Our current consideration has been centered on the worthiness of God to receive worship, complete and unadulterated worship in spirit and in truth. We have seen that God is worthy of the praises of all creation and that He will receive such worship, pure and unreserved because of the great gift of Jesus Christ. The love that God is will be reflected in the hearts of those who receive and cherish the wondrous gift of God. He is to be adored and His name is to be proclaimed throughout all the ages of the ages to come.
	We have also seen the true nature of confession, that agreement with God, that we are in need of more than our humanity can offer. We can not stand in the presence of the Holiness of God and live, unless there be a divine work done in us. That work has been fully and absolutely accomplished in the Lord Jesus Christ. Since we are in Christ, and clothed in His righteousness, our physical lives are being made to reflect that spiritual truth. We are being, daily, brought to the end of our selves in order for Christ to be more and more seen as our life on this earth. These two aspects of confession, or comprehensive agreement with God for His work in our lives, is worship in every sense because it reflects our desire for Him to receive glory, even in these lives that we now live. It shows that complete agreement with God that He is the One on the throne of our hearts. We have given all unto Him and desire for  Him to make Himself known, in all His holiness in our lives. We long with every fabric of our heart, soul, and spirit for God to be glorified, magnified and praised in the lives we live before Him and before mankind.
	This, then, leads to the next aspect of our worship unto God, as delineated in I Thess.5:18, In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Our text this evening is indicative of the full course of the discussion before us, concerning true and unadulterated worship unto God. In it, we have another aspect toward our quest of being unto God all that He desires in our lives. True worship can only be forthcoming from those who are enabled, by the Holy Spirit, to give thanks to God in everything!
	Thanksgiving is an essential component of worship. In being truly thankful, we are expressing an earnest appreciation unto God for all that He is, all that He is doing, and all that He will do in our lives, in the lives of those we love, in our community, in our country, in our world, in the entire universe of His creation. We look beyond the limited vision of our senses into the realm of our spiritual nature and thank God for the fact that He is Love. Our thankfulness manifests those hearts which are set upon Him alone to worthy of praise and adoration and glory. 
	Initially, it is evident that thanksgiving is not difficult when we are receiving the manifold benefits of God in our lives. It is not too difficult to say thank you and to give God thanks when things seem to be in line with what please us, or is it? There is an area in most of us that needs the immediate ministry of the Holy Spirit, especially in this area of thanksgiving. This world age has so infiltrated our thoughts and hearts that, often, even while we are giving thanks for that which we have received, we desire more of that which we think we are owed in this life. 
	We need to learn to live lives that are content in the presence of the Lord God Almighty, ever yearning more of Him, yes, but also fully satisfied with the portion we receive of Him daily on our sojourn on this earth. There is a great truth held in Phil. 4:11-13 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. There is a tremendous difference in looking at our lives from the vantage point of God’s glory  being manifested and our lusts being fulfilled. When we are looking after our desires and our covetousness and our cravings being fulfilled, our mouths are saying thank you for meeting some of our concerns, while our hearts are looking for more and more. Have you ever noticed that many will say thank you to those who have given gifts at birthdays or Christmas, while ever looking to the next gift to unwrap, hoping for something bigger, better and more fulfilling. There is a hunger for more than we receive, and there is often disappointment, even when we receive that which we wanted most. There is never a contentment evident. 
	This contentment is so lacking, that we are often envious of others and unable to find satisfaction in anything that is a part of our lives, including those who surround us. If we are not truly content, we find jealousy and anger becoming a divisive part of our beings and our relationship as we feel that so and so is receiving more attention or better gifts than ourselves. It becomes very difficult to deal with others in the Lord, because we are constantly comparing ourselves and looking for what they have that we do not. We get ourselves caught up in a web of rivalry and frustration, because we are unable to distinguish that which the Lord is working after in our lives and in the lives of others. We become entangled and bitter in our selfishness and thereby miss the full glory of God being evidenced in worship. 
	There is a most difficult, yet vital question that we need to ask ourselves, and to keep between the Lord and our hearts, mind and souls. Thinking of our gathering together as His Church, as His Body, as His Beloved, as we are supposedly bringing worship unto Him, Who has so fully and completely blessed us in the Lord Jesus Christ, have we come with full concentration upon Him? Or, have we come, and spent the entire time in that vial and ugly practice of looking at others and comparing what they have and what we do not have? Have our eyes been focused on the Holiness of God and His complete magnificence, or have we been caught up in the web of rivalry and the putridness of comparison with our brothers and sisters in Christ?
