Prov 17:22 says ‘A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.’ 1 Thess 5:18 reminds us to ‘give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ The Bible has much to say about thankfulness and gratitude, but so often, we need to be reminded of the many reasons we have to be cheerful.

The Biblical phrase ‘give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures for ever’ occurs lots of times in the Bible (see 1 Chron 16:34; 2 Chron 5:13; Ps 106:1; Ps 107:1, 8, 15; Ps 118:1, 19, 29; Ps 136:1-3, 26; Jer 33:11.) Ultimately, we can give thanks to God no matter what our circumstances or temperament, because thankfulness is rooted in who God is and what He does, and not in ourselves. We looked at 5 reasons to be cheerful:

1. God is good (Ps 119:68) and since He never changes, His goodness is there all the time, even through heartache and misery. We know that even when heartache hits like a hurricane (‘Even If’, Kutless), that does not change God’s nature and we can hold on to all we know is true about Him. Rom 8:28 reminds us that God will bring good from every situation.
2. God loves us unconditionally and nothing can change that! Rom 5:8 reminds us that whilst we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Not only does God love us, but we are assured nothing at all can separate us from that love. (Rom 8:38-39)
3. God never leaves us (Heb 13:5). No matter what we go through in life, we don’t have to go through it on our own. Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans (John 14:18), but has sent His Spirit to be with us at all times. We find we have life and hope and power to do the right thing when we allow God to live in us, and so we realise we don’t have to be a Christian in our own strength; we have all of God’s strength to help us and we are never alone.
4. God has a purpose for our lives (Jer 29:11), so our lives are not meaningless. We are called to join in God’s good work by letting other people know of His love, by becoming Christ’s ambassadors. (2 Cor 5:17-21)
5. That purpose goes beyond our lives on earth. The fact that God raised Jesus from the dead so that He is alive for evermore means that we have a hope beyond this earthly life. Even when our bodies die, that’s not the end of the story. Even if on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where it really counts, God is making new life. (2 Cor 4:16) The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead and is now alive for evermore means we have the hope of resurrection from the dead in the future. Paul says that Jesus is the ‘firstfruits’ of all who have died. (1 Cor 15:20) Jesus’s resurrection is God’s sign to us that there is more to come, that we don’t have to be afraid of death, because Jesus has defeated death.

These reasons to be cheerful are indeed good medicine for our physical, spiritual and emotional health, and will help us to connect with people positively!

Tonight’s ‘Churches Together’ meeting looked at the topic of thankfulness and gratitude. We made crosses where we wrote our own reasons to thank God:

Our reasons were varied, including thanks for our families and friends, pets and animals, food and places. On the notice board, we also looked at things we are thankful for:

A taster session is meant to give you an idea of what something is like; it provides (to continue the food analogy) a flavour of what is to come. Universities run ‘taster sessions’ for would-be students, giving them the opportunity to attend lectures and visit departments so they can decide if a particular course is to their taste. Leisure centres may offer taster sessions so that you can discover if you would like to do particular sports. Slimming World classes sometimes hold taster sessions when people can try out the recipes they recommend to decide what they would like to eat in future.

This is a ‘taster session’, so to speak, for next week’s Bible study, when we will be looking at 1 Cor 15:12-34. In this passage, Paul is looking at the certainty and hope of the resurrection of the dead because of Christ’s resurrection. A key verse is ‘But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.‘ (1 Cor 15:20)

‘But God…’ is a phrase found in many Bible verses, some of which I looked at at the start of 2013 (see here.) It’s a phrase which completely turns the situation around. ‘But’ is a ‘conjunction which is used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned.‘ Paul has been looking at the dire situation we would be in if Christ had not been raised from the dead (a situation which includes still being in our sins and being pitied above all) and affirms categorically that we are not in this position because Christ has indeed been raised from the dead! A similar phrase can be found in Acts 3:15 and Acts 10:39-40, where we see the contrast between the hopelessness of death and the hope of the resurrection.

