Having a Thankful Attitude, Part 1 (TMF:2835)

Friday, March 20, 2026

Peace to Live By: Having a Thankful Attitude, Part 1 (TMF:2835) - Daniel Litton
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A thankful heart to God. Recalling what God has done for us, and, of course, remembering his great gift for us. Recalling what God has done for us, and, of course, remembering his great gift for us, that of his Son Jesus Christ, who has made us whole before him so that we can freely approach him to begin with. So in that awareness we can have that continual fellowship with him that we have, that commonality which each of us shares. Verse 17: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (ESV). In truth, the call behind this verse, which is the call for each and every Christian, is that of filtering everything we say and do through the Scriptures. The Colossians didn’t have what we have today, in the totality of the New Testament. We do, so we know what is expected of us, what the truth is, how we are supposed to act in our lives. The key word that Paul begins with is “whatever.” So, it is everything. He says, “whatever you do…” That’s absolute surrender, then.

Thankfulness in Our Worship (TMF:2834)

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Peace to Live By: Thankfulness in Our Worship (TMF:2834) - Daniel Litton
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Regardless, if we take the thankfulness approach to this verse, that is an interesting approach to our worship to God on Sunday mornings, and one that we may not have thought about too much. That, when we worship, that we are coming before God with a thankful heart, an attitude of thankfulness, thinking of all the ways God helped us through the week, on a small picture, and then on a big picture, all the ways God has been gracious to us in helping us with whatever it has been. This remembrance of help from God stirs in our hearts an attitude of worship toward him. It brings to mind the good things he has done for us, making things different from what they could have been, and even from the way that our enemy wanted them to be. So this adds a special layer to our worship to God, a special pair of eyeglasses, and makes it more aware, more precise in its direction, more intentional in its focus. A thankful heart to God. Recalling what God has done for us, and, of course, remembering his great gift for us.

The Church & Music, Part 6 (TMF:2833)

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Peace to Live By: The Church & Music, Part 6 (TMF:2833) - Daniel Litton
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“And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:9-11, ESV). So we see an element of holiness, as well as formality, within the worship of God. It is a more serious tone, with an emphasis on honor. Now if we think of what we just read, and consider worship in most modern churches, what do we think? Is the worship lining up with the model provided to us here in the Book of Revelation? It seems a lot of times it does, but perhaps for some it does not. And if it doesn’t, then is that something that needs to be addressed? The speaker is aware he is walking on egg-shells here, but this is some food for thought. Please don’t send hate emails.

The Church & Music, Part 5 (TMF:2832)

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Peace to Live By: The Church & Music, Part 5 (TMF:2832) - Daniel Litton
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After all, when we are singing to God, we are lifting up our voices to Heaven, and those songs are being lifted up before his throne. In order to get this picture, let’s turn over to Revelation 4, and see what the Apostle John saw in Heaven. This seems to be an interesting set of verses into what we are talking about.[Go to halfway through verse 6]: “And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures… [John goes on to describe the creatures, but let’s move down to the last half of verse 8] and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:6, 8-11, ESV).

The Church & Music, Part 4 (TMF:2831)

Monday, March 16, 2026

Peace to Live By: The Church & Music, Part 4 (TMF:2831) - Daniel Litton
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The final part of the verse “with thankfulness in your hearts to God” presents a particular debate about the use of the word “thankfulness.” That’s because the King James translators went with the word “grace.” So it says, “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” That’s a bit different, and it appears to be a point in the text where it could be translated either way. So, in understanding the grace part of it versus the thankfulness part of it, we might say that songs should be sang with a bit of eloquence, or a spirit of goodwill. What is interesting concerning this, and one thing we can look at to get an idea of music, is actually to see what it is like in the throne room in Heaven. After all, when we are singing to God, we are lifting up our voices to Heaven, and those songs are being lifted up before his throne. In order to get this picture, let’s turn over to Revelation 4, [the last half of verse 8] “and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”