The benefits of being thankful
Category: Peace & Assurance
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: November 11, 2021
Let’s go ahead and make it back to our seats and turn to page number 256. Remain standing. Page number 256, “Are You Washed in the Blood?” 256 in your hymn book, “Are You Washed in the Blood?” We’ll sing the first, second, and last verse. 256. “Are You Washed in the Blood?”
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood, cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you walking daily by the Savior’s sight? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Do you rest each moment in the Crucified? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood… Let’s sing it like we mean it on that last verse. Lay aside the garments all stained with sin and be washed in the blood of the Lamb. There’s a fountain flowing for the soul undone. Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Are you washed in the blood, in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Thank you. Maybe seated. Amen.
Now, let’s think about that for a moment. Are you washed in the blood? That’s the blood of Jesus Christ. He shed on the cross of Calvary. And when you get saved, when you get saved, now you and I, we know our sins better than anybody. I mean, the Bible talks about our own heart condemning us. Anybody ever been there? Your own heart condemning you? You ever been there? Come on now. The rest of you, it should condemn you right now because you didn’t raise your hand. But, yeah, here’s a good thing about it: our own heart condemns us, but you’re washed in the blood of the Lamb.
And God looks down through the mercy seat and the blood applied, and he says, “Hey, what sins are you talking about? I don’t see any sins there.” And the devil accuses, as our own heart condemns us, the world points a finger at us every chance they give. But praise the Lord, we’re washed in the blood of the Lamb. And what a blessing that is. I stand before him perfect. That’s amazing.
And I’m so thankful for that shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, and thrilled that he lets us share in his victory he won for us. And we’re glad you’re in church on Sunday morning, glad to see everybody out in the house of the Lord. And we’re thrilled you’re here. Just glad to have every person in church today. I’m thrilled that we have a special guest today. She got out of jail yesterday. She’s in church today. Sarah Chisgall. We’re glad to have her.
We’re thrilled to have our daughter home with us from Florida. We’re glad to have her. Just glad to see everybody out in the house of the Lord and glad you’re here.
Now this week, midweek service changes from Wednesday to Tuesday. Okay. So show up Tuesday, but don’t show up Wednesday. If you do show up Wednesday, you’ll probably be real alone. There’s a good chance to be a couple deers out here. Now, you can worship with them. You know, nothing wrong about that.
We’re going to meet on Tuesday at 7 o’clock, same time as always, our midweek service. It’s a special service. I really would encourage you to come, make every effort to come. It’s a testimony service, and we have you speak and give thanks to the Lord—a testimony time. It’s just a sweet, sweet service. And you may say, “I don’t know what I would say.” Well, ask the Holy Spirit; he’s your guide, and he’ll give you things to praise the Lord and thank the Lord for his goodness about. I’d encourage you to do that Tuesday. Now, you say, “I can’t talk in front of anybody.” All right, all right, just come. And even your coming, I believe, will get you in the spirit of Thanksgiving by being a part of it. You don’t have to. You’re not required to speak. But I’d encourage you to come. It’s a sweet, special service, one of the sweetest services typically of the year. And I’d encourage you to be a part of it on Tuesday at 7 o’clock, and it’ll be a special testimony service. Just right where you’re at, you can stand and give a testimony and just thank and praise God for his goodness to us.
Isn’t it amazing how the world is just kind of—they went Halloween and then they’ve kind of bypassed already into Christmas? It’s almost like they’re trying to do away with Thanksgiving. But that’s a huge part, and we want to have Thanksgiving. And I hope you just plan on celebrating it and participating in it. And what a key thing it is. Our country has had it for years and years. And I thank God for it. We want to participate in it for sure.
Anyone need a bulletin? If you need a bulletin, raise your hand, or ushers will bring it to you. Anybody need a bulletin? They’ll slip it out to you.
