The Other 6 Days

An Attitude of Gratitude | The Other 6 Days | Episode 64

• Southwest Church • Season 3 • Episode 64

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Pastor Ricky Jenkins joins us on this episode for a conversation around gratitude, the in's and out's & few of the things that get in it's way. In the busyness of life, gratitude is one of the greatest ways we can put the joy of the gospel on display for all to see during the holidays.

- BOOKS:
 - The Joyful Christian by CS Lewis (https://a.co/d/dnDEF0v)
 - Max Lucado - How Happiness Happens: Finding Lasting Joy in a World of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations (https://a.co/d/6KMLz3R)
- SCRIPTURE:
 - Read through the Psalms!

For more information or to join the conversation, head over to https://southwestchurch.com/theother6days or email us at theother6days@southwestchurch.com

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SPEAKER_03:

Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Other Six Days Podcast, where we chat about life outside of Sundays and what it means to live from our gatherings and not just for them. Um I'm your host, CJ McFadden, here today with Pastor Ricky Jenkins, and we're here for a conversation around gratitude, some of the ins and outs and a few of the things that might get in its way. Our desire today is to help our listeners discover some ways to put the joy of the gospel on display this holiday season. So before we jump in, Ricky, on the topic of gratefulness, what's a memory or a moment that you remember not being as grateful as you should have been? You know, that time when something got in the way of your gratitude and you missed out on an opportunity or maybe needed an attitude adjustment.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, the the the real question is, which one of those?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, which one do you want to pick?

SPEAKER_01:

I can remember uh in high school um when I was trying out for um the the got the it wasn't a gospel musical, but the musical Annie. Okay. And I really thought I was kind of hot stuffed. Yeah. And it was a musical, right? So you have to audition and all the things. Well, you kind of have that baited breath moment where it's good just to get a role, but I wanted like the star role, like daddy war bucks. That's what I wanted to ball headed makeup the whole nine, you know. And you know, sure enough, the page comes out, man, and you know, Daddy Warbucks, you know, Dennis Thompson and the Chief Butler, John Witherspoon, all these folks, you know, and next to my name it said extra. Like, I didn't even get a name. And it was, I was a tenth grader, I wasn't a senior like all those guys, but I just like how dare! And it like I should have been glad just to get into the musical. But man, the fact that they put me so low, I always I got in the way of the whole experience. Oh no. That's the first thing that came to mind among many stories I have. So what about you?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh man, I uh well, growing up, my mom said that I was like the definition of an ungrateful child. I didn't I didn't mean to, I mean, she was just always saying that, but I always was moving on to just the next thing. Uh-huh. So one Christmas, I remember this one, like it was uh like the most like like prominent um memory. As my mom said, uh, for weeks we'd been making out our Christmas list, you know, like all kids do, but I wouldn't stop talking about it. So my mom finally had it and was like, hey, she's like, you're not getting anything until you can learn to be grateful for what you have and think about others more than yourself. She's like, I just want you to think about others more than yourself. That's great. And I was just like, oh man, like I can't believe that. So what I did in response to that was I went and wrapped every my mom went on a like an errand or something like that. So me and my sister wrapped everything in the house. So we took her wrapping paper and we wrapped up all of our toys, all of our stuff. She came home and the living room was filled with presents. And we were like, dude, I was like, this is it. Like, my mom's gonna be like, You're thinking about other people, you know? But I just wasted like$200 in wrapping paper. Like, and so I just remember like it was like one of my first like key moments and like, what is gratefulness? What does it mean to like, you know, uh think about others more than yourself, and you know, all of the things that are wrapped up in that stuff?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, your first opportunity to process it, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, see the virtue in it. That's really cool. Yeah, so yeah, but um, yeah, anyway, kind of a funny story. But yeah, well, we we hear the cliche all the time, having an attitude of gratitude. Um, give a little context to this idea of gratitude from a common or cultural standpoint, maybe. Like, what do you think is most people mean when they say or hear this?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know, we shouldn't overthink it, right? The quality of being thankful, and thereby I would say the the this the fruit of it, you know what I mean? And or or or living it out. Um, so scripture says, in all things, give thanks um that we are to come into his gates. The psalmist literally calls us that our first response to um in interacting, encountering, experience the presence of God should be one of gratitude. So I think the best metaphor, there's several metaphors, but the best metaphor for me in scripture is um Isaiah 6. So the prophets called. It's interesting, it already been called. But, anyways, he has this encounter with God and he sees the cherubim and the seraphim, I think it was. Anyways, he sees the the manifest presence of God as far as what God will, whatever he sees God. Yeah, and of course, there's these angelic creatures around him, and as these cre creatures house the presence of God, they say holy. Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, which is a a a biblical word that just means um nothing else is like you. And they say it over and over and over again. And the idea is that insofar Yahweh God is infinite, right, that we will spend an eternality discovering his person and deepening in our knowledge of his awe and wonder. The idea is that for all eternity, whenever they were created, these angelic beings see the presence of God, the glory of God, and see new layers of him. And so their reaction is holy. Oh, nothing like you. Oh, there's still nothing like you. And so the that that's the believer. That's that's you and me. Yeah. That as we journey with Jesus and we continue to learn more of him, see more of him, realize more of his goodness, that our natural response ought to be, thank you. There's nothing like you. There's nothing like this. And so it really is the fleshing out of it, right? Like that's authenticity, that's pure, purely thinking that way as a construct for our godliness, for lack of a better phrase. But it's it's it's Thanksgiving, gratitude is as germane to the Christian walk as anything else you're gonna experience. It should be an eternity of saying thank you because we see a new aspect of who God is and what he's doing in our life. So that's why they say, you know, it's one of the reasons why I think they should say the attitude of gratitude.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, and we definitely understand that from like a believer standpoint, and like, but most of culture and stuff, like there's kind of this idea, right? That the it's just key to is like just to put on a smile and muster it up and you know, find that thankfulness deep inside, almost like a fake it till you make it kind of thing, right? Well, you know, that and there's you know, we can flesh that or uh unpack that. There is some partial, partially true, that is partially true, but um, I don't think it's something you muster up, right? Like it's as far as just from a standpoint, it's easy to be grateful when things are good, you know, but much harder when things get tough. So finding that like gratitude is really tough, like in the midst of anxiety and frustration and worry and things like that, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It really is. It's it's it's one of the reasons scripture, in my humble opinion, calls us to thanksgiving because the norm default is to be thankful when I have so-called a so-called reason or an impetus with from which to be thankful. Right. Scripture calls us to stretch beyond that to recognize that there's always something to be thankful for. Yeah, right. And so part of my discipline is giving thanksgiving, even when I'm not feeling Thanksgiving, right? Like um, mom didn't make a cake tonight, you know? Yeah, yeah, but she's made cakes before. Yeah, she's gonna make cakes again. Yeah, and hey, this A A C is pretty cool. Yeah, and these clothes I didn't pay for is pretty cool. So hey, mom, thanks. You know, I don't really feel excited about it. But thank you. Yeah, it's it's a pretty good deal that I got going on here. So yeah, I I don't know for lack of a better metaphor. I think that.

