This week we have the national holiday of Thanksgiving. We have seen the origin of Thanksgiving as national holiday in previous year's studies.
This year we are going to look at thanksgiving from the viewpoint of the spiritual life of the church age believer because thanksgiving is a facet of the believer's Reciprocal Love for God.
John 4:24;
Thanksgiving is a form of worship whereby the Church Age believer acknowledges the benefits related to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past and in time.
The divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past is the provision of our very own portfolio of invisible assets. Eph 1:3;
The purpose of the divine provision of antecedent grace is the function of the three spiritual skills in the soul of the believer during their life in time.
The Biblical definition of worship is the basis for the true function of thanksgiving. This definition is given in John 4:24, "God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship by means of the Spirit (the filling of the Spirit) and truth (Bible doctrine)."
Thanksgiving is worship and an expression of the functions of the problem solving devices that are arrayed and deployed on the FLOT line of the soul.
All true worship in the Church Age is based on the two power options: the filling of the Holy Spirit and the PMA of Bible doctrine.
The filling of the Holy Spirit plus the metabolization of doctrine plus the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul equals true thanksgiving.
The application of doctrine through the use of the problem solving devices produces the only true thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is therefore the application of Bible doctrine to experience through the function of the problem solving devices.
Thanksgiving has no spiritual relevance, even for believers, until they are consistently functioning under the spiritual skills. Thanksgiving is a part of the daily function of the ten problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of the soul.
Thanksgiving is a part of the spiritual life. Thanksgiving is a part of worship.
Therefore, thanksgiving must be related to the function of the three spiritual skills. Thanksgiving is not some shallow, temporary and fleeting system of gratitude for something. It is a system of worship of God; it is capacity for worship; it is capacity for life; it is a response to God through the three spiritual skills.
Thanksgiving is a moment by moment mental attitude produced by the spiritual skills in the soul. It is a part of the divine viewpoint of life. Thanksgiving is the mental attitude that comes from the function of spiritual skills. This attitude is a part of capacity for life, and is based on maximum Bible doctrine in the soul.
Thanksgiving is the mental attitude forged from cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine plus subsequent capacity for life from metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness.
Col 2:7; "Having been rooted and having been built up in Him, and being stabilized by means of doctrine as you have been taught, overflowing with thankfulness."
There is a relationship between the believer's consistent perception of Bible doctrine and their attitude of thanksgiving toward God.
Bible doctrine provides capacity for gratitude because it reveals to us our place in the purpose, plan and will of God. It also shows us that God has provided everything for us within his plan.