You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand. Thanksgiving is Thursday. But
unfortunately, sometimes during trying times, maybe you're going through something in your life,
relationships or work, maybe finances aren't so great. All these things,
Life continues to do what it does on earth regardless of holidays. Right but
as Thanksgiving approaches, and you have these things in your life that have caused
turmoil or pain or frustration, it can be very difficult to find things individual
things in your life to be thankful for. But being thankful shouldn't be a
state saved for good times alone. If you wait till things are good and
going well to only be thankful, you miss a little bit of what God's
doing in your life. God calls the believer to be in a continual state
of thankfulness. God's sustaining love doesn't change for you. Right in good times
are bad. God doesn't say, oh, well, I don't love you
anymore. Your relationship may change with God if you're doing things that are harmful
to you, or you're living a lifestyle that may be damaging. That may
cause issues with your relationship. But God doesn't change how he feels about you.
And good times are bad now. Likewise, your thankfulness should be the
same in good times or in bad times. If you look around and you
get caught up in just the circumstances in your life, you may not feel
like there's much to be thankful for. But I assure you there are things
to be thankful for at every moment, in any time of your life.
And if you get into that rut that why me, or woe is me?
Or look at all the bad things going on in my life, you
may miss the picture, the true image that God has for you and the
things that He's creating for you in your life. One Thessalonians five eighteen says,
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in
Christ Jesus. So are you in that place where you can give thanks for
everything, not just for what you want or what you enjoy. If you
get the attitude like a child, where the child's only happy when they get
what they want, when they get exactly the thing they want when they want
it, then you're being like that child to God. If you get that
mindset that kicking and screaming or throwing a tantrum the grocery store or the toy
store or whatever it might be. You become that child to God. Your
relationship has to be bigger, broader, and more realistic. I remember seeing
on one of the home video shows not too long ago, they were showing
clips of the holidays, in particular Christmas. They were showing kids receiving gifts,
and the parents were sometimes playing jokes on them or doing gag gifts or
goofy things. And then there were some videos where it was merely them videotaping
their holidays and it would show the kid's reaction to a gift. Now,
if you're a parent, you know it's not always easy to guess exactly what
kids want or get the right specific one, or maybe they have an eye
for a particular color or something or other, and sometimes you're going to get
it wrong. Well, in this video, it's exactly what took place.
Had you have this child receiving something slightly different than what they had wanted,
but it was quite sweet. I was this young child opened it up and
said, oh, this is so great. It's not the exact one that
I wanted, but this is so great, and that kind of attitude of
well it may not be exactly what I want, but the more important thing
is that this shows me that my parents care. Now, God, unlike
parents, knows exactly what you need and exactly what you want, and they're
not always the same thing. They're not always the things you want aren't always
what's best for you. So God, in his infinite wisdom, will always
do what's best for you, and you may not always like it. But
being in that state where you learn to be blessed in the place you are
right now, that place you're standing right this moment, not just where you
want to be, not that next time or if I get this then I'll
be happy. No, being blessed in the place you are right now,
knowing that that godly promise that God will never leave you or forsake you.
And it's it's difficult to be thankful all the time. It's difficult to be
in that state of thankfulness, and I understand that. But the key,
as always on as it is on everything, is to remain focused on God,
putting God first, putting God above all all else is what puts you
in that mindset of thankfulness. Is it difficult to always be thankful? Absolutely,
it is difficult, But if you're focused on God, you'll see it,
you'll be in that thankful moment Psalm one oh seven, Verse one,
give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love
endures forever. Not getting lost in the circumstance and being lost in God is
to know that God is steadfast in his love, that the things that God
promises will endure forever. During each show here on the Jesus Christ Show,
I refer to you all the time, all the time, and you've heard
it over and over that the trial. I refer to the trials in your
life as life situations. Now we say that in the show because they change
just as circumstances. Circumstances change. I want you to know that these life
situations will change. You must remind yourself that God transcends situations. God transcends
something that is going on just in the moment, these situational issues, and