SPEAKER_03:

I actually like the foundation that you said at the beginning because like when you were saying like that kind of uh revelation, holy. Yes, like that whole idea is that it's this re recurring thing, yes, that even for a split moment when you don't feel it or know it, yes, it's coming again. Yeah, and that recognition, we can do that as a believer, right?

SPEAKER_01:

There's yeah, we'll enter in the word discipline, yeah, right? Like act like a thing is so you know, so no, because God says so, and just kind of hear, don't hear fake, yeah, but do hear perfunctory. Like I'm just gonna do it because I know I'm supposed to. Yeah. Even then, yeah, right? Like there's something about um an entree into the feeling of Thanksgiving when I'm obedient to the discipline of Thanksgiving that I think I've experienced in my life. I wish I would experience more of it, you know what I mean? But I think that's our opportunity. I don't know if there's a prayer you should start off without first pausing and reflecting on God's goodness and what he's done for you and saying, thank you. Even when you're in crisis, there's still something that God has done for you that is worthy of thanksgiving and praise. And this is what I've learned. That's first of all, you're supposed to do that just because it's the right thing to do, but it's the healthy thing to do. It's the happy thing to do. It's the it's the thing that actually begins to draw me in to the feeling or the nuance of what it means to be thankful just by opening my mouth and obediently thanking God for who he is. I think it's just a spiritual principle there. So wow.