I don’t want to mention this as a little ways out on the calendar, but I want you to come to it. It is our Vision Banquet. It is on January the 8th. That’s a Saturday. It’ll be held at Fair Havens Independent Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, in their gym. We’ll have a good meal for you. We’ll give out the RCBC 2020 calendars. We’ll tell you our vision for next year. And I hope you plan on coming to that. There’s a sign-up sheet on the back table there. We want everyone to come, even if you haven’t joined, but you’re part of our church family. We want you to come, be a part of it. And I think you get a blessing, you know, kind of get us all aligned as we’re casting the vision that night and get us all with that vision momentum, if you will. So I’d love to have you be a part of that. I want you to come and participate. That’s January the 8th, so make a note of that, if you would please. And ushers, if you come for offering…
Let me just say a word about Thanksgiving. I hope you’re going to get to be with some family on Thanksgiving. Two things I want to just say about that: Would you—would you go into Thanksgiving with your family and whoever may be saying, “Lord, make me a blessing”? Don’t go into it saying, “Well, I hope everybody’s good to me this year.” Go into it and say, “Lord, help me to be a blessing to them.” Go into your thanks even that way.
And sometimes, sometimes you’re going to see someone, a relative, an aunt or uncle or someone that may not be a born-again Christian. And it would be a great opportunity to spread the gospel light in love. And you pray and ask the Holy Spirit, “Would you give me just the right opportunity, the right moment to talk to my relative about their salvation?” I would love it if we met together next Sunday and someone said, “Pastor, you know, I had the privilege of leading my aunt to the Lord.” Wouldn’t that be awesome?
And so, how many of you have a—whether you’re going to meet with them or not—you have a lost loved one? How many have a lost loved one? I have two specifically that I’m praying for. Just about every hand. And let’s do our best if the opportunity presents itself. Let’s be soul-conscious. Let’s try to talk to them. And typically, if they know it’s out of love and you’re not forcing it down their throat, they’re going to listen. I had a man I witnessed to yesterday. He did not get saved, that particular man. But at the end, I said, “Hey, I’m just talking about this out of love. I love you. I’d like to see you in heaven one day.” He’s a Muslim. And he said, “I understand, and thank you.” He said, “Thank me for that.” Usually, if they know it’s out of love, they want to listen, whether they get saved or not. So let’s just have that on our hearts to witness to someone over the Thanksgiving holidays. Love your neighbor, and it’ll be a great, great time for someone to get saved. And so let’s do our best on that. Would you just pray about it? The Lord will lead you. I would love it if you do—if you get to see someone saved, would you let me know about it next Sunday? We’d like to rejoice as a congregation together. And let’s be praying about that: someone in our church family gets to lead a relative to the Lord over Thanksgiving. Let’s pray about that as a church family, and that’d be a great, great thing.
And praise the Lord for these men up front, hear all of them. Brother Adam Miller preached a good message to us on Wednesday night. And he made his wife mad at him. She preached it to him, and he preached it back to us. He’s learning exactly how I do it. And I appreciate it; it was a good message. Praise the Lord for all these men up front here. Praise the Lord for him. And we thank God for him. Brother Kevin, our head usher, just does a great job. He has been in place, making sure things get done. And I appreciate that. That’s an important position. And praise the Lord for a great head usher. And praise the Lord. Brother Kevin, would you lead prayer for the offering, please, brother?
Amen. Let’s go ahead and take our hymn books again and stand, and we’re going to turn to page number 555, “So Much to Thank Him For.” Page number 555. We’ll sing both of those verses there. “So Much to Thank Him For.” Things that he’s done for me I know. I’m unworthy. His blessings he freely gives. I owe my life to him. I’ve got so much to thank him for. I’ve got so much to thank him for, so much to praise him for, you see. He has been so good to me. And I think of what he’s done and has brought me from. I’ve got so much.
How many that was the first time you’ve heard that before? Great. It’s a wonderful song. Let’s sing that second verse. Ready? “And sometimes while on this way I kneel, and I stop and say, ‘Lord, for all you’ve given me, one day I’ll reach heaven’s shore. Let me kneel once more. I’ve got so much to thank him for.’”
“I’ve got so much to thank him for, so much to praise him for. He has been so good to me. And I think of what he’s done and where he has brought me from. I’ve got so much to thank him for.” Thank you. Maybe seated.
Christ the Savior came from heaven’s glory to redeem the lost from sin and shame. On his brow he wore the thorn-crown gory, and upon Calvary he took my blame.