	There is the difference that was delineated by Christ as to the thankfulness of those who are truly giving thanksgiving to God and those who are caught in the entrapments of self-deceit. Those who are not content in the Lord are like the Pharisee, in the temple giving thanks that he was not like the publicans and sinners. He was practicing a form of religion based on his own place in it. He bragged about his perceived actions of holiness, while all the time lifting himself above all the others around him. The publican, on the other hand, couldn’t even lift his eyes unto heaven, but focused his prayer on the mercy of God. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Those who are truly thankful and seeking after the glory of God are those who give thanks that God would even consider such as themselves. They know they are sinners, unworthy to even speak the name of God, and are amazed at the so great Love of God to bring such as they, such as we, unto Himself in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Such thanksgiving causes worship to emanate forth in fullness and beauty unto God. (Such love)
	De 8:10, When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. We are to bring our worship unto God for the great things He has done in our lives. We are fed, we are clothed, we are the recipients of the fullness of God. We should honor God with thanksgiving and joy in the works of His hands on our behalf. When we eat of the harvest, when we rest for another day, when we rise in the morning, it is all because of His goodness on our behalf. As such, He is deserving of the recognition, publicly and privately for the great things He has done. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, to recognize and to call forth to our consciousness, day by day and moment by moment that everything we have, everything we are, everything we hope for is all centered in the Lord Jesus Christ. He deserves our thanks and He deserves our utmost gratitude for the very lives that we live before Him. 
	Ps. 100:4, Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Fully in line with the recognition that we are individually, completely blessed by the graciousness and mercy of our God, we should gather together, and corporately bless His name. There should be a celebration, a full and unadulterated celebrating of the goodness of our God, as His Beloved. We are the called of God. He has made us partakers of Himself in Jesus Christ. Our hearts should be joined together in the absolute desire to make that wondrous work of God known throughout all creation by lives that reflect His glory. That glory is evidenced as the Body is knit together, without spot, or blemish in Christ Jesus. As we gather together, is it our heart’s desire to bring forth praise, complete and pure praise unto the Lord God Almighty? Are we joining our praise with the single purpose of focusing our hearts, our minds, our souls upon the One, the Only One Who deserves all praise and adoration and glory. If so, we are proclaiming that there is no place for anything that would distract from our bringing honor unto God. All family issues, all discontentment, all envy, all strife, all earthly concerns, all that, has no place in our lives before God. We are to bring forth the contentment in the Lord that is shown in forgiveness and the satisfaction that God has all things well in Hand and will glorify Himself as we bring glory to His Holy name.
	Ps. 107:22, And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. This passage ties in so well with the passage of our consideration this evening. Thanksgiving is easily brought to the Lord when things are going well for us. When we have abundant supplies that meet our earthly needs. When our relationships are smoothly flowing together, when our earthly life is beautiful, we can smell the flowers and thank God for all the goodness that we are seeing and experiencing. This is not difficult because we see that God is doing His wonderful work in our lives and all is proceeding on an smooth and even keel. But, when the storms begin to amass, and our lives become pelted with waves of anger and frustration from those around us, when our earthly means of support are at an end, when hardship becomes our daily lot, are we still able to say, with all gratitude form our hearts, mind and soul, “Thank you God, for you are still in charge of my life.” Do we still bring praise to His name for the great things He is doing? That is a sacrifice, because it means that we are not looking at the effects that the trials and tribulations have in our lives, but we are looking at how God will be glorified in the lives that we live, no matter what the cost to us! We are willing to lay down our lives, every aspect of our lives, for the glory of God to be manifest on this earth! 
	In everything, we give thanks because we are not limited with those eyes that see only the short range, only the immediate situation and circumstances. We look to God, the author and finisher, and we place our complete trust in Him to do all that will bring forth the majesty that our God reigns! That is a sacrifice because we lay aside our concerns, our wants, our thoughts of how things should be, and we give God thanks for His wondrous work of grace and love and mercy, despite the outward appearances surrounding us. In everything, with every breathe we breathe, with every fabric of our beings, with absolutely no doubt or hesitation, we give thanks to Our Lord God Almighty!
