#60: Grow with Chlo– Thanksgiving and a Grateful Heart

Chloe walks us through 3 Bible passages that mean a lot to her and how they can help us to be grateful this Thanksgiving season.

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Transcript

Chloe Adams: 0:11

Hi friends, welcome back to Grow with Khloé, with Khloé Adams, and today we are going to be talking about thankfulness, really, just because thankfulness is a topic I'm pretty passionate about and also Thanksgiving is coming up, so why not?

Nate Williams: 0:27

I think I don't know what you think about this. I think Thanksgiving is a very underrated holiday, that you have Halloween that gets a lot of airtime. Christmas naturally is a massive holiday, but I think Thanksgiving is really important and the values are very Christian like. But anyways, that's side note.

Chloe Adams: 0:50

No, I totally agree. I kind of feel like my opinion has changed a little bit this year. I used to be very stuck on like, yes, christmas music starts or not, december, november first, like right after Halloween, but kind of have shifted a little bit this year because I just really feel like we need a time to just slow down and be thankful for everybody and everything in our life, and so I'm kind of pushing the Christmas music back a little bit this year.

Nate Williams: 1:15

That is good to hear. I'm a Christmas music grinch. In my opinion, christmas music okay. You can play it on Christmas Day.

Chloe Adams: 1:26

That's it Okay. I disagree with that because I love Christmas music. I love it. So my opinion right now is I personally won't willingly play Christmas music right now. However, if I hear it on the radio at work or something, I'm not going to complain.

Nate Williams: 1:44

Well, I worked retail and I had to hear Mariah Carey five million times a shift and I just I got so burned out that I became a grinch and I said okay, you can play Christmas music on Christmas Day, Listen to your favorite songs once or twice, and that's it. But I recognize, that's just my personal thing.

Chloe Adams: 2:08

I get it. I work at a PT clinic and so we play the radio and they play the same five Christmas songs over and over again.

Nate Williams: 2:14

Favorite Christmas song. Do you have one?

Chloe Adams: 2:17

That's a really really hard question. I really like Christmas Day by Chris Tomlin and we the Kingdom because I am personally a huge we the Kingdom fan.

Nate Williams: 2:27

Great.

Chloe Adams: 2:29

And well, okay, there we go.

Nate Williams: 2:30

So sorry I took us off track a little bit, talking about Christmas music, but today we're talking about thankfulness. So what you got for us, chloe, yeah.

Chloe Adams: 2:38

so I've basically just kind of took some time to study some verses about thankfulness in the Bible and I picked three that just really really stood out to me and I was able to make points from each of those. So, yeah, I have three points today with three verses to share with us as well.

Nate Williams: 2:59

Okay, let's do it.

Chloe Adams: 3:00

All right. So the first point is, our thankfulness should never be conditional on our circumstances. So the verse that goes with that one is 1 Thessalonians 5, 17 through 18, which says Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Nate Williams: 3:18

That's a good one. So, chloe, what I hear you saying is that if I'm having a real bad day and things are not going my way, I can complain all I want and I can be a whiny baby.

Chloe Adams: 3:32

No, because we're actually going to be talking about that a little bit later. I have another point about that exact thing. Actually, thankfully, it should technically negate those negative feelings, because it kind of just puts us in a position of humbleness and realizing all that we have to be thankful for.

Nate Williams: 3:49

Yes, absolutely. God's blessed us in so many different ways. So, even if we're all going through some tough times to some degree I know some more than others but if you take the time to think about it, God still gives us lots of blessings, even in the darker periods of our lives. So what else you got, Chloe?

Chloe Adams: 4:10

Yeah. So something I noticed about this verse that when I was studying it was that it says give thanks in all circumstances. It doesn't say give thanks for all circumstances, which basically is saying that God is in control in every single situation. So we can be thankful in every situation, not just for the things we have, which, yes, we can be thankful for that as well, but even if we're in the worst situation that you can possibly imagine, we can still give thanks to God.

Nate Williams: 4:37

I like that notice of the preposition there, which is important for Bible study, particularly with Paul Paul and prepositions. I was just talking to Zeke about that. He's off the camera now but just popped in for a moment. Prepositions are really important in Paul Paul's letters. So can you go over that distinction again between in all circumstances versus for all circumstances? Can you repeat that part?

Chloe Adams: 5:05

Yeah. So I feel like giving thanks in all circumstances is just like basically saying no matter what happens, even if you're in quite possibly the worst situation you can ever think of, you are still thankful and you are still thankful for where God has put you, because you know that he's put you there for a reason. If you're thankful for all circumstances, I think that's fine. You can thank God for where you are and what he's given you.

Nate Williams: 5:31

If you're going through a miserable time, you don't have to be like hey God, I want to be miserable 24 seven and just put me in the situation always. You don't have to be fake like that.

