Do not blame God for anything, but thank God for everything, exactly as He commands in Ephesians 5:15-21 and 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22, for when we stop praying selfishly, according to Proverbs 30:11-15, and begin thanking God FOR and IN everything; then God our Peace shows up (Ephesians 2:13-14; John 16:33; Philippians 4:7), but only when our selfish attitude becomes a thankful, loving, caring, forgiving, joyful attitude—the only attitude anyone should have!
When God commands us to be thankful always “FOR all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20), then God expects all His children—Christians, members of Christ’s body, the church, to unquestionably obey Him, for He owns us.
Likewise, when God commands us “IN everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (us)” (1 Thessalonians 5:18); God also expects all His children to obey Him.
When we continuously give God thanks, in the name of our Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17), God always shows up in a close, intimate, relationship of pure Joy, Love, and Peace—my Savior.
“God’s people” have become so full of anger, criticism, complaining, unforgiveness, and get even, until we rather protest against evil, than thank God for the evil and all during the evil times; not realizing, if there were not a devil (d evil 1), God would not have the honored privilege to become what we are, die and resurrect, so we could become what He is (1 Corinthians 15:45-49; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21), for God as Jesus, who had never sinned, become sin for us, so we could become His righteousness (us being fully right with God), in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21), so we could love God and others the same way God loves us!
Yes, God always gives His children the best of the trade (Romans 8:16-18)!
This protesting against all these present evils rather than thanking God for them and while they last, might be “the falling away” of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, that allows “the man of sin, the son of perdition” to be revealed, who after 42 months (Revelation 12:10-17; time is one, times is two, and half a time = 3 ½ years; 42, 30-day months, or 1,260 days), of peaceful rule, becomes the antichrist of Revelation 13, (for another 42 months), with the mandatory mark (chip?), or die if it is refused. But all this depends on God’s predetermined plan, purpose, and time.
When self is honestly inventoried, we shamefully discover most of our prayers are selfish, as is the leech, in Proverbs 30:11-15, that has two daughters named “Give” and “Give”, who are never satisfied, regardless of how blessed they are; thus, as long as we are grumbly hateful toward God instead of being humbly grateful, God will never show up, because of our sinful attitude—would we show up, knowing we are always criticized instead of appreciated? And neither will God!
Isaiah 63:7-10, is a word-picture of God’s lovingkindness toward His people, with His marvelous blessings, as long as they reciprocated His lovingkindness of appreciation, but when God’s people unappreciatively turned against Him, then God turned against His people, fought against them and won; thus 1 Corinthians 10:11-12, says all these things happened to them as examples for us, as our warning, NOT to be imitators of taking God and His blessings for granted unappreciatively, but rather to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1), as members of Christ’s body, the church (1 Thessalonians 2:13-16), for Christians before us suffered as we are, but they praised, thanked, and worshipped God for everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus, but they never complained or blamed God, because they loved and thanked God both for and during their sufferings, and He was always their present Peace (Philippians 4:7; Romans 16:20; Acts 4:23-31; 16:25-34).
Which is more important: Complaining and being critical of our sufferings, or thanking God for and during (in) all our sufferings, and which one causes God to show up as our Peace?
We should be joyfully thankful just to be accepted as members of Christ’s body, the church, with the Holy Spirit’s witness that we are (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:16-17; Ephesians 1:22-23). Christ chose us to be members of His body; we did not choose Him (John 15:9-17).
God does not allow Christians to be proud, but He does allow us to be thankful. Never say, “I am proud” (Proverbs 28:25), but instead say, “I am thankful” (Psalm 100:4).
I am thankful to be a bible-believing-obeying Christian, and a law-abiding American.
Jim Nabors
