Thanksgiving is not just a holiday.

It is a way of life.

As we study the scriptures with Scott Pauley today,

we pray that God will help us learn how to develop grateful hearts and hopes.

It truly is amazing how much truth is found in just one verse of scripture.

We've been examining Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 20, where the Bible says,

giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In our last study, we learned that gratitude brings us to God. It's not just about us. It's not

just about material blessings. It's about the giver. and it is about the one for whom the gifts come.

And that's the Lord Jesus. It brings us literally to God. You remember in the Old Testament, the Bible says that God inhabits the praises of his people.

One of the great joys of developing a thankful heart is that it brings you into a consciousness of the

Lord's presence. It makes you think about God. It makes you look up and look beyond your circumstances

and see the Lord. But I want to bring you one final thought from this portion of scripture.

You see, though this one verse is powerful and can stand alone, it actually

connects to all the verses around it. As a matter of fact, Ephesians 5 verse 20 is in a larger paragraph.

It is, it's in an ongoing sentence. There's not a period in the end of the previous verse, and there's

not a period at the end of verse 20 because it's all connected. You see, every text has its context.

We've learned that there's an action to thanks, giving.

We've learned that there's a duration of thanks, giving thanks always.

We've learned that there's a motivation of thanks, giving thanks always for all things.

We've learned that there's a direction of thanks, giving thanks always for all things unto God.

We've learned that there's a relationship to thanks, giving thanks always for all things

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