that He has a plan for you. And I know when you're in the
middle of the pain, when you're in the middle of the frustration, it's
hard to remind yourself of that. It's hard to remember that God has a
plan for you. But he does. And the key to this this time
of the year, with Thanksgiving just around the corner is to find that mindset
of being thankful always, not being caught up in the circumstances. The enemy
would love for you to be caught up in the minutia, to have the
little things in life in your face all the time, to where you can't
think about anything else. It's just about those things. If you get focused
on the little picture, you miss out on everything around you. And there's
so much going on, so many things where God is putting blessings in your
life or taking away those things that are cursing it. And like the child
illustration we talked about earlier, the child may not understand that a particular sugary
cereal or candy or something is not always good for them. They'll kick and
scream and be frustrated and mad at you as the parent for not allowing them
to have it. But ultimately, it's not only what you give that is
going to be the blessing to a child, it's what you take away and
protect them from. Same way God in your life. God not only is
blessing you by putting things in your life, placing the things that you need
when you need them, but God blesses you by the removal of things that
are damaging or threatening to you, the things that may pull you down or
may have you spiral out of control down a path that's not going to be
beneficial for you. And only when you are there in that mindset, only
when you sit in the present and understand that God will give you what you
need when you need it and take away those things that are are not good
for you. Only in that moment are you truly able to be thankful for
all things, not just circumstances and the things going on around you, but
for everything. Thanksgiving right around the bend. It's coming up quickly. Unfortunately,
when Thanksgiving is coming up in the primary focus of the the whole holidays
to be thankful, maybe things aren't going so well in your life or you're
going through something. Then when you're in the middle of that, it's hard
to go, Okay, I'm going to dust it off, all of the
ugliness that I'm going through and just be thankful. Could be financial things,
relationship things, but all of that plays a part in where you are in
your mind, and it's hard to find that place to be thankful to God
when you feel that your life is in an upheaval, When you feel that
your life is turned upside down. But God calls you as a believer to
be in a continual state of thankfulness, not something that is bent or twisted
by the things going on in your life, but always is steadfast focusing on
the things of God, always knowing that it's about God and what God brings
in your life or what God takes away, not just the stuff. So
good times, bad time, times doesn't matter. First, Thessalonians five eighteen
says give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in
Christ Jesus. So it doesn't say give thanks in all circumstances except for A,
B, C and D. It says, be thankful, give thanks
in all circumstance. We talk about on the show often about life situations,
and we say that because they change, and I want to remind you over
and over that they're going to change. So if you call today and we
talk about your life situation, I want you to think, hey, this
can change. If it goes from good to bad, it can go from
bad to good. You got to know that God transcends any of these situations,
these issues that are in your life. God has a plan for you.
It's easy to be thankful when wonderful things are happening, when great things
are going on. But about those desert times in your life, when God
seems to be gone and good fortune drives up. You have to be in
a state of thankfulness there, so you can call them desert times versus dessert
times. The dessert times everything always seems to be going well and you're thankful,
But in the desert times you have to be thankful. Also, look
for the little things in life you might be taking for granted. Thank the
Lord for them. Thank God not only for what he provides, but also
for what he takes away. Be consistent in your gratitude towards God. Remember,
life is not just those circumstances. And when you get to that place
where your spirit is louder than your head, where you're aware that He is
consistent regardless of what's happening around you, then you can truly be thankful in
all circumstances. Jim, welcome to the Jesus Christio. Oh I would I
am well? Jim? How are you? I'm good? Kind of what's
going on? Well? I've got a long term amatrum shorting up just because
I know you don't have a lot of time. I have since two thousand
and six been struggling with my faith in you, and I know it's not
the right thing to do, but it's been a struggle. I've lost both
my parents at a very young age. My dad died in two thousand and
six and fifty five, and my mom died in two thousand and ten at
fifty eight, and I've kind of taken it out on you and held you
responsible. Now, within the last three months, I've had my dad heavily
on my mind. I've seen him in the mirror when I look just like
him. I've seen him in the mirror when I looked in the mirror.