He lives on high, he lives on high, triumphing over sin and all its stain. He lives on high, he lives on high, someday he’s coming again. He arose from death and all its sorrow. Dwell in that land of joy and love. He is coming back some glad tomorrow, and he’ll take all his children home above.
Soul, to Jesus come confessing, redemption from sin he offers thee. Look to Jesus and receive a blessing; there is life, there is joy and victory. He lives on high. He lives on high, triumphing over sin and all its stain. He lives on high, he lives on high, someday he’s coming again.
I very much appreciate the great message in song, “Praise the Lord, He Lives on High.” Amen for that. Turn your mind, if you would, to Philippians chapter number four. Philippians chapter four, and we’re going to read just two verses there. And we’ve got a lot to cover. I feel a little scattered. I like to narrow it down more to just more specific, but just…
I did not get the leading that I wanted in that. And so we’ve got several different angles we’re going to go at this morning. So I hope you engage with me, stay engaged, and think through what we’re talking about. And help me out with that. And I appreciate everyone working on that for us. Appreciate Brother Josh helping on that also back there. That’s a good thing. And I appreciate it.
Flip to the chapter before, would you please stand as we read God’s word together, flipping to the chapter before. And I tell you what, I’m debating over two titles. Help me out with it. Here’s the two titles. One would be “The Benefits of Being Thankful.” And then the other is “Why I Am Not Thankful.”
Now, help me out. How many—how many of you think “The Benefits of Being Thankful” would be the best title? How many you think that? Oh, man. That’s a majority. How many—how many of you think this would be the best title? “Why I’m Not Thankful”? We’ve got some on that. All right. Now, if I know who the prophets in the room are not, you know. “Benefits of Being Thankful”—that one out, so that’ll be the title this morning for the internet.
Philippians 4. We’re going to read, we’re going to read 6 and 7. We’re going to read 7 first because 7 is what you get. And I like to find out what I’m going to get. You know, this is a great package that you would get in verse number 7. This is benefits we get. Philippians 4, verse number 7. He says there:
“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
You won’t understand it because it’s beyond you. It’s God’s peace. The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. How many like to have that peace right there? Amen. Come on now. I’m with you on that. I like that. I need that.
That’s what we get, verse number seven. Now, here’s what we do in verse number six to get verse number seven. That’s why verse number seven starts off with “and,” connecting the two together. Five things we do in verse number six. Here we go: “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God.”
Then verse number seven: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Let’s pray. And would you ask the Lord to speak to your heart as I ask the same? Father, Lord, we come. Lord, you know, I’ve tried to narrow it down to what you want. And Lord, this is what you’ve led me to. So, Lord, I pray that you take the—oh, if you would, Lord—just the truths, great truths, but, Lord, a simple preacher. And, Lord, would you take those truths and drive them home, make them real? And, Lord, make them powerful. And, Lord, change us through these truths. Lord, please. Let us leave being different, washed by the water of the Word. Let us leave like that. Lord, there’s one here not saved—maybe a young person, a young boy or girl, or older. Lord, there’s one here not saved. Father, I pray that they leave washed in your blood and cleansed and on the way to heaven. Lord, would you make that soul? We’re asking for that. And all these, we’re asking, Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for staying. You may be seated.
These five things we do in verse number six. Let’s start off with those. We know we get verse number seven. Verse number six right there.
The first thing he says, verse number six—would you read that little, just the first little clause, that phrase? Here we go: “Be careful for nothing.” Starts with that. I’ve said this before, and I said again, I confess years ago I didn’t like that phrase. I understand, you can’t get a day or two just over and over again. Ever I went, “Be careful for nothing, be careful for nothing.” Don’t be worried about it for nothing.
I must have—well, there we go. Now, my fault, I must have moved it. And I must have turned it off when I moved it. Amen. Be careful when you’re moving, you know. That’s a dangerous time, you know. But, whew, now you can hear me. Brother George, you’re waking up back there. You can hear me now, brother. Wow, my goodness, I’m teased with him. But it helped me. Maybe you can turn me down a little bit now. We’re going to get it right about the time we leave. Amen, you know, we’ll get it there. But my fault. But it helped me just to say that all day long, “Be careful for nothing, be careful for nothing.” But I still did not fully win, if you will. Nobody fully wins. But it helped me when I learned the next part of this. What’s the next part there? He says, “Be careful for nothing.” Help me out. Here we go: “But in everything by prayer.”
