Tag: gratitude

I am completely sure, I will see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth. Stay with God! Take my heart. Do not quit. I now say it again: I’ll stay with God . Psalm 27

Psalm 27 New American Standard Bible

A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the [a]defense of my life;
Whom should I dread?
2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
3 If an army encamps against me,
My heart will not fear;
If war arises against me,
In spite of this I am confident.

4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the [b]beauty of the Lord
And to [c]meditate in His temple.
5 For on the day of trouble He will conceal me in His [d]tabernacle;
He will hide me in the secret place of His tent;
He will lift me up on a rock.
6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer sacrifices in His tent [e]with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

7 Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“I shall seek Your face, Lord.”
9 Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
God of my salvation!
10 [f]For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the Lord will take me up.

11 Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies.
12 Do not turn me over to the [g]desire of my enemies,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And the violent witness.
13 I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

Word of God for the Children of God

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Cultivating a Heart of Gratitude Even in Uncertainty

Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

It’s always been a favorite holiday of mine.

Family, friends, pie, and pure gratitude for all God has done over the past year.

But this year might be a bit different. Right?

Depending on where you live, there may be financial restraints from the recent 43 day government shutdown, limiting health concerns, weather restrictions.

Depending on current circumstances, what losses you’ve experienced recently, you may not be feeling very motivated or thankful for the blessings, memories. 

How do we cultivate a heart of gratitude in the face of loss and uncertainty?

The Psalmist, David, wrote, “Seven times a day I praise you…Great peace have those who love your law and nothing can make them stumble” (Psalm 119:164-165). 

I’ve been meditating on his words all week.

What’s striking about this passage is that David lived a very uncertain life.

Anointed to be King as a teenager, he waited a long time for the fulfillment of that promise.

At least 15 years or more.

During that time Saul hunted him and tried to kill him many times.

David lived with continual uncertainty even after he became King because there was always an enemy threatening Israel.

Yet, David writes, seven times a day He praised and thanked God.

I believe David’s passionate praise was the key to his resiliency.

I also happen to believe that it is the key to our resiliency. 

When we choose to give thanks to God – even when we don’t feel like shouting, “Hallelujah” – God is pleased.

How do we do this in light of all the uncertainty surrounding us?  

Set an alarm on your phone. 

Develop regular rhythms of praise and giving thanks.

A little discipline will help.

Is it hypocritical to praise God for who He is when everything in your life is falling apart?

No. It’s called a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15-16).

Use the alarm on your phone or ask Siri or Alexa to remind you.

Seven times a day, stop.

Pause, give thanks to God for either an attribute of His or a blessing in your life.

By reminding your brain of the good and holy character of God, you train your brain towards peace.

Create a list of the attributes of God and keep them handy.

Stop whatever you’re working on 7 times a day for a few seconds and praise God for His character.

I bet if you did this for a month, you would begin to experience more joy and more peace than you ever thought possible.

Try it. I dare you!

Thank and praise Him for simple gifts.

You can thank Him for simple things: “Lord, I thank You for the beauty of the blue sky. I thank You for the cup of hot coffee. I thank you for the beauty of the snow on the mountain peaks out my window.  I thank you for the joy of clean water to drink.”

Make it a habit to thank God for everything!

This is what Paul meant in I Thessalonians 5:18 when he wrote, “Give thanks in all circumstances.”

This is the hardest part … No matter how dark the circumstances of our lives.

No matter what we are grieving, we can cultivate the habit of giving God thanks for every gift, whether small or great. 

Find the blessing of each day. 

Think of it as a treasure hunt.

Every single day of your life holds a treasure chest of blessings.

It’s a gift to be alive and to be able to know God.

So teach yourself to pause, look for, give thanks for the blessings of each day. 

Every evening at dinner, I reflect back on the day and write down in a journal three blessings of the day. Even in seasons of great pain, finding the blessings of each day has helped, will help, us rediscover just how wonderful life can be.

Friend, this will likely be a different Thanksgiving for many of us.

You might be grieving losses that are deep and dark.

Find the courage to stop and praise God 7 times a day, give Him thanks for even the simple joys of life and learn to find the blessings of each day.

I guarantee you’ll live a more joy-filled and peaceful life. 

While Thanksgiving Day is special, for the Christian it is only a starting point.

Thanks/living is so much grander.

“Thanksgiving really should be thanks living—a way of life—morning, noon and night—continually, forever giving our very highest thanks to the Lord.”

It’s a lifestyle, showing gratitude in action, every day and at all times.

Thanks living begins in the mind, filters through our attitudes and plays out in our actions.

I believe there are many ways we can build on Thanksgiving Day to cultivate God-honoring Thanks living.

