Thanksgiving: a Virtuous Cycle and a Beauty!

Ever wonder what1 Thessalonians 5:18is really saying?

I remember reading this bible verse a few years ago and wondering how a person could in practice give thanks ALWAYS (every second, every breath, every heartbeat, or however else one chooses to count time). While I didn’t yet see how, I understood through the knowledge of God that (1) it was possible in practice to give thanks ALWAYS, and that (2) giving thanks to God goes beyond merely saying “Thank You God” or meaninglessly repeating the words: “Thank God”. Furthermore, I saw that the instruction to give thanks always comes with (and is itself) a promise from God that there will always be a reason to give thanks no matter what happens. This means that we will never be without reason to give thanks … it means we ALWAYS have thanks to give. What a promise!💖

Think of it as the difference between an unsown seed and a seed sown into Good Soil(Matthew 13:8)– the latter results in and is the result of a fruitful tree. Thankfulness is to Thanksgiving what a sown seed is to a fruitful tree. The cyclic nature of this relationship is why I can say that thankfulness (the seed) is thanksgiving (the fruitful tree) and vice versa. God created it so –Genesis 1:29… the plant-yielding seed AND the tree with seed in its fruit, both are God-given. What a beauty!💖

Like a cycle which goes all the way (always) to its starting point in an unbroken and continuous way, by nature, thanksgiving is always continuous and giving. It is a cycle of giving that does not deplete or bankrupt the giver, instead it gives to The Giver (it gives into its Source) … it is a virtuous cycle, and it shares a resemblance to what I callThe 360⁰ Ways of God💖. While I can’t fully describe this amazing 360^O mystery that continues to unfold like a blooming flower, I can say that the seed-tree cycle is very much like it in that the beginning results in an end that is the beginning. Another way that I can describe it is that it is God-like. God is The Beginning and The End that is The Beginning … hence, He is eternal, never-ending, always continuous.

True to form,God is ALWAYS giving–Isaiah 63:7(VOICE) – He gives, gives, and keeps giving. The same is true of thanksgiving, it gives … ALWAYS. Another God-like attribute that is characteristic of thanksgiving is that it multiplies. Case in point:John 6:1-14… with five loaves and two small fish, a young boy and Jesus both gave thanks. This resulted in a never-before-seen-or-heard multiplication! God multiplies(2 Corinthians 9:10)… because of its God-like nature, thanksgiving multiples!

With the understanding that thanksgiving is God-like, it will be truthful to say then that1 Thessalonians 5:18is a call to be God-like, a call to beauty: thanksgiving.What a fruitful service!💖Isaiah 45:19. This service/beauty (thanksgiving) is what makes us beautiful (thankful). It is the beauty that stems from God Who is the Giver of Himself – He is our Beauty (Isaiah 60:19). This very same Beauty is what God, our King, greatly desires(Psalm 45:11)… it is unique and uniquely God’s. Though He gives it, He will not share it with any man –Isaiah 42:8(VOICE) … He gives it so that we can give (be) it to Him.

This beautiful brightness (fragrance) – thanksgiving – grows and flows out of our heart: the place of beginnings … the place of our conception and foundation in God … the place where we begin/start (heart) with GodSOS 3:4(TPT) 2 Corinthians 9:7(VOICE). God takes pleasure in a thankful (bright and beautiful) heart – He loves a cheerful giver, one whose heart is in his/her giving. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving – this is the way God Himself gives: delightfully, cheerfully, thankfully – very much so, God gives thanks and He does it beautifully and thus faithfully (Godfully). This one thing is certain:God gives FULLYand without reservation … be it one, five, or ten talent(s), God gives liberally and without scrimping.

Walking with God is by faith and it requires humility, the result of which is thanksgiving (the gratitude of Grace) – this is the way God wants it. Micah 6:8

We become God-traveled roads when we step into and remain in the 360^o virtuous cycle/way of God. Becoming God-traveled roads, paths where His Name is always hallowed and echoed, paths where His Kingdom always is and comes, paths where His Will is done every step of the way: all the way (always) is what I believe1 Thessalonians 5:18 is saying … that we choose to always walk with God as He walks with us – always before Him as He is before us … face to face.

Ten days ago, just before I put pen to paper fingers to keyboard to begin drafting this blog, I saw and understood that (1) the measure of how thankful I am is NOT a function of how many thanks I have (or the number of reasons I have to give thanks); (2) One thanks is plenty full enough to give; and (3) the measure of how thankful I am is a function of how giving of thanks I am.

The measure with which we give(Luke 6:38)is the true measurement of our thankfulness. Accurately put, the measure with and to which God has given (and thus gives) to us to give to Him is the only requirement for how we should give(Luke 12:48B)– surely, we have been given much! An abundance! … without measure (John 3:16, 34 … Colossians 2:9-10) – underserving yet faithful –what a just measure!💖 Though I know relatively little and in part, still, I recognize and acknowledge that soooo very much has been given to me by God … truthfully, we have been given ALL that counts: God – He is the what and how of thanksgiving. Everything else is but a clanging cymbal … everything else is idle talk and utter futility, the cause and effect of which is described inRomans 1:21👇

To not give thanks to God is to break faith with God … it is to break out of the life-giving, virtuous, 360^o cycle of thanksgiving … it is to break out of the wheel Will of God … to break out of the Covenant of Peace and to instead break in to a viscous cycle of futility. Friends do NOT break the covenant, enemies do.