Now I notice that “everything.” The way not to be careful for nothing, the way not to be worried about anything is to pray about everything. So when you feel the—you’re trying not to worry about it, but when you start worrying about it, you stop to place that: “I’m going to pray about that. And Lord, I’m going to take that thing and I’m going to put it in your hand.”
I see that. How many of you see something that just bothers? Anybody ever see that? Yeah, about 10 million things, you know. And you’re tempted to worry about it, but I’m not supposed to worry; “Be careful for nothing.” So you start praying. I mean, you pray about that. And it’s amazing: the more I pray, the less I worry, and the less I complain. But here’s a problem. I find myself a lot of times just worrying and complaining instead of praying. You’re never like that, are you? Good. I appreciate you being honest with me. That’s helpful. That’s honestly, really, just the root of it is just praying about everything. That really helps so much. Of course, it lines up with the Bible: pray without ceasing. Yeah.
I love this story. John Rice—how many of you’ve heard of John Rice, the preacher John Rice? Good, me too. Actually, we have another John Rice in church today, right? Obviously, his name is John Rice, so get his autograph when you leave today.
But John Rice, the preacher years ago, he had visited the Bible college I went to. And now, it’s up in cold country, Chicago. But the campus is beautiful. It really is a pretty campus. And the man that was hosting him, driving him around the college campus, he said, the whole time I hosted him—I took him for a day or two, and I just kind of carried him everywhere and took care of him—he said he was always mumbling. And he said half the time he was mumbling to me, and he was older, and I tried to hear what he was saying. And then half the time I’d hear him over there, and I’d try to lean in or kind of figure out what he’s saying. And he would say, “Lord, this sure is a beautiful campus you gave them. Man, those trees over there sure are pretty. Lord, thank you for blessing them. Thank you for the college students. Man, they’re on fire.”
And the person that hosted him said it was just always just a continued talking to somebody. He said, half the time I try to figure out, “Are you talking to me? Or are you talking to the Lord?” And that’s really the way it should be. None of us are there fully, but that’s what we’re working toward: “Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer.”
By the way, if the devil’s making you worry, and every time you worry, you start praying, the devil might think twice next time.
Now let’s get the third thing. That’s the first two things. Here’s the third thing here. Verse number six: “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer,” and would you say the next two words, will you please? “And supplication.”
Now, supplication is one of those words. Somebody puts so many different definitions on it, but I’m going to give you a picture definition for it—the best definition I know for the word. Some of you have heard me tell this story, but a little boy out on the farm, his grandpa was going to town, and he said, “Hey, Grandpa, when you’re in town, would you get me one of those Coca-Colas?” And Grandpa—you know, every grandpa in the world—they don’t tell their grandsons no very often, you know. He says, “Well, yeah, I’ll see if I can do that.”
Well, Grandpa went to town, got talking and gossiping, talking about the weather and everything else, and Grandpa forgot all about it. They drove back up, and the grandson got no Coca-Cola. This was a smart grandson. All grandchildren know how to get things from grandparents. They come on now, you know what I’m talking about. You grandparents know exactly. And some of your grandchildren know exactly.
And so next time the little boy is out on the farm and Grandpa’s going to go to town, the little boy said, “Hey, Grandpa, can I go with you?” And riding into town, Grandpa told all those stories that the grandson had heard about two million times. And he listened to him and he smiled even a little bit when Grandpa told them. Got into town, and Grandpa wanted to show off the grandson to all the older men out there talking about the weather and everything else, and brag on them, you know, and made him feel good. And they’re about to leave town, and the grandson says, “Hey, Grandpa, can I have a Coca-Cola?” Grandpa says, “Well, I think we could get that, but let’s go get some ice cream first.” Man, he did good that day. He got ice cream and Coca-Cola. Pretty much whatever he wanted.