Last time in the Bible study, we looked at the foundations of our faith and how to explain the gospel to those who do not yet believe, determining what is really essential to be saved rather than simply interesting to know about. The picture below goes even further: ‘defining the gospel in two words – but God.’ God’s intervention in history in the person of Jesus Christ is what the gospel is all about.

Don’t forget the ‘Churches Together’ meeting this Saturday (17th September) at 6 p.m. at Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church on Market Street, Goldthorpe. It’s a great opportunity to get together with Christians from local churches and find out more about what’s going on in the area. We are focussing on thankfulness and gratitude at this service and we have so much to be grateful for! God’s goodness and love are the bedrock of our lives, giving shape and definition to all we do. Please let others know of this service and come along if you can. Refreshments will be served after the service.

On Saturday 24th September from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, we are having our Macmillan Coffee morning, supporting the work of this wonderful cancer charity. Come along to ‘spot the cake’ and enjoy home baking and other treats!

Don’t forget our usual services, either. On Thursday (15th September) we’ll be prayer walking in Goldthorpe, leaving the church at 7.30 p.m. Sunday services are at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. and our Monday night youth is running again (6.30-8.30 p.m. for 5-11 year olds) and Parent & Toddler group on Fridays (9.30 -11 a.m.) Coffee mornings are every Saturday from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, with badminton for adults on Friday evenings (7-9 p.m.)

I subscribe to an email called ‘Moodscope’, which offers thoughts on dealing with depression and mental health issues. Today’s thoughts were entitled ‘the garden of your mind’, and said  our minds are like a garden, protected by a wall, continuing, ‘Within that wall is a fertile garden, open to nurturing and growing any thought, idea or imagination that takes root there. The Garden of the Mind does not discriminate but rather multiplies anything that is sown – good or bad, resourceful or unresourceful, positive or negative. Which is why it is wise to guard the garden.’

The Bible, of course, has much to say about guarding our thought life (see 2 Cor 10:5, Phil 4:8-9). I have been contemplating gardens recently, as I have been making chutney from the tomatoes grown in a garden. It’s almost impossible to believe how many tomatoes have been grown from a few tomato plants, giving us the positive side to growth. But growing good things requires vigilance against the slugs that would eat the tomatoes, against the weeds that would choke life and so on. Growth requires pruning. Fruitfulness generally needs a gardener to make the most of growth.

We are the gardeners of our mind, responsible before God for getting rid of the weeds of thoughts that are not tamed by Christ, refusing to let our eyes and ears dwell on things that do not reflect His beauty and goodness. The reverse is also true; as we allow good thoughts and positive images to grow in our minds, we become more like Christ. The email goes on to say, ‘The great news is this stuff just works! What you look at will grow in the garden of your mind. What you listen to will grow in the garden of your mind. Who you mix with – their behaviours, attitudes, habits – all are infectious! Do you know someone with an infectious sense of humour? You’ll catch it if you spend enough time in their presence! Do you know someone with infectious joy? It’s catching!’

As I eat the chutney I made, I’m reminded of the need for vigilance in gardening, but when we guard the thoughts in our mind, the fruit is worth it!

When we take out insurance, it always pays to read the small print and discover if we are fully covered for all eventualities: quite often, there are ‘get-out clauses’ or excesses to pay before we can receive anything from the insurance company in the event of a claim. Stephen spoke tonight about the differences between insurance and assurance.

Jesus is the light of the world (Jn 8:12). Unlike insurance policies which may well leave us in the dark over what level of cover we truly have (or at least, require us to read the minuscule print in order to know our full rights!), Jesus gives us the security we yearn for. Job 24:22 reminds us that the ‘mighty’ often have no assurance, but God’s people know the protection God gives and that makes a difference to us. There is a clear distinction between light and darkness and Jesus is able to bring light into all situations and to give us ‘great assurance’ in our faith in Him (see 1 Tim 3:13).

Matt 6:26 reminds us that we are more valuable than the birds of the air; because of the value God places on human life, we find His evaluation of our worth and situations enlightening and life-changing. When God is in charge of our lives, we have ‘total cover’, total protection and assurance, and His light is able to shine into every aspect of life and transform our lives to His glory.