Look out, not down

To love You even in the desert place.

Because it's not even a desert; just a sandbox.

thanksgiving in january

i actually reflected what im about to share in my handwritten journal but i thought it worth sharing so ill post it up here as well. it's a reflection on the verse 1 thessalonians 5:16-18, a verse that i've adopted as my theme verse for my sophomore year back in september. i was recently reminded of it again after failing to keep it close to my heart and in reminder, i decided to really go deep into it and analyze it so that i can keep it closer to my heart than i have.

the verse as you might be familiar with is:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"

"so the basics of the verse are outlined as joy, prayer, and thanks. why these three? joy shows the understanding of the gospel. prayer shows acknowledgement and reliance on a higher power (God), and thankfulness is the understanding of both joy and prayer and putting it into perspective and action. and these are to be done again in all circumstances. but why?

well on top of the last part of the verse 'for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus,' these should be natural things that are overflow from our own hearts. Joy in all circumstances shows understanding that we are basing our attitude and outlook not on circumstances or emotions, but on a solid truth that does not change. that way when emotions and circumstances do change, our attitude of joy does not because the truth is constant.

prayer in all circumstances acknowledges that in all things, we are called to work in correspondence with the Spirit and not of our own power. in this understanding, we will be moved to constant prayer.

as for thankfulness in all circumstances (good and bad), this is the complete understanding of Romans 8:28. "that we know in all things God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his name." when we know that there is providence and not coincidence, we will approach everything with gratitude, even when it seems to be a circumstance working against us or setting us up for failure.

these three things combined, joy, prayer, and thankfulness, is a judge of spiritual condition. (i got this from John Macarthur's outline on this passage). because these three things spring from within our soul, and all will be present when our soul is in tune with the spirit and not dependent on things like "church attendance, emotions, circumstances, money..."

as for the final part, v. 18 is a mandate to us as Christians. it's a mandate that directly correlates to every other mandate in the bible. to approach things with the understanding of the gospel (thankfulness), the love of Christ (joy), and the helping of the spirit (prayer).

and with that ill conclude this short snippet from my morning reflection. the rest was a list of things to be thankful for. and it was quite an exhaustive list. humbling.

it was thanksgiving in january today