Now, the grandson was supplicating with Grandpa. And it’s when you spend time, you fellowship, you supplicate. Yes, it has to do with asking. But prayer is asking. It’s more than just prayer. It’s spending time with. It’s supplicating. It’s fellowshipping with. It’s getting known. He’s talking to him. So he says, “Hey, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication.” You’re getting to know God. It’s like you’re bringing the son up. It was mighty cold this morning, but you just fellowship with him all day long. You spend time with him. You have a father-son or daughter relationship with him.
Well, let’s keep going on. What’s the fourth thing we do? This is really a key one for today. Let’s go back to that verse number six. How about verse number six right there? Number one, what’s number? Help me out. Help me out. Let’s review a little bit. Here we go, class. Number one, we what? We be good, good, good, wonderful. But what’s? By prayer, good, good. And number three, and good. Good, good. Good. Here we go, number four. Number four right there.
Man, y’all are ahead of the ball game. Y’all ready to go. They’re not sleeping. I tell you what, they’re ready. Here we go. Let’s get us all together. Here we go. With… Oh, that’s it. Now, we’ll get back to that in just a minute here, but it’s very important how God put it: Thanksgiving.
I remember back in the day when you wanted chocolate milk, it did not come in the little packets. It came in a jar or a little bitty metal thing, and it had that little tin lid. You popped it off and you put a spoon in there and you put that there. How many of you know what I’m talking about? Man, you all are old people. I’ll tell you what, I’m with you on that. That’s why I used to come. I mean, you young folks, you’re getting an education today. That’s why we used to have chocolate milk. How many of you—be honest with me—how many of you, one time, you went over there and you popped that little lid off of there and you put the spoon in there, and it wasn’t going in the milk, that chocolate? It was going in the mouth. How many? Come on. I’m talking about good right there. That’s enough to go home about right there. That’s some good stuff.
Has anybody ever gone to where you got that—you know, I would say Hershey chocolate, whatever—and you went up there and it had that on there, and it, man, there’s chocolate milk stuff. I’m going to get me some of that. And you got that down and you popped the lid off and you put the spoon in there and you went to put it in your mouth, and it was nasty? And it wasn’t the chocolate milk stuff; it was the unsweetened Hershey chocolate. How many have you been there? Yeah.
That’s what life is without gratitude, without Thanksgiving. It can be wonderful—I mean, chocolate. But if it doesn’t have the sugar in there, that ingredient, the sugar in there, it’s nasty. And it doesn’t matter where you could be. I think of a family that had to spend thousands of dollars, went to Florida, I think Walt Disney World, or maybe even somewhere else, I’m not sure, but just thousands of dollars, and yet they fussed and fought the whole time on their vacation. And I guarantee you they were not thankful. And you can be having a lot of sweet chocolate, but if you don’t have the ingredient of Thanksgiving, it doesn’t taste good.
Gratitude, Thanksgiving, is the ingredient that makes your life sweet. It brings a great spirit about it. It just adds so much to it. And that’s why he’s saying, “Hey, everything in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.” Thank him for everything. Thank him for everything. That’s what he says: “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” It doesn’t mean everything happens to you. The will of God is that you give thanks in everything.
So, number one, help me out. Number one, what do you say? “Be careful for nothing.” Good. Number two, “But in everything by prayer.” And with… And here’s the last one. We can be good at this last one here. Here it is, verse number six: “Let your request be made known unto God.”
By the way, notice your request. It’s all right to ask God for some things you want. So, well, he’s promised to meet my needs, but he’s such a good God. He often even gives you what you want. No promise, but he often does. And here’s another thing: usually after you’ve properly done those first four things, you’ll be asking for the right thing by the time you get into the fifth. But it is proper and right to let your request be made known unto God.
Let’s take it. Maybe it’s a health situation. You’ve got a sickness, and yes, you’re not supposed to worry about it. Pretty tough to do. How do you do that? Pray about it. Every time the devil tries to make you worry about it, pray about it, and then spend time with God over the subject—just talk with him, supplicate, spend some time with him over the thing.
