of mentoring Fifi. We would meet to study God’s word together, memorize Scripture, talk about how the Bible was worked out in our daily lives, and close by praying together.

We must have gone through at least three to four books together. Godly, wise counsel often comes from good books. One great one that we worked through was “Putting Your Past in Its Place,” by Steve Viars. That is one we both would highly recommend.

Fifi is so edifying to me personally. I love to hear her pray. She has a heart for sharing the gospel and see people’s lives change.

Glorifying God in the Waiting Room

Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:14

Fifi had her share of disappointments, but God was always there, guiding and comforting her. We prayed often together that God would bring a godly man into her life if that was His will. I remember distinctly when she finally said that she was not looking anymore. She was going to just obey the Lord and work for Him and not worry about getting married.

Funny. Right after that, God brought Bongani into the picture. God often seems to do that. He wants us to yield to His choice, His time, and His ways.

Only God could have brought this couple together. She didn’t think he existed; he didn’t think she existed. But then there was a conference at which they met. So thankful for God’s ways and purposes.

They get married next month. So happy for them.

Thinking Thanks

As we approach the time Fifi will be leaving us, I wanted to express my thanks to God for this lady.

Fifi loved so many people in the community and helped them. Here she is giving Mabongi a ride.

Fifi interpreted faithfully for me as I taught the ladies through Colossians, then James, and now the Gospel of Mark. She wants the handout early so she can carefully prepare to use the right Zulu words. She takes God’s Word seriously and wants to be pleasing to the Lord in how she gets the meaning across.

But…..Fifi’s heart was with the kids. She loved the children and wanted them to be safe and to be able to hear about Jesus and the hope we have in Him. That is why she is so excited about the construction of the Thola Centre in the nearby village of Olwasini. 🙂

We had the privilege of having Fifi stay with us in the US for a short time and she was even a blessing to our daughter Elly, who designed the African dolls that we sell.

Thankful Admonition

So as we go through this season of wedding preparations, I wanted her to remember lessons we studied together when we memorized Colossians 3. I shared these seven reminders:

  • Set your mind on things above (vv 1-2)
  • Put on compassionate hearts…. forgiving each other (vv 12-13)
  • Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts (v 15)
  • Be thankful (vv 15-17)
  • Speak and sing God’s Word to each other (v 16)
  • Submit and pray for Bongani (v 18)
  • Work heartily as to the Lord (v 23)

God is faithful through every season of life. We will miss our Fifi so much, but we are thankful for the new challenges that lie ahead for her and for us. God is faithful every step of the way until we finally get to see Him face to face.

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”

Henry Ward Beecher
(1813-1887)