Thanksgiving

Published by Stanley Pouw in 2015 · 29 November 2015

1 Timothy 4:1-5 says, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

In verse 1, the Holy Spirit is describing “in later time” what is happening right now where some people are departing from the faith. They are thinking that it is more fun to do things for themselves and they listen to what people say in social media and the internet, which the bible says are “deceitful spirits and teaching of demons.” All religions that do not believe in Jesus come from and are controlled by the devil and deceitful spirits.

Verse 2 says that we have these false teachers, controlled by these evil spirits, who are so affected such that their conscience is burned and non-existent. Who controls the mind of false teachers who teach others to focus on number one, which is themselves? Who controls the mind of people that focus on all the things that the world is showing you?

1 John 2:15-16 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world.” And we know that evil spirits and demons reign in the world for a temporary time set by God.

Who controls what you read and watch on the internet? Who do you think controls the mind of these people that blow themselves up to kill others? These are lies of false teachers influenced by deceitful spirits that make the false promise that you will earn heaven if you sacrifice yourself and kill other people. A lot of evil is perpetrated in the name of false religions and many people are lured by clever lies on the internet to join evil spirits in their efforts to go against God’s teachings.

Verse 3, “who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” This describes some things that, according to these false teachers, are forbidden and we have examples right around us. There is a rule against marriage for priests and nuns, and there are many other religions that have strict laws against eating pork or non-kosher foods.

We can spend many hours on many more false teachings beyond these examples that are going around in this country and all over the world, but the purpose of these verses is that we recognize the source of all this, which is the devil himself and his evil demons. Anything that promises happiness and fun and excitement that does not come from God, is from the devil and he is a liar and a deceiver.

Everything that Lucifer promises is a lie and he has been like that from the beginning of time when he was expelled from heaven. And whatever God created that is good was copied by Satan which is fake with the opposite purpose to do evil. The devil wants to destroy us with things that look good and are enticing outwardly for a short period of time but really lure us in his trap to destroy us. Sin always looks good and feels good and the devil knows what your particular weaknesses are and he exploits them to the max.

Now in verse 4 is the key phrase, “everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected,” but there is a condition to this, “if it is received with thanksgiving.” God gave everything to us in order that we will realize that those are all gifts of God and because of that we thank Him. Some of these good things sometimes do not look so good even to us, believers. But when you receive gifts and thank God, you fulfill its purpose. And later on maybe you will understand that God indeed is good all the time even when at first you suffer.

The greatest good for people is that we become children of God and be with Him in heaven forever. And sometimes we need to experience hardship for us before we are able to realize our deepest need. Going to prison is bad but if in prison we are converted to Christ than that is the best thing that could ever happen to us. Becoming deathly ill is terrible but if that drives us to Jesus, than that is the best thing for us. Losing your wealth is bad but if that makes you realize that true happiness only comes from the Lord, that that is good.

So the first error of apostates and their false teaching was the failure to thank and praise God for what He made. The second error was to fail to understand that everything He made is good, not evil. And the third error was failure to believe what the Word says because it says it is good. God said in Genesis 1:28 and 29, "It is good."

Verse 5 says, “for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Everyone receives general blessings from God like nature and life but only believers receive God’s special goodness because they have an intimate relationship with God the Father that is manifested by doing the Word of God and by prayer. We ask for power from God, because we know that without Him we are nothing spiritually.

Think about all that you have received from God, from the largest gift, your salvation, to even the most mundane things that you maybe are taking for granted like your health, your work, your family, your possessions, like your ability to worship God and your ability to use your brain, and your ability to hope and to trust and to tell others about this amazing God that you know. Spend time and meditate on all this and read Scripture and be thankful for all that God has given you, Amen.