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So...Thanksgiving Day is Over...Now What?



Introduction

We have all most likely done it or least I have for sure. With Thanksgiving Day approaching or having arrived, I have purposed in a determined way to “really” focus on being thankful. You know, really look at the amazing bounty Father has given me. Endless things to reflect on. Some of these are tangible and in the seen and then there are the many and wonderful great things hidden behind the veil of the unseen. The result is profoundly good…I’m thankful. Gratitude wells up and as I exhale from my lungs I am able to, in a deeper more sincere way, say, “Thank you Father for the extraordinary grace and mercy you have shown towards me this year, thank you.”


Even through the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend an attitude of reflective thanksgiving is maintained. It’s a great place to be, a place of being thankful. Then Monday comes. I’m not saying it’s all lost and gone, this thankful perspective, but life many times just kind of takes over. I think you know what I am talking about. The “comings and goings” of the daily grind and routine tend to supplant and drown out that great “thanksgiving” position of the heart. The intensity of deep gratitude seems to slide back to normal, whatever that is. My good friend Oswald Chambers like to call this phenomenon “spiritual leakage.” (I call him a friend because His words and I have been hanging out together for over 40 years)


This letter to my father discusses this “spiritual leakage” issue. How do I maintain a grateful and thankful heart?



 

This letter was written on November 24, 2018



Help! I've Got a Leak Somewhere!


Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! Psalm 107:1



Hi Pops,


It’s hard to live daily behind enemy lines. Sometimes it is just flat-out plain difficult, and then there are the “when you just want to scream out loud, you’ve got to kidding me, where the heck are you God,” times. We know Father is Lord over ALL, yet our circumstances don’t seem to line up with that reality many-a-day, most days for some believers. Yet, we are told we need to be thankful in all circumstances.


"Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19-20 NIV.

Paul writes: “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19-20 NIV. Even though Paul was sitting in a dark and dank prison cell when he wrote this, we kind of shrug off these words of his all the while saying to ourselves “Well, that’s Paul for ya!” We just kinda expect Paul to say things like that. Of course he can, he’s Paul, right! He's special! He can pull that kind of attitude off, but me, well, I’ll never be a Paul. You really can’t expect me to be like Paul, do you?


Hopefully, we can look to a time in our lives when maybe a little “Paul” eked out of us in a tough situation. We were actually able to keep our chin up in a tough circumstance as we leaned heavy on Father God to see us through it. And an attitude of thankfulness was actually a reality for us. Hopefully we can. If not, don’t worry, the message below will still apply.


If we had that “glimmer” of a “giving thanks in all things” heart, why the difference now? Why can’t we rekindle those thoughts and feelings of trust and thankfulness we experienced in the past, even if they were for a brief fleeting moment?




Most likely, in that “moment” we were looking up to Father, our eyes stayed on Him. We probably had a deeper prayer life going, a good daily habit of a quiet time with Father, maybe? Maybe our habits actually allowed us to spend “quality” time with Him every day? “As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master….so, our eyes look to the Lord our God.” Psalm 123:2 NIV. Maybe that was the key!? We purposed our eyes to look intently to Jesus. And subsequently He gave us His heart in the middle of it all, a heart of thankfulness. A heart that Paul had.


So, what happened to us? Oswald Chambers called it “spiritual leakage.” “Spiritual leakage begins when we cease to lift our eyes unto Him.” This leakage is not due to outside trouble but trouble emanating from within. We stopped looking up. We started looking around instead. Distracted by who knows what…we could list pages of possible distractions. But they all dramatically impact us the same…we stop looking up.


We can have Paul’s perspective of thankfulness in all circumstances if we want to. We just have to fight it out to maintain our focus on Father and not our circumstances. (Hint: we may need to ask our “helper” for some aid, but that might mean some time carved out for prayer.) We can have “True Thanksgiving” perpetually. We just have to consistently put our faith-eyes on Father, knowing “Yes, He really does have me in His hand at this very moment. Yes... He does.”


“Whenever there is leakage, remedy it immediately. Recognize that something has been coming between you and God, and get it readjusted at once.” Oswald Chambers

Let’s stay focused Pops.



Love you




Pop’s response:


"A big Amen!"




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clintamiller
Dec 01, 2022

Yes Lord - help me to be quickly aware when I am leaking and to adjust my schedule, heart, priorities, habits to look at you & refocus my heart on you!

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platosclosetspring
Dec 03, 2022
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Living behind enemy lines is to be consistently attacked by the enemy, poking holes in our faith heart vessel. Only daily attendance to it can possibly keep the enemy at bay.

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Guest
Nov 30, 2022

Thanks to Oswald Chambers and to you for putting pen to page to this thing he calls “spiritual leakage”. I know I’ve felt it time to time, and yet we as believers have every reason for every day to be Thanksgiving, Christmas and Resurrection Day EVERY day in our hearts.

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platosclosetspring
Dec 03, 2022
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Every breath I take is reason enough to be thankful and the moment I stop breathing an eternity of thanksgiving will commence.

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