Do not leave the Way of Peace … stay the course. Do not break faith with God. No more in and out – this in part was what I believe was happening with the people of Israel at Meribah(Exodus 17:1-7) … in this place of contention, the Israelites kept going back and forth saying ‘is God with or not with us’. This back and forth place is a viscous cycle. It is where and why the nations rage(Psalm 2:1-6)… Zion, do not rage, there is a King in you and He walks with you always. Mirror Him by walking with Him always. This is also what I believe1 Thessalonians 5:18is saying.

God is ever with us, always walking with us. The in and out or back and forth we experience … I’ll speak for myself: the back and forth I’ve experienced happen when I’m not walking with God (when I’m not looking at Him … when I’m not face-to-face with Him). God is always walking with me however, when I look anywhere other than His lovely face, I don’t see Him (I don’t behold Him). Until I’m re-positioned before Him by Grace, I go through this agonizing back-and-forth, contention, doubt, and uncertainty about me and my interpretation of God’s Word to me (particularly when it doesn’t look like anything I see around me, it rarely ever does). This is why the encouragement in1 Thessalonians 5:18, to always be face-to-face with God, is imperative. Being face-to-face with God is the only way we walk humbly with Him. Being always before God is the only way we can walk with Him in righteousness.

This righteous walk – thanksgiving – happens only when we are before God … only when we walk with and in God as He walks with and in us –John 15:4-11. When we abide in God in God-like manner … to mean when we abide in God as He abides in us, invariably, we give thanks always because righteous-giving (God-like giving) is continuous, it endures forever – Psalm 112:9. In other words, before God, face-to-face with Him, is the only way we can be thankful … the only way we can continually give thanks to God.

Sooooo, essentially speaking, what does it mean to give thanks to God? What is thanksgiving? Going by1 Thessalonians 5:18we know that it can’t be a one-day-in-a-year action … we also know that it can’t be limited to only what we consider to be good (or not bad). Now … even though what I’m about to say goes without saying, Imma still say it 🙂: we can’t lean on our own understanding for this answer … the fact that our judgement of good and evil is all kinds of skewed is reason enough. Thankfully, every answer we seek is found in God (Hosea 14:8) – in Him our fruit (the favorable answer of peace/satisfaction) is found. Furthermore, it is befitting to look to God for this answer because thanksgiving is God-like! Soooooo, looking at God (the One Whom I’ve been pointing you to all through this blog), we see thatGod FULLY gives God to God ALWAYS … herein lies the essential meaning of thanksgiving: giving the way God gives! This also is what I believe1 Thessalonians 5:18is saying.

Giving the way God gives is our God-given command – this command is the very blessing that was bestowed on us in the beginning. 1 Thessalonians 5:18echoes this command and blessing.

What a Command! What a Blessing!💖

In pausing to read Genesis 6 to 9 – the story of another beginning, I saw that the sameGenesis 1:28blessing was bestowed on us again in Genesis 9:1, 7!

… Oh precious HolySpirit! How I enjoy writing with You! What a Friendship!💖What a Gift!💖 Truly, I have been given a Teacher –Joel 2:23(MSG).

Dear reader, please bear with me, I’ll be taking an unplanned (by me) yet connected (by God) “detour” to share a bit of what I saw in Genesis 6 to 9, after which I’ll circle back to1 Thessalonians 5:18. What I saw gives expression to the thanks that I am giving by way of sharing this blog. It also connects and gives MORE life (reinforcing meaning) to the reason I really really desired to share this blog today: another beginning! my God-given, brand new beginning.

Okay … here’s what I saw:

Planting happens in the beginning … vineyards are planted in The BEGINNING! I enjoy seeing this … Thank You HolySpirit for opening me up to see it. I enjoy experiencing You! What a Kiss! You really are always my very First Kiss! New every morning, my daily (every moment’s) Bread … GREAT is Your Faithfulness! From dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk, I will sing of Your love forever! How can I not?

My excitement for this new beginning that You have given me is uncontainable … I’m reminded ofJeremiah 31:4-5(MSG), my joy is FULL … You are the JOY in my heart! You are my Happy Birthday! What a beginning this is!💖 A beginning with THE BEGINNING, THE ONE Who was before the beginning … before the very first tick-tock. Alpha, there is absolutely no one else I’ll rather begin again with. You are my Beginning … my First, my All and Always. You are Your promise to me – a hopeful (certain) promise. What a promise You are – what a promise You’ve given:

What a Kiss!💖 I couldn’t help but respond to God’s giving. This is what happens when Love and Truth meet in the streets, kissing happens – Psalm 85:10(MSG). I promise, this public show of affection is God-approvedMatthew 5:14(MSG) …Titus 2:11-14(MSG).

Okay, circling back to1 Thessalonians 5:18… the instruction to give thanks ALWAYS is God’s 360^o Way … it is a promise, a blessing, a command, and a call to beauty – a call to be fruitful and to multiply, to be God-like … this was the Will of God in the beginning (Genesis 1:27) … it is how it ALWAYS must be in The BEGINNING; there is no other way to be in God. Thanksgiving is the lifestyle, livelihood, and reality of those found ALWAYS belonging to The BEGINNING (God). This righteous-giving (fruitful service and fruitfulness) is the mark that we are loved (Romans 8:29) … that we are chosen(1 Peter 2:9) … that we are called by God’s Name and according to His Will (Romans 8:28, 30) – we are expressly named (designated by name and specifically named) with the job description: Give Thanks to God, BECAUSE His mercy and loving-kindness endures forever(1 Chronicles 16:40-41)– friend of God, keep God’s command, be thankful … be loved.

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