SPEAKER_03:

No, that's really good. No, I like that. What do you think are some things that might get in the way of our gratitude?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, um, I th uh it's so easy to start off with the obvious, right? Um I'm a jerk, I'm I'm selfish, I'm greedy, I got an attitude. You know, I'm thinking about me, not think I'm thinking about what I don't have, not about what I have, and all the other isms that go with that. And that's true. But man, to be a bit more empathetic to the human experience for those who are out there listening, a lot of times urgency, the urgency of my moment, right, prevents me from coupling the urgency and the the tenseness and the fear I feel with a bit of the calming, you know, virtues of Thanksgiving. So for a lot of people listening, we know, we get it. Selfishness stops me, greed stops me. Yeah. But sometimes the urgency stops because, man, God, I need you to do, I need you to heal my daughter. God, I need you to get my me a job. I got laid off. Man, God, I'm sick. I need you to touch my body. And all these things that God calls us to bring to him. Yeah. But if you're not careful, man, it becomes this kind of you start to actualize your relationship with God as more of a cosmic slot machine kind of relationship. Right? There's not exchange anymore. Yeah. And so I think the discipline of gratitude is just as important, you know what I mean? For when we're in a so-called good moment where we're just needy and dependent on God to move in our lives. But even in that, brothers and sisters, he's worthy of our thanksgiving and our praise. And I've been there, and I know you've been there. Yeah. You know, like I thought I had liver cancer a year ago, you know, and it's just like when you pray, God, help me, take, take this away. But even in that, God, I'm scared to death. But you know what? Even in this, thank you for my life and my health and my strength. And if it be your will, Lord, keep me around for a while longer. You know, all that kind of stuff. And it's a di here, hence the word discipline. Yeah, right. Yeah, practice it. That's it.

SPEAKER_03:

Man, that's so good. I man, so many thoughts were going through my head when you were saying that because I was thinking about like even for myself, like you know, I was thinking distraction, uh, my desire to control uh my situation and my surroundings, which pulls me out of being present in the moment for the things God has for me and wants to do. I mean, one of the things we see that Jesus was most of was present in the moment and as he went, right? He was getting pulled here and there, and he would show up fully engaged with intentionality in the moment that he had to do what needed to be done for those people. And so I find that's when I miss out on my biggest opportunities. And those are the things where I'm like, man, I missed out on the joy and the gratitude, the fulfillment and all of the real stuff in it. You know what I mean? When I miss out on those moments. So I'm like, man, how do I, how do I be more present? How do I keep stay open-handed? How do I, it all starts to kind of come together with this, you know, attitude of gratitude, this discipline, this practice of being present in the moment and say, God, what do you have for me? Yeah. And I um I was just thinking about, man, there's just, yeah, there's so much in that. But um, yeah, anyway, I don't know where I was gonna go with the rest of that.

SPEAKER_01:

No, no, I mean, that's just I mean, nothing I think we're saying doesn't resonate with a lot of people. But boy, it gets, I think it's gonna keep coming back to this discipline thing, you know. If if if I can get in a rhythm of I'm gonna pray every morning, you know, I'm gonna get on my knees and I'm gonna invest time with God. And I know biblically that one of the boxes I need to check in order to show up well for God and in order to give God license to show up well for me is to check that box of gratitude and just tell God thank you, you know. Now here's my thing. If that discipline, if I keep brushing my teeth, I'll have good teeth. If I keep walking 10,000 steps a day and not eating potato chips, I'll lose weight and look good. And if I if I if I say thank you every day, and this is scientifically proved, by the way. Yeah, everything changes.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, we've done studies now that gratitude decreases the level of cortisol cortisol in the body, the stress hormone. Yeah, stress hormone, yeah. Like literally makes me like I don't even have to change anything, but just say thank you more. Yeah, I get healthier, yeah, mentally clearer. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, the oxytocin and uh and uh what is that um you know, your all the other stuff. Yeah, all the smart stuff. That's smart talking stuff. That smart sounding stuff. I was like, I was like, I think I might have gotten that word right. I'm not sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So just the discipline of it.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, what's the difference too? There's a little nuance there, or quite a bit, and the difference between happiness and gratitude, right? Yeah, I think um because we use happiness pretty flippantly, right?

