We have stated that God’s will is that you be saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering. Today, we’re going to learn that God’s will is that you say thanks.
God hates grumbling and complaining. That’s why when Paul said to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” he also said to “do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil.2:14-15). When the children of Israel spent 12 spies into the land of Canaan and ten out of the twelve gave a bad report and the people believed them, God caused them to wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. He said, “The carcasses of you who have murmured against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above” (Num.14:29). When the sons of Korah complained and rebelled against the Lord, God caused the earth to open “its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods” (Num.16.32) and then “a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense” (Num.16:35).
God, on the other hand, loves a heart filled with thanksgiving. Paul said in Ephesians 5 what should not be named among saints but then said “but rather giving of thanks” (v.4). Thanksgiving reveals a grateful heart. E.M. Bounds said, “Thanksgiving is the expression of an inward conscious gratitude to God for mercies received. It is an inward emotion of the soul, involuntarily arising therein. It is born of meditation on God’s grace and mercy, and it is opposed to all murmurings at God’s dealings with us. Gratitude and murmuring never abide in the same heart at the same time” (The Essentials of Prayer, pp.37-38, 40). We are to be thankful and be known as a people who are thankful. Paul said, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess.5:18). In Philippians 4:6 he said, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
So are you saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering and saying thanks? If so, then you are doing the will of God and can be confident that God is directing your desires (See Ps.37:4). In our next blog we will look at grey areas.
(Main points taken from “Found God’s Will” by John MacArthur).
God hates grumbling and complaining. That’s why when Paul said to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” he also said to “do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil.2:14-15). When the children of Israel spent 12 spies into the land of Canaan and ten out of the twelve gave a bad report and the people believed them, God caused them to wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. He said, “The carcasses of you who have murmured against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above” (Num.14:29). When the sons of Korah complained and rebelled against the Lord, God caused the earth to open “its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods” (Num.16.32) and then “a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense” (Num.16:35).
God, on the other hand, loves a heart filled with thanksgiving. Paul said in Ephesians 5 what should not be named among saints but then said “but rather giving of thanks” (v.4). Thanksgiving reveals a grateful heart. E.M. Bounds said, “Thanksgiving is the expression of an inward conscious gratitude to God for mercies received. It is an inward emotion of the soul, involuntarily arising therein. It is born of meditation on God’s grace and mercy, and it is opposed to all murmurings at God’s dealings with us. Gratitude and murmuring never abide in the same heart at the same time” (The Essentials of Prayer, pp.37-38, 40). We are to be thankful and be known as a people who are thankful. Paul said, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess.5:18). In Philippians 4:6 he said, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
So are you saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering and saying thanks? If so, then you are doing the will of God and can be confident that God is directing your desires (See Ps.37:4). In our next blog we will look at grey areas.
(Main points taken from “Found God’s Will” by John MacArthur).
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