1. The Foundation of Thanks living

Jesus is the foundation of a life of thanksgiving.

Our gratitude is rooted in Him—including all we have and who we are because of His sacrificial work in us.

Our foundation must be in the Lord, seeking Him and His righteousness first.

Lack of gratitude was evidenced in mankind’s initial disobedience and continues today in all who rebel against God.

Gratitude is a response to the great mercy we’ve been shown.

People may or may not express gratitude as a result of common grace. 

Only one of the 10 lepers Jesus healed returned to thank Him.

But “A thankful heart,” John MacArthur says,

“is one of the primary identifying characteristics of a believer. … No matter how choppy the seas may become, a believer’s heart is buoyed by our constant praise and gratefulness to the Lord.”

Thankfulness is, in fact, a command for the Christ-follower,

“God has commanded it—for our good and for His glory. God’s command to be thankful is not the threatening demand of a tyrant. Rather, it is the invitation of a lifetime—the opportunity to draw near to Him at any moment of the day.”

And that is Thanks living.

2. The Framework for Thanks living

Our habit of gratitude forms the framework for thanksliving.

Authentic gratitude builds on the foundation of Christ.

We receive all things from His hand.

We must learn from the Israelites whose gratitude was wavering and conditional—thankful when God delivered them, but murmuring when He didn’t.

Grace rather teaches us to actively pursue and practice gratitude.

We count our past and present blessings and are receptive to what God is doing in and through our lives in the present.

We are grateful not only for what we have and can do, but also for so many things did not touch our lives in a negative way—burdens, hurts and troubles.

And with maturity, we will even learn to be grateful for the trials, knowing  Romans 8:28 is true: “… all things work together for good….”

“No matter what our circumstances,”

Dr. David Jeremiah said, “we can find a reason to be thankful.”

J. I. Packer says much the same: “The habit of celebrating the greatness and graciousness of God yields an endless flow of thankfulness, joy and zeal.”

Gratitude comes hard in our entitlement culture; we often have an ungrateful mindset. But we must teach our souls the truth, and choose thanksliving.

“Gratitude is a decision of the will,” Pastor Chuck Swindoll said. “Deciding to be thankful is no easy task. It takes work.”

We must learn to desire the Giver more than His gifts, and thank Him for His steadfast love and goodness. He is a “good, good Father,” and our first daily habit should be thanking Him for the small things, the simple pleasures.

3. The Focus of Thanks living

In a culture of “more,” there’s a lot of whining and grumbling; we’re not happy with our many blessings, and focus instead of our losses and lack.

We dwell on what is difficult or inconvenient and take things for granted.

But like Paul, we can learn to be content, and that is the focus of Thanks living.

“It is not how much we have,” Charles Spurgeon said, “but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.”

Spurgeon also reminds us, “God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”

Most Christ-followers need an attitude check.

“God has promised to supply all our needs,” Elizabeth Elliot said. “What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.”

People want food, a job, education, medical care, peace, and freedom—and I have all of these. How can I be discontent? How can I not express gratitude?

How can anyone not say “thank you, God” from the first moment they wake up?

In the name of God, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit

Praying …

Psalm 100 New American Standard Bible

All People Exhorted to Praise God.

A Psalm for [a]Thanksgiving.

100 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with jubilation;
Come before Him with rejoicing.
3 Know that the Lord [b]Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and [c]not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter His gates with [d]thanksgiving,
And His courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting
And His faithfulness is to all generations.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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So Overflowing With Thankfulness, Transformed by the Truth; Planted, Rooted, Watered, Built Up In Christ. Colossians 2:6-7

Colossians 2:6-7 New International Version

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

If we walk around with a full glass of water, and someone ‘accidently’ bumps into us unexpectedly, whatever water is inside it will come flying, spilling out.

The same principle also applies to our Christian character: if we are filled with water flavored with hair triggered bitterness, ingratitude, envy, or jealousy too, then it won’t take much (.001%) of a “bump” for what is within us to overflow.

As Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians, whom he has never seen or interacted with in on the ground ministry, he encouraged them in his writings, instead to be marked by a grateful, thankful heart, a key characteristic of the Christian life.

The word Paul uses to describe this thankfulness, “abounding,” comes from a fairly common Greek word, perisseuo.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/col/2/6-7/t_conc_1109007

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4052/kjv/tr/0-1/

In other places in Scripture and in other English translations, its root is translated as “overflowing.” Paul’s meaning is clear: when people “bumped into” these believers, the overspill, he instructed, was to be thankfulness.