SPEAKER_01:

We do. Um, I think gratitude is this response to God's grace. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah. Um, I'm gonna appreciate that, right? Yeah. I think happiness is what I get from receiving whatever it is I receive. Yeah, good or bad. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because I'll feel happy, you know. So if you put some wingstop, garlic, parm, lemon pepper in front of me right now, I'd be happy. Oh. I'd be happy from what I receive. But it wouldn't be a good thing. It'd be fleeting. It's short-lived. Very short-lived. Very short-lived. But man, but in light of God's grace, God's favor in my life, God's kindness, God's generosity towards me. That's that's gratitude. And so one one of one of them is is is unquestionably qualitative. Right. And the other one is more so reactive. Yeah. Oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_03:

So I was thinking when you were saying that, I was like, thank, thank God for the swing stop, and then thanks God for another breath in my body for another breath today. Two very different things. That's right. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_01:

Because Lord, I probably took breaths from my body to enjoy breaths with this lemon.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, that's way too true. Oh man. Well, um, so one of the things I wanted to uh kind of the source of gratitude. I think a lot of people might miss this. Um, and I think it's something kind of key to camp on, is uh, you know, and uh it says, Oh, what was the verse here? Um being thankful is one of the definitions, actually, and it says being. And so the only way to be truly grateful is being found is found only in being at peace with God through Jesus Christ. And so truly we know that as a believer, like kind of driving towards like finding peace with God. That's good. And that that's how we're being with it. You know, Romans 5.1 says, Therefore, since we've been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's good. So it's found in the presence of his the presence of his Holy Spirit within us, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. This is the kind of the dividing line for what it means to be people of faith, right? People who trust in scripture, trust in the gospel. I cannot be truly um grateful for the solution if I'm not very aware of the problem.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01:

And so the awareness that we have as believers, that our problem was that we were out of fellowship with God, that we were distant from God, that we were destined from an eternity in hell instead of our rightful place at the feet of Jesus in heaven forever. But God has sent his son into the world, right? And so he has fixed that, he's remedied that, and thereby becomes the very centrality, right? The focus of my gratitude. I can appreciate, I can say thank you, I can be grateful for this solution Christ has given me because I'm aware of the problem for which I needed him in the first place, which is all the passages we see. Philippians 4, 7, God's peace that surpasses all understanding. Colossians 3, whatever you do in Word of D, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the God through the Father, through Him. It all abounds because of what we understand that Christ is and how he has mediated our worst, most severe problem. That's our sin.

SPEAKER_03:

So good. Yeah, his love through his sacrifice. Uh, I wrote his mercy from uh his mercy from punishment and his grace through salvation. So that we get it all wrapped up in there. I mean, really that gratitude from his graciousness and showing grace to us and we what we pursue.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and we're you know, I know we're gonna talk about how to do that, how to how to rehearse that in your life, but friend out there listening, you know, I know you got problems. Uh you got stuff you need God to do, and it's real, and I got my list too. But man, one of the key features I think of enjoying your relationship with Jesus is to constantly remind yourself of what he's already done for you. Yeah, absolutely. Right? Because when you understand that, you understand that, man, anything else he does is a bonus. Yeah. It's a good deal. I've already gotten the one thing I needed that I do not deserve.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, let me take a breath, Laura, because this job ain't that big a deal compared to that. That. Right? Yeah. It's a big deal, but it's not not compared to that. And gives us perspective for how to show up in our rhythm.

SPEAKER_03:

So that's something to truly be grateful for. It is, man. Thank God.

SPEAKER_01:

It is.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, what do you think? Some there's some things that we can do that are practic uh practically to help foster an attitude of gratitude.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think um, and I'd love for you to jump in on this too, but man, I th what what does it mean? What does it mean for me to believe in my heart what I know to be true, which is I have much to be thankful for, right? And to act on that regardless of feeling, regardless of sentiment, regardless of attitude, I know it's true that I have much to be thankful for. So I'm literally gonna start off my day and I'm gonna create spaces throughout my day, and I'm gonna close my day by telling God thank you. And I mean that verbally, visibly, you know what I mean? And vulnerably, yeah, as it were. Like to truly like I really do mean it kind of perfunctorily, like robotically. Like I'm gonna check that box. I'm gonna do it. And I'm gonna use a word here that's gonna freak some folks out because I use this word to mean bad every time. But do it religiously. Like religiously, like one thing I'm gonna do every day is tell God thank you. In fact, I'm gonna tell my brother in Christ thank you. I'm gonna tell my wife thank you. I'm just gonna I'm gonna check that box every day. And so I think I I think one begets the other. I think saying thank you promotes a feeling and an attitude of thank you. You know what I'm saying? I just think it begets the other.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, there's a behavioral psychological experiment back in the day where they made people in a room um smile and try to get them to hold their smile day after day after day after day. So some days are bad days, some days are tired days, some days are I don't feel like doing this day, some days are bad attitude days, but they'd literally do it every other hour. And they make you hold your smile, and I forget the number of seconds, whatever it was, but they make you hold your smile. Then they would write down the feelings before the smile versus after the smile. And time after time again, it didn't matter what the feelings are on the other side of being forced to smile, the feelings changed. And science would say what they learned is that there are muscles in my face and in my mouth that when I smile, it triggers neurons in my brain that stirs up stuff that makes me feel good. Endorphins and all this kind of stuff. So even if I'm sad, but made my body smile. The brain's like, oh wait, okay, whoa, we're happy. Something, hey, hey, let's change some stuff here. Yeah, and I literally feel it.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Now I think that's true of the gospel. Yeah. I think I can come to prayer, I can come to small group, I can come to church having a bad day, not really feeling it. But I'm gonna smile by lifting up my hands in worship today. Yeah, I'm gonna smile by being obedient to the call for generosity. I'm gonna smile by writing down these notes as this sermon is preached. I'm just gonna say thank you in my prayer. I'm gonna say thank you to my brothers and sisters in Christ.

