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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

A 100% guarantee for being in God's will

1Thessalonians 5:18 - 18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

HOW THANKFULNESS MAKES STAYING IN GOD'S WILL AS EASY AS CANDIED YAMSWith tomorrow being thanksgiving, it is inevitable that before the day ends, my wife's cooking abilities will prove pleasant to my palate.  She makes the best honey glazed turkey you would ever want to eat.  I can even now taste her candied yams with a mountain of marshmellows blanketing the dish.  Things such as these make it easy to remain in the kitchen.  Thankfulness for the temporal pleasures like food points to the thankfulness we find in the goodness of God.  Thankfulness makes it much easier to desire to remain in the revealed will of God.    

HOW TO KNOW GOD'S WILL AND STAY IN GOD'S WILLWhen we gaze upon the goodness of our God, we will discover that staying in His will is a delight, rather than a drudgery.  How often do Christians find themselves wondering what the will of God is for their lives?  Not only that, but how often do you desire to remain in the will of God for your life?  These two questions have a surprisingly easy answer.  In fact, the answer is so simple that the Apostle Paul in the passage above explicitly says: "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  What is God's will for my life?  How can I ensure that I'm still in His will?  One word: Thankfulness.

THE LINK BETWEEN PLEASURE IN GOD AND THANKFULNESSThe command: "In everything give thanks" in the original language conveys the thought - "Keep on giving thanks".  Thanksgiving in the Bible was a Jewish concept that had to do with how people used their words to express pleasure with a person or object.  The Goodness of God is expressed by the concept of God's Glory.  To not glory (or deem most precious) God is to take away the root of thankfulness.  When I find pleasure in God by grace through faith in Christ, I am glorifying Him in the pleasure I find in Him.  Likewise, as I find more and more pleasure in the Lord, I discover more reasons to glory in Him.  In doing this, I find the true blessing of being guaranteed of being in God's will - by being thankful for Him, and to Him and through Him in all things.