I've had I don't even necessarily that there were dreams about him, but I
think he's come and seen me in my dreams and basically telling me everything that
I'm doing right now is wrong. And the other day I was listening to
some country music and the first four songs to come on country music were my
dad's favorite four gospel songs, and it was on a country music station,
not a gospel station. So it got me thinking that what I have been
doing is wrong now, whether that come from my Dad. Where that come
from you, I'm not sure. But what I'm calling you for today is
I know that God waits patiently, He doesn't give up on us. I
know. I know that you guys are gonna sit there and wait for me
to come back to you. But how do I go from in lacks of
a lack of a better term, pure hatred for the loss of my parents
back to where I used to be with faith in God and basically giving praise
every day for the life that I have and not make it seem like it's
a selfish gesture, No, I understand. Part of that is to understand
that that the Father is your father as well, in the sense that it
seems that your family has has all graduated to go on to heaven and you're
looking around going, hey, that that doesn't seem fair. They seem too
young. But to keep in mind that that God is part of that equation
as well, and that God is part of your family, and that you
still do have family in a different way. Absolutely, But that's kind of
the first step is to understand that that's still that still exists and that still
takes place. As far as the other part goes, that being angry at
God and thrusting your fist to the heavens is not the antithesis of the love
of God. There there are a lot of people you don't talk to in
life that you don't know and you don't care about. This is not one
of them. This is a situation where you were hurt and you want to
get God's attention in a very specific way, and you do that by doing
what you do in a human relationship to try and get their attention. And
I don't think any of that is wrong to begin with. I think it's
okay to be mad. I think it's okay to be upset and to feel
like you were cheated or that something's missing, or that too much burden was
put upon you. But if you're not in God's word, if you're not
reading it, if you're not trying to understand those things, if you're not
in prayer, if you're just in thrusting fists mode, that it takes longer
to heal because you're not actually in that relationship with God at the time,
And the only thing that's going to help you heal from this and understand it
is being in that relationship. But God's not judging you. It's not like
God's some sort of ex friend or something who's going to hold a grudge and
say, well, I don't know, you didn't talk to me for so
long, therefore I'm not gonna I'm not gonna talk to you. Now.
That's not the way God works. God's ready, willing and able and right
there. He never leaves you, never forsakes you, and is right there
and all you need to do is need him and he'll be there. No
magic tricks. Okay, So the process is one of honesty, and I
know that that's a concern of yours. It's like you don't want God to
think one or the other. But God's not reading your actions that way.
God's reading your heart, and to go into it honestly, start reading again,
start spending time with God. You may never get an answer as to
why your parents were taken at the time they were, But as you know,
there are people that grow up with their parents at all. There's everyone
has their their life and the process of that life, and everybody's assumption is
that it's going to go to a certain way for a certain length of time,
and there's no guarantees. So the the place to be is that place
of of appreciation to appreciate you. Do you feel that you appreciated your parents
less because they died early? No? Not at all. Okay, do
you think you would have loved them more if they stayed longer? Yeah?
How so? Well, I would have had more time to love them,
I guess. I mean I still love them, don't get me wrong,
But I'd have had more time to spend with them. So I don't think
I would have loved them anymore, but I would have I would have had
more time to love them. Yea more time to love them. But it's
not like you would have loved them more in some sort of you know,
qualitative sense. It's just it would have just been more and there will be
that time. There will be time to say, spend with them again,
just not here. And their purpose was for God, just as your purpose
is for God, and you need to go continue on that. It's it's
sad and it's frustrating when you lose people. I get it, but you
can't lose God. He's He's got the keys to the understanding, for one,
but also that it's the first thing you learn, you learn that death
is imminent. It's strange that it's the one thing that everybody knows is coming,
and that it doesn't have a particular date. It's not set the way
people think it is. People think, ah, though people live to ninety
or whatever, there's no set date. Yet. It's the one thing that
everyone's surprised by. Yeah, can I ask you one more just one more
quick question? Of course, what is I don't know the Bible very well
as far as where to find things. Is there a section of the Bible
that will help aid in the healing of the healing process basically, well,
go to and read the entirety a scripture. Scripture is there for understanding and
healing, it really is. But if there's if you're looking for tiny morsels
that will be helpful, uh, you know, just to be able to
pick up and read. I would suggest reading front in the Book of Psalm.
If you go through the Book of Psalms, it's filled with people in
different states of pain or frustration or things going on and still in their in
their their their state of loving God. The Psalm three, for instance,
is title Victory in the face of Defeat. So uh, it's often about
looking for guidance in times of pain, or when you go down a path
that you didn't think you were going to go down to through and I think
that that can be very very helpful for you as well, just to give
you some peace at times. So there's a place to start. Thank you
very much. I appreciate it. You're welcome, and I hope that we
hear back from you as you kind of understand little bits and pieces or there's
you know, epiphanies that you come across or you build, continue to build
that bridge. Feel free to call back anytime. I will. Thanks.
I appreciate that in the process of pain, in the process of going through
these things, it's hard to continue to have faith. I will also recommend
as some nonscriptural books that tie into that. The problem of pain and a
grief observed by C. S. Lewis are really wonderful ways of seeing somebody
deal with those with those very issues as they pertain to God. You can
find them just about anywhere on any bookstore or online, but they really are
a great insight towards a godly person going through or looking at, either academically
or in his own life, the process of pain, losing someone and not
understanding things, and it can be very powerful to see somebody be honest about
those things from a theological standpoint, because the assumption is the moment you raise
your fists or you get mad, that you've cut yourself off from God,
and that's just not the truth. It's still a very honest and responsive feeling.
