Thoughts From "Tha Streetz"

Good morning people of God,

Haven't talked out loud to you guys in a while. Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Anyway...I wanted to tell you guys something that we've been seeing and practicing in the streets so you can use it in your own lives should you choose.

1 Timothy 4:4 says, "Everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." The context is that Paul is writing to Timothy over the issue concerning food sacrificed to idols which was a big deal in that day and time, and was counseling him on what to do. What we noted is that Paul doesn't discount the fact that there is power in food sacrificed to idols but instead argues that thanksgiving in connection with prayer and the word of God is powerful enough to nullify the power enlisted by the sacrifice.

What Paul is teaching Timothy is a principal that we are learning in our ministry which is that of the sanctifying power of thanksgiving. When we give thanks to God for anything, our thanksgiving has a purifying power and this is a spiritual warfare weapon that we as a street ministry team had largely ignored.

Instead of giving thanks when we saw small progress we focused on all the work that we still yet had to do. What we realized is that the devil was robbing us of one of the most powerful weapons God had hidden for us to use, that of our thanksgiving. In this we could have accelerated what God was doing and engaged His sanctifying power in each situation instead of ignoring it and not finding room for celebration which would have brought God's purifying power flowing mightily into a neighborhood that needs just that to really live.

Now we are making the change. We are committed to giving thanks for even the smallest advancement realizing that in our thanksgiving we are engaging in life giving spiritual warfare that has the potential to transform any and every situation. Instead of complaining that so-and-so got drunk again, we praise God that so-and-so has been sober four days this week. Instead of complaining that this person has only been to church once in the past two months, we celebrate that they came four times in the past year.

The results are amazing! Not only do we feel better spiritually and emotionally, but we continually see the cup as half full. The enemy has a much more difficult time getting us to lose faith in situations because we are constantly looking for any little thing we can give thanks for to begin the cycle of sanctification that Paul counseled Timothy about.

Think on it.

Love you guys,


N8