| Weekly Devotional
Monday, March 6, 2006
1 Thessalonians 1:2 As those redeemed by the blood of Christ, our lives are to be ones seasoned by thanksgiving. Can you imagine a life so disciplined in the practice of thanksgiving that its first thought upon awakening and final thought at night are of thanksgiving to our Father for His love, life, and liberty in Christ? A thankful life helps us avoid the traps of selfishness and self-centeredness. A thankful heart, intentionally aware of what has been given to them by a loving God, cannot any longer be focused on self. When we truly begin to see how richly God has provided for us – in every way imaginable – we dwell less on the things that inconvenience or annoy us. Even the things which might have once crippled our strength are now seen in the light of faithful thanksgiving as “slight momentary affliction [that] is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” [2 Corinthians 4:17]. And it is this idea of decreasing ourselves in our own eyes that makes it possible to effectively pray for others. We no longer see other people’s needs as reflected through the prism of our own experience, but with the perspective of God. We see others as those Christ died for just as equally and totally as He died for us. We lift requests to God with the confidence of one who has seen the work of God evident in their life and the thankfulness that comes from it. According to noted pastor Oswald Chambers: “True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.” It is of little wonder then that Paul would later remind these same Thessalonians he is thankful for to “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]. |