God is still listening. It's when you shut God out completely and you
have indifference. As it's been said before, many, many times, the
opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference. It's not caring at all,
one way or the other. That's the place God doesn't want you to
be. But being at a place where you're angry is at least still in
a place of caring and having real, deep and authentic emotions. And if
you're still if you're in that place, that's still a place God can reach
you. That's still a place that God can work with, and it's still
a place of great honesty and focus upon God. It's not turning yourself away
from God, it's actually focusing directly smack dab in the middle of God,
just with anger. Joe in Glendora, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show.
It's a pleasure to talk to you. Jesus. I had a question that
once I knew him, I knew somebody who gave ten percent to their church.
Yes, put, I think the Bible says, and then they treated
people lousy the rest of a week, the church or the person. No,
the person treated the people lousy always. But he gave us ten percent,
so he, you know, really thought he was doing the right thing.
Maybe with a ten percent, but I wanted to compare that to somebody
who couldn't afford the ten percent but treated people nice. Well ten percent,
How could you not afford ten percent of something. No, I'm talking about
ten percent of your income you're supposed to give to the church. Well,
that's not accurate. The Bible doesn't say to give ten percent. And this
is often, you know, a misconception of tithing. There's tithing deals with
a tenth in Hebrew and it was an Old Testament principle and basically it was
taxes. But you pay taxes now because you're not under a theocracy. You're
under in the case of the United States, you're under a republic, and
that particular case, you're paying taxes and so that's taking care of the running
of things. Now. The new Testament principle is different. It talks about,
you know, Christians are commanded to give entirely of who they are.
It's considered a living sacrifice in Romans twelve one and two when it talks about
giving materially or giving of the goods that you have. Second Corinthians eight one
through five, it says give as the Lord leads, and it says to
give with a joyous heart, and it says to give till it hurts at
times, you know. So the sharing of material goods is absolutely a principle
in Christianity, and in the New Testament the tenth giving a tenth or what
people call a tithe, and the tithe doesn't exist for today, but a
lot of churches still refer to it as that. And that's fine. But
taking a portion of what you get, Joe and giving it is a wonderful
thing. Now, as far as saying that you knew someone who gave to
ten percent of his income, but that was a jerk all all week long,
well that's I don't know what to tell you. There are people that
are jerks out there. I'm not sure how they coincide with one another.
Because I know people who don't give to the church anything in are jerks.
So I'm not sure how I think people look for excuses not to give the
church. If you don't go to church, then don't give. But if
you're in that church, if you're taking from them, if you're taking the
air conditioning, if you're taking the seating, if they wear and tear on
the carpet, if you're hearing the message, if you're utilizing their daycare,
if you're using their services as a church, you're part of that community and
you're putting in to that community. You're saying that. Listen, I don't
want my pastor to have eight jobs like some of them do, because they're
trying to serve God. And now they've got to be all over the place
just to try and make ends meet so they can serve God. And in
addition to that, they're on call twenty four to seven because people need their
pastor. And yes, there is the other side of that coin. There
are pastors that live very high on the hog and they're hard to get a
hold of, and they have security detail on them and people with walkie talkies
and all kinds of stuff. And you're going, wait, when did church
become this, but there's places in between as well, and to understand that
balance and how that works, I think is important. There's nothing wrong with
a church taking in money. There's a lot of usage usage of that money
that people don't know about, Joe, Philippians funds and different funds where those
churches set aside that money so that when people discreetly and quietly come to them
that are part of that family, not just somebody off the street saying now
I want you to give me money, but somebody who's a part of that
church family is in stress or in unfortunate circumstance. Church often without blowing bugles,
without you know, running around telling everybody and putting it in the daily
paper help them out, and you don't see those things. Everybody wants to
condemn the church for receiving money. And in the particular case that you bring
before us, Joe, yeah, there are people that think that tithing is
going to get them into heaven and if they just give ten percent everything say
okay. But if you know, throughout scripture there were examples the young widow
who had very little money and she gave what she could, and the rich
man gave more didn't mean that the rich man was worth more to God.
It's about giving and making sure you're a part of it and that you're not
just taking. People look for excuses not to give at church, not to
give, not to spend money, not to you know that like this,
make an excuse that this person thinks they're so great because they gave. Well,
no, I don't know about that person. They didn't call. But
Joe, I sure hope you don't use it as an excuse not to participate
if you are actually involved in the church. KFI AM sixty on demand