SPEAKER_00:

I think the spirit tells everybody, hey, we're we're trying something different. We're gonna, hey, let's, let's, let's, let's, hey, put, put, put all the energy towards the heart. Something's changing here.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think it really does affect us. That's a long roundabout way to say that man just doing thank you, yeah, helps you feel the thank you. So that's my first two cents. What would you add to it?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, actually, that leads right like what right into what I was thinking, and that is the the kind of uh export of that. So you you would say you're you know, uh smile and then do that. I'm thinking like what that does for someone else potentially that's watching you, knowing your circumstance, what you've gone through, and saying I'm watching him live out his faith and what he knows to be where he finds joy and hope and those things. So he's putting on a smile, even though circumstance might not constitute that. Yeah, and then I you know, on the other side of being thankful, you know, the res and the result of us showing appreciation is then what we're ready to usually return that kindness to someone else. So it's kind of that that step further. Yeah, so like uh the idea is that if I'm grateful, I'm so grateful what for what God has done in my life. Why how could I not be grateful? Or uh how can I not be gracious towards others?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

In light of what I've been shown, how do I not show that to others? And so it's kind of this play out of God's grace. So the more that that becomes a reality in my life, that plays out into how I show up for others.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, it's interesting. Um, the inverse of that is all true too. You know what I mean? So everything that we we said, I've noticed that I can do the good, righteous thing God calls me to do, yeah and thereby feel better about it, more encouraged in it. Yeah. Right? More, more grateful because I obeyed God and showed Thanksgiving. But I cannot do that and feel worse. Yeah. Right? So, like, like you you got a choice to make and you're gonna get better at whatever choice it is you make. So you I I went to a ball game, um, high school game. My kids are in elementary, but they wanted to go to the their high school, their it's all a Christian school, so they wanted to go to the high school game because it's homecoming. And that's the last thing I feel like doing, because when I go to homecoming, I'm I'm at work. Like everybody is just I I hate it. And I just had the worst attitude. Yeah. You know what I mean? And I'm just like, and I'm trying to stay out of the way so no one talks to me because I'm just I'm tired. I don't feel like, you know. Yeah. And finally, man, I just got a scowl on my face because I'm just like, please, I'm trying to give the message, please, please leave me alone. And one of our sisters in Christ at this church, who I love, who's a good friend, um, she's just I'm just being short.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey Ricky. Hey, oh, cool. And she finally says, Are you okay? Yeah. And she's close enough to ask me.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And the spirit convicted me. And the spirit basically says, How's this working?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You know? Like you've basically decided that you want to be a jerk and have an attitude and not talk and not engage. How do you feel any better?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I was like, I feel way worse. You know what I'm saying? So an act begets the other. So which act do you want to? And I want to encourage, you know, the act of gratitude, the action, the obedience, the faithfulness of gratitude, man. You know, this a seed that you put in the earth and it bears fruit. And what kind of fruit do you want to bear? That's very convicting now. I'm sad.

SPEAKER_03:

I literally was so convicted. I when you said that, I was like, Well, which one am I going to choose? I didn't realize it was a stewardship thing.