And then, as hard as it is, say, “God, I know you have a reason for this bronchitis or this cancer or whatever.” I remember when I lost my fingers. Initially, it wasn’t too bad. I was single in Bible College, and several thousand people were there, and I lost my fingers, and I got sympathy from all the girls. Amen. Miss Tammy, Miss Tammy. She said, “Oh me, oh me,” before we married. Trying to justify here. But a couple of months later, all that sympathy’s gone. And you try to—here’s, if I ever lose—if you could lose your salvation, you can’t, but if you ever lose your salvation, I lose it over that button right there. You ever try to button that button there with, you know, three fingers, dirty, bigger, back, or slider, you know? I mean, I was single, living in off-campus dorms. And who in the world wants to go to another man and say, “Would you button my button?” They took stamps off my man card during that time. And you try to get back in the routine of life, and everything’s different. And that’s when it started really getting tough. And it was a good day for me when I said, “Lord, I’m not saying I like that. I’m not saying this is wonderful. Thank you. You have a reason for that.” I wasn’t real thankful at the time, but I gave thanks. It was a good thing.
But here’s what I’m getting at: Okay, whatever your health situation is, and you give thanks, but at the end of that, it’s all right to say, “Hey, Lord, my request is let this cancer be gone.” That’s okay. It’s okay. “Lord, I’ve tried to be thankful for this broken-down car, but Lord, help me get this crazy thing fixed.” It’s okay. “Lord, thank you for the financial troubles. Man, it’s been wearing me out, but I know you have a reason for it. And I’ve tried to give thanks, and I’m trying to pray about it, not worry about it. I’ve tried to supplicate about it.” But at the end of the day, it’s all right to say, “Lord, please give me some extra money here and take the bill away. Help me get it paid off.” That’s all right to do, even about little things. You say, “Well, God’s too busy for my little things.” You’re wrong, friend. He’s got time for every one of his children. He’s better than the best grandparent in all the world. He’s got plenty of time for you, even about the little things. He loves to hear from you. The Bible says the prayer of the upright is his delight. He delights in that. He wants to hear. He said, “Let your request be made known unto God.”
Now, if you’ve done those five things, then we get verse number seven there. Verse number seven: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” It is amazing when you do your part of it. And say, “I can’t have peace about this situation. You don’t know how hard this one is right here.” It’s not your peace. Maybe you’re out of peace. Maybe it’s gone. It’s God’s peace. And the peace of God—people won’t understand it. I visit somebody in the hospital and they have peace. And the nurses or doctors, and sometimes they say, “Boy, that person just has a great attitude.” Man, I don’t quite understand it because they have God’s peace. It’s beyond understanding. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding.
It’s amazing. When I practice those five things, can I tell you, this is going to be so simple, you’re going to think, man, Pastor, that’s so dumb that you—this thing has bothered you. But everybody’s got their thing, you know. I’m told them, “Don’t look at me high and past. You got your things too now, all right?”
But my daughter’s car—she’s going to feel bad about it. It’s not her fault. It’s her car’s fault. I’m going to take a sledgehammer, not to her, but her car, amen. But my daughter’s car has been broke down for months. And we gladly—and I say that on purpose—we gladly have… we’ve given her Tammy’s car, my wife’s car. Here’s a problem: And my wife has taken my truck. I just lost a couple stamps off my man card on that one right there. And she does this health care. She drives all over Nashville in my truck. Try to be careful for nothing when your wife is driving your truck in Nashville traffic. Come on now. Are you all starting to feel my pain a little bit out there? Yeah.
And Brother Martin has been so good, so very good about it. I’ve been borrowing his truck. But I’ve been borrowing his truck for like forty eons, you know. And they’ve been—I’m sorry—and I kind of try to keep him informed. He’s always good about it. But, you know, the guy somewhere along the line, he’s got to have a limit how long I can borrow his truck. And not only all that, but anybody in your vehicle, you know, you’ve got your tracts or your chewing gum or your Bible verses, and you got all your, you know, your heartburn tabs, your tums, or whatever, you got all your stuff set in your—or anybody in your vehicle? You got it all? Yeah, or okay, maybe it’s in there, it’s just thrown all over the place, but it’s still in there, you know. And you’re changing vehicles all the time, you know. Well, if you’re not driving the truck, I’ll drive my truck and so on.
