20 November 2016
Two-Minute Features | 27 November 2016 | 13 November 2016

Thanking God for the Good Things He Does for Us (TMF:480)

Friday, November 25, 2016
Peace to Live By: Thanking God for the Good Things He Does for Us (TMF:480) - Daniel Litton
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       Nothing comes into our lives without God knowing it’s coming, and without his allowing it to come, of that we can be sure. Solomon told us in Proverbs, “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble (Proverbs 16:4, ESV). Indeed, we as Christians are called to be thankful. We must have a thankful attitude when approaching God in prayer. The Apostle Paul demonstrated this attitude in his letter to the Romans. He told them, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness… that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers” (Romans 1:8-10ex, ESV). Paul was filled with thanksgiving for the believers in Rome, and he made sure to continually thank God for them. When God does great things in our lives, it is especially important that we thank him for those great things. Why wouldn’t we want to thank him? And Paul also told the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice… in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:4, 6ex, ESV). We have much to be thankful for, and much to renew our minds into a spirit of thankfulness in our lives.

Some of the Things We Can be Thankful For, Part 2 (TMF:479)

Thursday, November 24, 2016
Peace to Live By: Some of the Things We Can be Thankful For, Part 2 (TMF:479) - Daniel Litton
(tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Remember what Paul said to the Ephesians? Paul stated in Ephesians chapter 1 that in Christ is wisdom, revelation of God’s truth, knowledge, enlightenment, calling, inheritance and riches, great power, and the list goes on and on. And, in regard to our futures, God has promised that he will renovate the earth for the 1,000-year Reign of Christ. And not only that, he has promised a new heaven and new earth afterwards which will be incredible for us. We can be thankful because we have these hopes. Not only will we go to Heaven when we die, but in the future we will reign with Christ as fellow heirs and be included in the new creation. For the Christian, there are a lot of things we can be thankful for in Christ, both now and coming in the future for us. And then there is always one of the greatest promises in the Bible, the one found in Romans chapter 8, to be thankful for. We all know it by heart. It says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, ESV). So, if we are living a life trying to please God, trying to be after his own heart, God promises the Christian that he will work any circumstance toward the good. This is for us who are called by God—those of us who are Christians.

Some of the Things We Can be Thankful For, Part 1 (TMF:478)

Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Peace to Live By: Some of the Things We Can be Thankful For, Part 1 (TMF:478) - Daniel Litton
(tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Some people won't even go to funerals because they don’t want to be reminded of reality. But why do all people die? Why do they have to die? Have you ever thought about that? Why don’t people just live forever? Well, the Bible tells us that it is because we have all sinned in our lives that we are going to die. Death is the physical payment for sin. God told Adam that in the day he ate of the forbidden fruit that he would indeed die. And this is true for everyone, as we have all violated God’s standards. But when bad things are happening in our lives, what are some of the things we can list to remind ourselves to be thankful? In the most basic sense, if we are alive, we can be thankful for that. God has given us life. Being Christians, though, we can always be thankful for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for us, reconciling us to God. We have a personal relationship with God because of what Jesus did for us. He loved us so much he gave his own life for us, and for this we are thankful. We can be thankful for having a place to live, whether we own the place or whether we are renting. It really doesn’t matter. If God has given us a place to lay our heads at night, for this we are thankful. If God has given us food and clothes, we can be thankful.

We Always Have Things to be Thankful For (TMF:476)

Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Peace to Live By: We Always Have Things to be Thankful For (TMF:476) - Daniel Litton
(tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       The Apostle Paul told us, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV). What this means is that no matter what happens in our lives, we always have things to be thankful for. This verse is not saying necessarily that we should thank God for bad things that come into our lives. How are you to be thankful when your brother dies in war? How are to be thankful when your child dies of cancer? How can a person be thankful when a loved one is killed in a car crash? A person shouldn’t thank God that a loved one has been killed, for instance—that’s sick. Now, their may be good brought about by the person’s unexpected death, but it’s not something to be thankful for. We can be thankful the person is in Heaven with Jesus, but we shouldn’t be thankful that they got killed. It is easy to be thankful when things are going good, but not so much when things are going bad. Some people think that in life there is no one to thank for the things in their lives because they believe they are responsible for their successes. These people think they are in control of their lives. But, if we stop and think about this for a second, we should realize that this is really foolishness. Bad things can happen to anybody, no matter who you are. And these people would probably also throw ‘luck’ into the equation and just blindly hope bad things don’t happen to them. After all, this is what most unbelievers do, right?

Depression is the Absence of Thankfulness (TMF:475)

Monday, November 21, 2016
Peace to Live By: Depression is the Absence of Thankfulness (TMF:475) - Daniel Litton
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       Now that we understand the Christian’s joy a bit better, I want to shift gears here a bit and talk about being thankful in our circumstances. Let us note that depression is the absence of thankfulness. Really, depression all stems to one’s perspective on life. If you are happy, it is because you are looking at the world in a certain way—in a grateful way. If you are depressed, it is because you are looking at the world through a negative, ungrateful, mindset. This is so very basic. And external factors do not always dictate one’s feelings. For instance, a person can be married and very happy, all the while a person can be married and very depressed. A person can be in prison and be very sad, and a person can be in prison and be perfectly happy. In other words, our external situational circumstances do not necessarily dictate our internal feelings. Now, this is not to say that people don’t let their circumstances dictate their feelings. All of us do this to an extent, but we do not have to let them. The Apostle Paul told us, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV). What this means is that no matter what happens in our lives, we always have things to be thankful for. This verse is not saying necessarily that we should thank God for bad things that come into our lives.