SPEAKER_01:

And you and me are big eights, yeah. So, like, we're we that's where we live.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm like, I know the export of choosing gratitude and what it does elsewhere. And I was like, oh, what is the consequences of not? That's so good. In light of what God's sports. In light of what God has given me, like, how could I not? Well, I can't. I can hold on to it myself, which makes me feel horrible because the beauty of being gracious to others is that whole reciprocated piece of knowing that I'm fulfilling what God has, all of the things, and I'm like, oh man, I'm the stop block for that. Uh-huh. Yeah, me too. Oh, that's very convicting. Yeah, yeah. Now we're sad. All right. Well, you know, there's that. Yeah. Thank you for Jesus. Yeah, exactly. So, what do we do in our situations and circumstances that um don't give uh don't give us much to be grateful for? Like, how do we deal with those things?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, well, you know, I think the heed the call of scripture, you know what I mean? The psalms are filled right with the exhortation to give thanks. And most of these are written by a guy who was on the run for his life. That's true. David. And yet he still says, Give thanks. He's good in this.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

He's got something for you in this. He's he's working on you, he's doing something.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, and I think seeing how in the scripture, so many of our spiritual examples show us gratitude in the very confines of adversity. Yeah. You know, uh, Paul in prison, David in his cave and on the run from Saul, the the apostles in the book of Acts on their missionary journeys, constantly thankful. Paul and Silas bound in prison, still singing hymns of praise. My adversity is not a license to step out of worship and thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Right? If anything, they seem to be an invitation into an even more holy of holies places with God. Yeah. Right. Ricky, give me some Bible. I'm glad that you asked Philippians. Oh, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

God is saying, you get to know me, yeah, and I'm not gonna take off. You know, it's not intermittent. And so learn how to give me thanks when when when when you're in the midst of the storm, and there's an intimacy there for us that I'm excited about. And I've I've witnessed that, you've witnessed that. We've been through stuff. We end we got some stuff now. Yeah, but I'm I've had that kind of week, like up one hour, down the next, because it just life is lifing right now. But when life lifes back up, CJ, it's the Lord saying, See?

SPEAKER_02:

See, see, I'm here, I'm good, I'm feeling, I'm here, yeah, I'm here. Trust me.

SPEAKER_03:

We've done this before. We've done this before. Hey, man. Man, and yeah, I I just always go back to in the midst of those low moments. If if you know, thank God that this life isn't all that there is. You know, uh Eli Paul says, we are the most to be pitied if this was all that there was. So our eternal hope lies in a kingdom inheritance and the presence of God with God, to know him and to be with him. And so I always like, you know, I when things are low, I always lean into that. So um it's good. This uh whole when I was doing this whole thing, I had to mention it. That have you ever heard that song Don Moen from uh Give Thanks with the Grifflard? That was I that was like growing up, that was our church song. That was our one of our our generation's hymns. Yeah, exactly. The Hosea music. So yeah, that one always comes to mind as soon as someone says give thanks. I'm like, I start singing that song in my head, give thanks.

SPEAKER_01:

We should try that one on one of these Sundays.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, that's a good little, yeah, like little tag there, huh? Yeah, it is a good tag. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_01:

All right.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, as always, we hope our conversations are engaging and helpful. Uh, any books, podcasts, or resources you want to point people to?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, C.S. Lewis is great on all these kinds of um ethereal things. The Joyful Christian, C.S. Lewis, Max Lakato, how happiness happens, finding lasting joy in a world of comparison, disappointment, and unmet expectations. And then I just want to encourage folks to get in the Psalms, right? Like they call us to Thanksgiving, regardless of the context, so many times. It's just good to sit in there. If you're a new Christian, especially, learn how to sit in some of that, right? To give you echoes of God's witness that Thanksgiving doesn't work like the world's Thanksgiving, right? We don't create a holiday for it. We don't wait until this moment, and all those things are good, but we have a livelihood of Thanksgiving that's happening in our hearts every day of every week. So, Psalms. The Bible helps us get there.

SPEAKER_03:

Amen. Well, and as always, guys, we'd love your questions, your comments, and your feedback. We just appreciate knowing you know what this does for you. Uh, feel free to leave comments on YouTube if you're just listening. You can email us to at the other six days at southwestchurch.com. That's the number six. The number six. Number six. And then uh go over and follow us on social media too, on Insta and the TikTok. We'd love to uh engage with you guys on our social media channels, a lot going on there. So Ricky, any other uh final thoughts, comments, uh encouragements?

SPEAKER_02:

Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because he's given Jesus Christ his son. Oh, we even do it. Yeah, perfect.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, there you have it, guys. Thanks for joining us on another episode of the other six days. Be sure to hit the subscribe, follow, share, and like, spread the word, and as always, take what you've heard and turn it into something you can do to further the gospel and the world around you. Until next time, peace.