And on top of that, it’s been in two different shops for months. I won’t say names of it. But if you see a dealership that’s been shot up, it’s your—no, I won’t say that. It literally has—mutts—two different shops. And here’s the thing: it’s been so good for me to say, “Hey, you know what? Be careful for nothing.” I’m not saying I’ve always done it. When I start getting anxious and bothered over that, it’s been so good for me to say, “Hey, just pray about it.” And I’ve spent some time with the Lord over it. We’ve talked about it many of the time. In fact, this last week, I had to—anybody have this philosophy? I have this philosophy, maybe sometimes too much. Anybody have this philosophy? The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Anybody? You don’t know. So I’ve made sure I’ve been squeaking a lot. Pretty much every day. I mean, I know every one of the service managers down there. I really do, all of them by name. I mean, there’s Joshua, there’s Lisa, there’s Jared. I mean, I know their life. I know how many kids some of them have. Literally, I’m serious about this. It’s an honest truth. And the last week, I felt like the Lord said, “Paul, how about you just let me take care of it here?” I said, “I’m not going to call.” And it didn’t for—not the whole week until I felt like the Lord wanted me to. I was trying to spend time by the Lord.
And here’s the thing that’s helped maybe more than any for me: to say, “Hey, Lord, I don’t understand it all, but I know you have a reason. Thank you for that stupid car.” Nobody fixed that crazy thing. But honestly, when I give thanks about it, now I ask him, “Lord, let us get that car back before Thanksgiving. We’re going to visit relatives. We’re planning on using that car.” And when I follow that formula, I give thanks, it’s amazing the peace I get about it. About a frustrating, crazy little thing like that, man, it just—it gets peace. It’s the peace of God, and mine is probably so very, very small in comparison to your situation. But peace. The peace of God which passeth all understanding.
Now notice how he finishes that verse, verse number seven here. Sometimes I think we get it a little bit; we think everything’s just going to be wonderful. It doesn’t say that. Notice what he says in verse number seven. He says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep or guard.” It’s going to get attacked. “Shall keep your hearts.” Now your hearts, it has to do with your emotions. You’re the center of you. There’s a protection there. It keeps your hearts. It keeps you from getting cold and bitter and frustrated and mad at the world. That doesn’t mean everything’s just wonderful. You’re going to have battles still because you have blood flow into your veins. You have your flesh, but it’ll keep your heart. It’ll keep you from being just a bitter, mean, cold, mad-at-the-world individual. It’ll keep your heart. It’ll protect you.
Can I say something here for our marriages? Can I say something here? Usually the first step of you falling out of love with your spouse is when you’re not thankful for them. And you’re going down the slope, and the beginning of the slope is when you stop being thankful for your spouse.
Young people, whether it be your parents or your caretakers, whoever may be, whoever’s taking care of you, if you want to have a bad spirit towards them and not appreciate them like you ought, the first step will be when you’re not thankful for them anymore. And as soon as you’re not thankful for them, you’re going down the hill a little bit. Sarah, did you get that real good? I’m teasing divorce.
Hey, parents, for you not to love—father specifically, if your heart is not to be towards your children like it ought to be, the first step is when you’re just not thankful for that child like you ought to be. And you lose the protection. “Keep your hearts.”
Now, notice what he says: “Keep your hearts and minds.” Keep your head in the game. Here we go. Shall keep your hearts and minds. It’ll keep you from going crazy. Anybody out there, you’ve been about this close to being crazy before? How many like me? You already fell off the cliff. You are crazy. It’ll protect your mind.
When you come to spiritual warfare, it’s typically about your mind, and Satan is bombarding your mind. Sometimes just the thoughts are not clear, and he’s just trying to twist everything and get you where you’re just down on yourself and everybody in the world. The thing that will protect your mind is those five things. One of the key things is thankfulness. And when you stop being thankful, you’re opening your mind up and you’re lowering the walls for Satan to start attacking. And he’s walking about seeking whom he may devour us. He’s always looking for those things. And so it’s just imperative that I’m fulfilling those.
Original File: The benefits of being thankful - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday AM 11112021