Chloe Adams: 5:42

You know what I mean, but you can still be thankful in any circumstance. Yeah, and I feel like it also goes back to the point that I made of being conditional. I feel like being thankful for all circumstances can kind of get conditional, because you're like, oh, thanks God for giving me this, so can you do this now? Or you know, Got you.

Nate Williams: 6:03

You try to bargain, okay. So that's point number two. Hit us with the third point.

Chloe Adams: 6:08

Well, that was point number one.

Nate Williams: 6:10

Oh, that was all. Point number one my fault. Point number two All right.

Chloe Adams: 6:14

Okay, okay. So point number two is that we can use thankfulness as a means to replace anxiety in our minds. The verse I have to go with that is Philippians 4, 6 through 7. And that says do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and a piece of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Nate Williams: 6:38

That's a beautiful verse.

Chloe Adams: 6:41

So that is a verse that I've hung on to a lot, especially during my undergrad years of college, because I'm someone who has dealt a lot with anxiety. Although I've never been clinically diagnosed with anxiety, I have still faced it in my life because I'm someone who likes to be in control. I'm very type A.

Nate Williams: 7:03

No, I didn't know that at all.

Chloe Adams: 7:07

So yeah, when things start to get a little out of hand for me, I start to get a little worried and anxious just about everything in my life and then sometimes that can lead me into anxiety attacks. That's like the worst of situations, but, praise the Lord, I don't think I've had one in maybe a little bit over a year which is really good, but I've also been out of school, so I'm hoping that I've kind of learned to manage it a little bit since then. Thank you all.

Nate Williams: 7:30

Yeah, that's wonderful yeah.

Chloe Adams: 7:33

But another thing I wanted to bring up about anxiety is that it's estimated that American out of all Americans, 30% struggle with an anxiety to disorder at some time in their life, and that doesn't even include the people that have anxiety but are not clinically diagnosed, such as like me. So I think everybody at some point deals with anxiety in their life and it has become like a really major thing in the US. But Something I learned I don't know if it was from a podcast or a sermon or something like that I Learned that your brain actually can't respond to anxiety and thankfulness at the same time, which is really interesting out again cannot so your brain cannot respond to anxiety and Thankfulness at the same time.

Nate Williams: 8:20

That's fascinating.

Chloe Adams: 8:21

It's because anxiety is a negative feeling. Thankfulness is a positive feeling. How can you be Anxious about something when you're thankful for what you have already?

Nate Williams: 8:32

That's really interesting. I might ask you for let's see if there's a Article or study or something where that's talked about.

Chloe Adams: 8:42

Yeah, I think that would be useful.

Nate Williams: 8:43

I can post it when I go to post this episode. I can put that in like the comments or something so people can see it.

Chloe Adams: 8:49

Yeah, I was kind of doing some reading on it before and I'm not sure if maybe it has something to do with it's like in the same area of your brain, because your brain can only I mean, your brain is fascinating first off and it's really confusing so, but it might just be that it's in the same spot or it might just be because, hey, this is a feeling of the negative feeling and this is a positive feeling, so they can't coexist.

Nate Williams: 9:12

Yeah okay, well, wonderful now, before I say point number three, because sometimes my counting skills are challenged Is that complete number two or is there more.

Chloe Adams: 9:23

Actually one more thing, because I said I mentioned it earlier when you asked about the complete can I just complain all I want but then say, oh, I'm thankful. So Thanksgiving, I wrote down Thanksgiving in prayer During and like, say, any kind of anxiety or anxiety attack. It actually guards us against a complaining spirit. I think that's mostly just because we can Recognize where we are in life and who gave all that we have to us.

Nate Williams: 9:49

Yes, it's goodness.

Chloe Adams: 9:52

Thankfulness is a great weapon against Ungratefulness, unhappiness, bitterness for sure so that's a wonderful spirit to kind of try to develop this, being thankful because I think when you step back and realize All that you have to be grateful for, even if you have everything taken away from you, you still have God. Yes, you can even look back at at the book of Job. We've been studying in Sunday school class. He still praises God, even says even if you kill me, I will praise you. That's powerful stuff.

Nate Williams: 10:24

I think of with that, like Daniel the Shadrach, meshach and Vendigo in the fiery furnace, just like, hey, no matter what happens, we worship God and we're gonna. We'll be okay with what happens because we know God's gonna take care of us.

Chloe Adams: 10:39

Yep, and we don't live by feelings, we live by faith?

Nate Williams: 10:42

Absolutely no, not by feelings, but by faith. That's a great way of putting it.

Chloe Adams: 10:47

Okay, all right. So point number three is that God is worthy of our Thanksgiving. The verse I have to go with that is Psalm 100, 4 through 5, and it says enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name, for the Lord is good, his dead fast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. I Think what this verse is saying I is that we basically we thank God for who he is, not all that he can do for us. I mean, like I said earlier, I think it's okay to thank God for the things you have, but we need to also realize those are all material things given to us by God, and God is the giver of all good things, I think it's in.

