Thankful And Peaceful

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful."
Colossians 3:15 (NKJV)

It has been said that for every cloud there is a silver lining, meaning that even when things are less than perfect, something good can still be found.  However, some people seem to have this concept backwards, because for them it seems that every silver lining has a cloud.  Two people can be looking at the same thing and see it completely different, it is simply a matter of perspective.  We can choose to find a silver lining in a cloud and find something positive in a situation, or we can see a dark cloud, no matter how bright things might be otherwise.

The Thanksgiving holiday in the USA happens every year in November.  But that does not mean that we cannot be thankful for things during the entire year.  We can see the positive in things and be thankful all year long, or we can wait for some special thing to happen to give us a better reason to be thankful.  Being grateful and thankful for things will help us beyond just having something positive to say in every situation.  If we are actively looking for something to be thankful about, it can create an attitude of thanksgiving in us that will be a benefit to us in other areas of life.

Thanksgiving is a great time to be thankful, and by being thankful, we are choosing to focus on something positive rather than something negative.  Colossians 3:15 talks about allowing the peace of God to rule in our heart, and being thankful.  God wants us to live a life of peace, as well as being thankful, and I do not think it is just a coincidence that these two things are linked together.  In every situation, we need to see what we can be thankful for, not just on Thanksgiving.  Being thankful can help us live at peace, rather than being agitated by things we are unhappy about and not thankful for.

Nothing Else Will Satisfy

"Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work."
John 4:34 (NKJV)

Have you ever gone to a restaurant, with a high expectation of enjoying a wonderful meal, but when you finished your meal, you were not very satisfied with what you had?  Maybe the food was not prepared properly, or maybe your idea of what the food would be like did not match what you received.  Or maybe you had the experience of being hungry, finding some food, and then what you ate did not satisfy you, and you wanted something else.  But no matter what, having an experience like this that does not satisfy you and leaves you disappointed is not good.

Just like someone can eat some food and not really be satisfied, there are a lot of things that people fill their lives with that may be nice, but they ultimately do not leave them feeling satisfied.  People put an emphasis on things in their life like sports, family activities, a career, money, social status, and other things, but none of them bring lasting satisfaction.  But by following the will of God we see in the Bible and following the direction of the Holy Spirit in our life, we can live a successful and satisfying life.

Doing the will of God and fulfilling His purpose in our life is the only thing that will truly satisfy us.  This is what Jesus was telling the disciples in John 4:34 when He talked about His "food" was doing the will of God.  There are many things that people try to substitute for God's will, but those things never bring the ultimate satisfaction that following God and doing His will can bring.  The only thing that will really satisfy us is following God's plan for our life, living according to His Word, and doing the will of God.  Jesus' satisfaction in life came from doing the will of God, what about us? 

Called, And Excited ... But Trained?

"And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

Imagine a situation where someone is hired to do a job that they are excited about, some kind of a job that they have always wanted.  For example, there are some people whose dream job would be that of a barista.  The person who was hired for the job would be happy that they were hired, and they would be very excited about the job and motivated to do the work.  But if the person who is employed as a barista does not know how to operate the coffee machine, they are ineffective, they still have to be trained.

Many Christians understand that we have been called to go into all the world the preach the Gospel.  Once someone is born again, they are an ambassador for Christ, but not all believers are as focused on, or as excited about that as they should be.  And while some Christians understand that they are called by God to do something, and they are excited about reaching the world for Christ, their level of spiritual development is too low for them to be effective in going out into the world to make disciples of all nations.     

When Jesus gave us "The Great Commission" (Matthew 28:18-20), He was talking about making people disciples, not just converts, but people who had been taught and then observe, do, what they were taught.  Some believers know they have been called, and they are excited about doing the will of God, but they have no training or spiritual development, so they are not really equipped to do the work the God has called them to do.  Being called, and being excited is good, but we need to be trained and equipped to be the kind of disciples that Jesus expects us to be.

The Bible Is Not Clickbait

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, then much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Psalm 19:7-10 (NKJV)

In the world of the Internet, things are not always what they seem to be, or what they claim to be.  You have probably seen something that talks about a celebrity who may have died, some amazing thing that you have to see, or an unbelievable situation that just happened.  But if you click on the story, it is not really worth looking at.  These types of things are often referred to as "clickbait."  Clickbait is defined as something that tries to get a person to click on a link or story, but the content is actually of little value or real interest, and could even be something bad.

The Bible is a book that is easily available, but even so, not everyone reads the Bible.  People are sometimes skeptical about the Bible and what it says, and there are also people who think the Bible is too confusing, out of date, unreliable, or not really relevant any more.  But the real problem is that people do not spend the time in God's Word that they really need to in order to get the benefit from it.  While we cannot just figure everything out in the Bible with only our natural intellect, God will help us to understand the Bible and show us how we can apply His Word to our life.

People have a lot of different ideas about the Bible and how important it is for us.  God gave us His Word to help us and to guide us, and not just to try and attract our attention and then not give us what we need.  God tells us plainly what the truth is; He's not trying to hide things or make it difficult to find what we need for our life.  God's Word is not just some clickbait that is trying to draw us in with a promise of something it cannot deliver.  God's Word is life changing, and what we learn from God's Word can make an amazing difference in our life.