We live in an age of passwords, user names and ID access codes. I find it quite a strain to remember them all and no doubt, although we are asked not to, most of us have them all written down somewhere, perhaps in a notebook under the bed!!
Throughout the last three months on our journey of thanksgiving, I hope that like me you have discovered that ‘Thank you’ is a key password that enables us to reach our Heavenly Fathers ear. As we have said ‘Thank you’ to Him in so many different situations and scenarios, we have in fact been expressing our faith, in Him and in His rich supply of grace to us.
Paul wrote ‘God is able to make all grace abound toward you so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound to every good work’, 2 Corinthians 9:8. Those words come after his previous encouragement that they should give freely and cheerfully. Generally we look at those verses as being a promise that God will honour our financial giving, by giving back to us all that we need for His service, in a material way. But what if it’s more than that?
In an earlier blog we saw that Paul encouraged the Christian at Thessalonica to ‘give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and this can sometimes feel like a heavy duty thing, especially if the circumstances really don’t seem good and we don’t ‘feel’ like giving thanks to anyone for anything.
But what if we now begin to see that ‘giving thanks’ is actually our password not just through the gates into God’s presence Psalm 100:4 but into His abundant supply of whatever we are needing in that circumstance. If instead of thanking God through gritted teeth because that what is ‘required’ of us, we ‘offer’ our thanks joyfully and freely as an expression of faith that He will ‘meet all our need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus’, Philippians 4:19, then our faith will indeed release to us that abundant supply of ‘grace sufficient’ for whatever circumstance we find ourselves in.
I know it sounds circular and in a sense it is. Once I see what is freely mine ‘in Christ’ of the God’s grace and favour, then any and every situation becomes an opportunity to receive more from Him. I will then be more than ready to offer up my thanksgiving in anticipation for what I am going to receive from Him, and that faith unlocks to me the vast resources of heaven that are now mine in Christ.
Remember that it was Jesus who said ‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly’ John 10:10 RSV. May be it’s time to have a look at those aspects of life where we know that we need more from the Lord, and intentionally thank Him that He is with us in these areas, and that we are looking for His grace and provision, claiming that promise that He can and will make all grace abound towards us in all things, so that we ourselves can abound in every good work.