Chloe Adams: 11:27

James maybe, where it says every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father, and also from the verse we can see that God is good in all things, he loves eternally and he's faithful for all the years to come. So I think that in and of itself is something to be thankful for.

Nate Williams: 11:44

Absolutely, and I hope for those of you listening out there maybe watching on YouTube or wherever, maybe listening on the podcast that you find these things encouraging, that we are to have hearts of thankfulness and see all that God's done for us. But also, I like what you just said Imagine you're friends with someone and you only wanted to be friends with that person because of what they did for you. Well, eventually that person's going to feel used oh, you just want the gifts, but not the giver. Exactly so we have to remember that God has given us a lot, but the best part about God is God himself, that his character, his being, he loves us, he's our Father, our caretaker and, yes, that means he's going to give us a lot of gifts, but also he's just wonderful in and of himself.

Chloe Adams: 12:35

So that's a great point you made and his grace too. I mean all that he's given us we don't deserve at all. I mean God could have created this world and given us a terrible life, but he didn't. He gave us amazing things like nature and friends and family, and even the air that we breathe. Like that's a miracle to me, because me being in the medical field, like, I see so many times where, like or like when I'm studying the, you know the human body, how air flows through the lungs, like it's just insane how much has to come together for someone to just take a breath, and all that happens when you take a breath. Like it blows my mind.

Nate Williams: 13:13

It's incredible All that God's done for us and the marvels of the body and nature. We just had a fun conversation just finishing up on aliens that I know Zeke had a blast talking about and, anyways, I drove Zeke crazy is basically what happened, but you'll have to check out that episode to see how the conversation went. Anyways, you know you're exactly right, chloe. God is an amazing creator. So anything else, chloe, or does that wrap it up?

Chloe Adams: 13:44

I maybe have a couple more things. Do we have time?

Nate Williams: 13:46

Yeah, we got time, we got time.

Chloe Adams: 13:48

Okay, okay. So first off I just want to talk kind of like my experience being in the physical therapy field. I encounter a lot of people who you can tell they're not thankful because they're complaining about where they are, some ability they've lost. But all I can think to tell them is just like you're breathing, like you're alive, you literally have seen a new day and that's just like I'm. That's amazing to me, that like we get the chance at life every single day and that's just so beautiful, like I got a blow's my mind.

Nate Williams: 14:26

And oftentimes, unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't even help people like that, but this might Just. When that's almost taken away, you can see how precious life is you can see how incredible the gift of life is, and it wakes people up but, sometimes they have to have that almost taken away before they realize it's like when anybody goes through a death, like saying their family or something.

Chloe Adams: 14:53

Then they start to feel so much more grateful For the people that are still in their lives and they start to hold them a little bit closer, because life is a gift and we don't know when that can be taken away. It could be any time, any day, but we can. Right now, in this moment, we can be thankful. We can choose to be thankful for that. Sometimes, thankfulness is a choice. It's not always easy, especially when you have bad days, you're going through an anxiety attack. You have to choose to be thankful. You're not gonna automatically feel Thankfulness yes, choose to be thankful.

Chloe Adams: 15:23

I think that's a great point I think, honestly, this my last point, but I think when you're a Christian, I think thankfulness just naturally flow out of your life, because you realize every single day of God's love for you. Insinning in Jesus, to die on the cross for your sins and then raised from the be raised from the dead, that's just like, that's just incredible, and that he would do that for us and even though we're sinners and we fall short every single day, he still forgives us and still loves us. So we always have a reason to be thankful for anything, as long as we're Christians.

Nate Williams: 15:55

Yes, if you are in Christ, the reasons we have to praise God really never end. I think of the song. Are you a fan of the reckless love song?

Chloe Adams: 16:06

I like. I personally like it, but I can understand where people Get off sometimes with the reckless part.

Nate Williams: 16:11

People quibble on that whether the love of God is reckless or not. But how does the course go? The never ending, never failing, is it? Never, failing next.

Chloe Adams: 16:25

Never ending, overwhelming, never ending reckless love. There we go.

Nate Williams: 16:31

Okay, I'll get there because yeah, it has been a moment. That was a very popular song for a long time. But love of God is overwhelming, but we need to take the time to really meditate on these things, think on them.

Nate Williams: 16:44

Have. Our quiet times are devotional, so that'll be maybe a future episode. Is you know how, when it comes to reading our bibles, how we go about doing that? Or if I wanna devotional reading, what should I do for that? So that might be a future episode. Anyways, clothe, you wanna take us home where you want me to?

Chloe Adams: 17:03

I'll take us home, I guess I'm. I hope this podcast is really encourage you to be thankful this week just for everything god is giving you, even if it's just the life and breath you have, and I hope that you all have a wonderful thanksgiving and Just get to spend it with all your loved ones.