When men and women have not been transformed by Christ, ingratitude—along with its resulting bitterness, complaining, anger, and malice—often marks their lives. In Christ Jesus, however, believers trade ingratitude for abounding, overflowing thanksgiving, bitterness for joy, and anger for peace.

Having heard of God’s grace in all its truth and having turned to Him in Psalm 51 repentance and faith, we have all of our sins forgiven. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We have a new family in the church of God. We have eternal life ahead of us. We have complete access to the heavenly throne room in prayer.

In other words, we have so very much to be grateful to God for. Abounding, Overflowing Thankfulness becomes the song, the overflow, of the Christian.

This kind of gratitude has significant effects. It turns our gaze to God and away from ourselves and our circumstances. It defends us against the devil’s wiles, whispers, which incites us to despair and to distrust what God has said.

It also protects us from pride, eradicating from our vocabulary phrases like “I deserve more than this” or “I don’t deserve this.”

And it allows us to rest in the knowledge God works out His loving purpose not only in pleasant and encouraging experiences but also in unsettling and painful ones. It is only by grace alone we all learn how to “give abounding, overflowing thanks in literally all  circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, emphasis added).

The antidote to thanklessness is found only in union with Christ. Do you see in yourself any lingering ingratitude over what God has chosen not to give you?

Bring it to the foot of the cross, seek Christ’s forgiveness, and ask for His help to see all that you have been freely given in His gospel. Set aside a time each day to write down and recount to yourself the blessings from God you have received.

Then you will authentically, truly, abound and overflow with thanks be to God.

Overflowing with Gratitude

Colossians 2:6-7 Amplified Bible

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in [union with] Him [reflecting His character in the things you do and say—living lives that lead others away from sin], 7 having been deeply rooted [in Him] and now being continually  built up in Him and [becoming increasingly more] established [a]in your faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing in it with gratitude.

Here is a biblical guide to living an exciting, zestful life: Obey him, follow him, converse with him, draw upon his grace, lean on him, look to him for comfort.

That is how to continue to live in him.

Three things have happened to you, says Paul.

You have been rooted in Christ.

Like a deeply rooted tree, you have been planted in Christ and those strong roots will hold you.

Secondly, you have been built up in him. Not only are the roots going deep, but you are growing up as well. You are increasing in faith and experience.

And thirdly, you have been strengthened in the faith.

You have tested it, put it to work in your home, in your neighborhood.

You have had to face problems which were tests, your faith was strengthened by them.

As these three things take place, we are to add one more:

we are to be overflowing with thankfulness. 

Be grateful to God for everything he has given you, no matter what it is.

Have you learned yet to be thankful in everything?

That means you do not grumble, complain and criticize.

You cannot have it both ways.

To be thankful means to find something in every situation for which you can genuinely be grateful.

The great Bible commentator, Dr. Matthew Henry, once was robbed as he walked along a highway.

Afterwards, he told his friends there were four things for which he gave thanks.

First, he was grateful that he had never been robbed before.

Secondly, he said, Though they took all my money, I am glad they did not get very much. That was something to be thankful for.

Thirdly, he said, Though they took my money, they did not take my life, and I am grateful for that. 

Finally, he suggested, I am thankful it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed. 

There was a man who had learned how to be overflowing with thankfulness!

Have you ever learned to talk to yourself and ask yourself questions?

If you read the Psalms, you will often find you are listening to a man talking to himself. 

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you so disquieted within me?

The psalmist is standing at a mirror shaving, feeling blue, and asking himself, What’s the matter with you? Why are you like this? That is a good thing to do.

When you ask yourself questions about yourself you must also ask, why didn’t worse things happen?

Look beyond what has occurred and realize it could have been much worse.

Then discover all the things which God has supplied and which you have been taking for granted: his care, his love, the shelter of your home (whatever fits your situation), and begin to give an over abundance of thanks for those.

If you do, expect something will happen: you will find yourself turned on, not turned off about everything. You will find your life filled with zest, vitality and excitement. You will have discovered the answer to abundant boredom is God!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 30 Revised Standard Version

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave Illness

A Psalm of David. A Song at the dedication of the Temple.

30 I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast drawn me up,
    and hast not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to thee for help,
    and thou hast healed me.
3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol,
    restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.[a]

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
    and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment,
    and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
    “I shall never be moved.”
7 By thy favor, O Lord,
    thou hadst established me as a strong mountain;
thou didst hide thy face,
    I was dismayed.

8 To thee, O Lord, I cried;
    and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
    if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise thee?
    Will it tell of thy faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
    O Lord, be thou my helper!”

11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing;
    thou hast loosed my sackcloth
    and girded me with gladness,
12 that my soul[b] may praise thee and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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