Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 139
TRANSCRIPT
If I told you that you can increase the peace and joy in your life by adding this one character trait, would you be interested? If I told you that by adding this character trait to your life, that you would lose 30 pounds in the next 20 minutes, would you believe me? I sure hope not because the first question is true but the second is, well, let’s just say it’s not true. In this week’s podcast we are going to talk about a character trait that will increase your peace and joy. Come along as we talk about the power of thankfulness.
I’m Lee Whitman from Restoring the Foundations and I welcome you into this Hope Healing and Freedom podcast. I was given the inspiration for this podcast on thankfulness while sitting in a funeral. We had the blessing of attending the memorial service for a wonderful friend of ours named Sissy Pfiffer attended by 250 of her friends and family. The stories that were told about her life were inspirational. She touched many people in so many different ways, but the one trait that was consistent with every testimony that was given was how Sissy was able to show the love of Jesus to each person she met. She was so in love with her Jesus that she had to share Him with everyone around her. The one characteristic that I remembered most about my relationship with Sissy was how thankful she was for what Jesus had done for her. Thankfulness oozed out of her everywhere she went, and it made people want to spend time with her.
I have heard pastors define being thankful as having an attitude of gratitude. The bible talks a lot about being thankful. Being thankful is a mindset. The verse for today is Philippians 4:8 that says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” This is such a wonderfully true statement, yet if we are honest, it is really hard to do. When we practice this verse, however, it will change our attitudes and actions.
I am going to visit several verses and let the Word of God be the teacher today. Wow, that might be a good idea to do every week. So here we go.
1 Thessalonians 6:16-18 – “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” Notice it says “in everything give thanks” it does not say for everything give thanks. We can give thanks in everything by remembering verses like Isaiah 43:1-2 that says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.” This has become one of my favorite verses and it is a verse that allows me to be thankful in everything. Notice what it does not say. It does not say that you won’t go through deep waters, or you won’t go through the fires of life. No. It does say that when we go through the waters and the fire, they will not overwhelm us. Why? Because we belong to Him. He makes one of the greatest promises of all times in this passage, you are mine! Our loving Father God is not going to desert us in our time of need, and He will go with us through the deep waters and through the fires of life. That is why we can be thankful in everything because He is with us to give us whatever we need in the situation. I must also include Deuteronomy 31:6-8 here. It says “Be Strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” We can be thankful because God has promised to never leave us or forsake us.
Another reason to be thankful is because God is our provider. James 1:17 says “Every good thing and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights”. I was so taken back at our friends funeral when her husband Mike spoke. Sissy had dementia for last 3 ½ years of her life and had no memory of her husband or family. When Mike spoke at the funeral, he said he was thankful for those three and a half years and said they were a gift from God. I could not imagine the pain and suffering he went through to see his bride of 50 years in such a horrible state, yet he said those were some of the best years of his life. Those are the words of a man who understands thankfulness. Mike understood that those years were a gift from Father God to him. We can easily look at circumstances like Mikes’ through the lens of our hurt and anger and be very disappointed in God, or we can look at our circumstances through the lens of a loving Father who is giving us every good and perfect gift. I think the reason that Mike could say those were good years is because he lived from verses like Psalms 30:10-12 that says, “Hear, Lord and be gracious to me; Lord be my helper. You have turned my mourning into dancing; You have untied my sackcloth and encircled me with joy; That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.” That is a choice we have to make of not allowing our circumstances to rob us of joy but rather choosing to allow the truth found in Jesus set us free which turns our mourning into dancing.
Thanksgiving leads to joy by changing our focus. When we focus on the negative things in life, we will be robbed of our peace and joy. I am not suggesting that you ignore the negative things going on in this world, but rather that we focus on the truth that Jesus said that He has overcome the world. We will experience peace and joy when we can do what it says in Psalms 95:1-3, “Come, let’s sing for joy to the Lord, Let’s shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let’s come before His presence with a song of thanksgiving, Let’s shout joyfully to Him in songs with instruments. For the Lord is the great God.” I find it easy to sing and shout for joy when I consider how much I have been forgiven. My sin was great, but His grace is greater, I think I took that line from a worship song. I have a hard time not weeping for joy in worship when I think about what Jesus has done for me and the fact that I do not deserve His grace and forgiveness.