	Col. 1:12, Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. His work is so perfect in Jesus Christ, that our hearts are to be eternally enthralled with the joy of the Lord. Despite every earthly reason to simply wash us away with the deserving flood of His righteousness, God chose, instead, to love us unto Himself in Christ. And, He was not just satisfied with bringing us in to His presence, He made us part of His very family in Christ Jesus. He has made us His own Beloved, in the completed work of His only Begotten Son. We have been given a place in His heart and in His family. We are fully part of the inheritance of the endless riches of God in Christ Jesus. Eternity will never bring an end to the fullness of all that is part of being joined together, fellow partakers of the Love of God. For that alone, He deserves all thanksgiving, and praise and honor. 
 	Col. 3:15, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Above all else that we have already seen, in Christ, there is the tremendous aspect of the peace of God which has rule in our lives. We know that we should be thankful, in everything, whether we deem it good or bad. It is immaterial to the full bountifulness of the grace of God shed upon us through His immense essence of Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence, whether we comprehend with our finite, earthly minds the full implications of what God is doing. Our understanding is not necessary, but our faith in God to do all that will bring forth His manifestation in our lives is vital. It is our faith in God’s righteousness and trustworthiness which will establish that work of the Holy Spirit unto peace that surpasses all understanding. We will rejoice in the Lord without exception in the midst of any trial and tribulation, because our hearts will be set on Him Who is faithful to prove Himself over and over again. As we see Him, preeminent in all of creation, we will be less and less focused on our plight, and more and more assured in His tremendous plan and purpose in Jesus Christ. That knowledge, of the glory of the only risen Lord, calms every storm. Our temporary sufferings pale in comparison to the tremendous work that He accomplished once and for ever on the cross. The abiding of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, speaks peace into our beings, because He shows us the continual glimpses of the holiness of God, and the fullness of being made one together with Christ, seated at the right hand of God, in the heavenlies, even while our earthly walk is in progress. 
	Col. 2:6+7, As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. God is worthy of praise because of the great work that He has accomplished in Christ Jesus. For this we should be thankful and we should be living lives showing forth that thankfulness. We are to be walking in the way that we are taught by the Holy Spirit. That is a living worship unto God, just as Jesus Christ’s daily walk on this earth was a living worship unto the Father. Everything He did, everything He said, everything He taught was measured in terms of the glory of God being evidenced. So should our lives manifest the One Who now indwells us. The Holy Spirit is active, as we have seen, to bring forth, from these beings, the praise that is due unto God. We are being tried and tested, not with the earthly idea of being made better unto ourselves, but with the divine purpose of bringing us to the end of ourselves in order that Christ is established as our very lives. 
	When we see the work of God in that sense, it becomes vital to thank the Lord for the manifold ways that He is making Himself known in our beings. Trials and testings are not seen as destructive and horrible tragedies, but rather, in the light of Christ, they are seen as the further means by which God is establishing His reign in these lives which were worthy of nothing more than the incineration of eternity. The severe pangs of sorrow are replaced with the heart-felt peace that God is working effectively in the best and most efficient manner to bring our physical condition in line with our spiritual perfection in Christ Jesus. Rather than complaining about our plight on this earth, we should be rejoicing that God so loves us that He is working in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones to make Himself, not just known, but glorified. He is going to reveal Himself to all of creation. On that day, it will be in the perfected Church, with Christ as the Head, spotless and blameless before all of creation, that will shew forth His Holiness. All creation will marvel at the great work that He has done in humanity, through the giving of His only begotten Son and the colossal working of the Holy Spirit to bring about the miracle of the ages of the ages. His Beloved will be shown forth, radiant and pure, humble in unadulterated thanksgiving and worship. This will cause all creation to give glory to God alone and to praise Him for the great work that He has done. We are that Beloved of God, now, in Christ. We should live forth in that thanksgiving and worship, now, unto His glory on this earth. Our focus should now be upon God and His holiness and grace and mercy. Our worship should be centered solely in the desire to bless His Holy name, now, and evermore. He alone is worthy to receive all glory, glory and honor and praise, today, tomorrow, and forevermore. 
	In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.