The bible says to approach God with thanksgiving. Psalms 100:4 says “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courtyards with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.” I have heard it said that thanksgiving and praise are the keys that open the doors to His courtyards. When we understand what God has done for us, thanksgiving and praise will be a natural outflow of our appreciation. Psalms 136:1 says “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. For His faithfulness is everlasting.” Psalms 107:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy is everlasting,” According to these verses, why do we give thanks? Because His faithfulness is everlasting. Why do we give thanks? Because His mercy is everlasting.
There are many other verses on thankfulness. Like Colossians 3:15, Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful”. Peace and thankfulness go hand in hand.
Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
So why am I talking about this in an RTF podcast? I am glad you asked. RTF has the tools to help us be more thankful. Let me explain. Many times, we are being held back from walking in all the truths found in God’s Word because of things we have inherited. When we look back at our spiritual inheritance, more specifically at the generational curses that we have inherited through our bloodlines, we often see generational curses that actually push us away from what God is offering. There are many very powerful strongholds that could be contributing to a struggle with being thankful. One generational curse that is very obviously at work in people who struggle with thankfulness is the curse of bitterness. When bitterness gets into your bloodline it pushes you away from thankfulness and towards the characteristics of bitterness. Here is a short list of some of the characteristics associated with bitterness:
- Accusation
- Blaming
- Complaining
- Condemnation
- Criticalness
- Gossip
- Judging
- Murmuring
- Offended
- Resentment
- Ridicule
- Slander
- Unforgiveness
It is pretty obvious that when those things are putting pressure on a person then it makes it more difficult for them to walk in thankfulness. The first thing we need to deal with are the generational curses.
The next area that RTF helps set people free is by dealing with the lies they believe. It is very easy to pick up an Ungodly Belief (that is what RTF calls these lies) and because it feels true, we have a hard time seeing it as a lie. An Ungodly Belief that I believed for the first 50 years of my life was that there is something wrong with me. Since I believed that there was something wrong with me, then I assumed that God must have made me this way. He made me defective. So how was I going to be thankful to God for making me defective? When I learned that was an Ungodly Belief and that God has created me perfect, without defect, just the exact way He wanted me to be, I am now able to be very thankful for the way He made me. Don’t take this in the wrong way, but I am very special to my Father God. He rejoices over me with singing. And lest you think I am bragging, He feels the same way about you as well. Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with singing, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with songs of joy.”
Just a sample of some of the other common lies that keep people from being thankful are lies like “God loves others more than He loves me”, or “God is judging me when I relax”. When those lies are replaced with God’s truth, it will set those people free to express their thanks to Father God.
The next area that RTF is incredibly effective in setting people free to be thankful is in the healing of the heart. We just finished a training week here in Nashville where we had four teams of RTF ministers who ministered to four married couples. I can say without any doubt that all four of those couples who received ministry last week went home different than when they came. Each one of the 8 people, four husbands and four wives, had their hearts healed by an encounter with Jesus. I am such a fan of watching Jesus bring healing to our hearts because He knows exactly what hurt needs healing, and He knows us so intimately that He brings His healing in a very personal and intimate way. He does not have a cookie cutter method where He approaches each person in the exact same way. No! He is so intimate that he comes to each person in an intimate and personal way that will bring healing to that person’s heart. How do you explain Jesus meeting a boy who is reexperiencing his parents’ divorce and ministering to him in such a way that the pain of his parents’ divorce is completely gone. It is truly amazing. And He wants to meet you in the midst of your hurt and bring healing to your broken heart in a very intimate and personal way. And I can almost guarantee you that when you have had your heart healed by Jesus, you are going to be thankful. You can’t help it. Thanksgiving will just flow from a healed heart.
“in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” That is really good advice. Being thankful will bring more peace and joy into your life. If you notice that something is holding back your thankfulness, don’t put up with it. Don’t settle for anything less than what Jesus came to give you.
PRAYER
Father God, You are so good. I am asking that you would open our eyes to see your goodness so that we can be even more thankful. It we are being hindered from being thankful by anything, would You reveal that to us so that we can be set free to express our praise and thanksgiving to You.
I want to invite you to join us at RTF’s 35th Anniversary Celebration and Conference October 14-17 in Mt Juliet Tennessee. We have had to move the start date to the 14th due to a scheduling conflict with our venue. We will conclude our Anniversary with a celebration dinner on Friday night October 15. Save the date. Details will be coming out in the next few weeks.
