It is so joyful to have special
days, festive days or days of celebration. It lifts up our spirits and brings in
fellowship and communion with each other.
However, it is imperative that the reason behind the festivity and
feasting & celebration is about honoring God and giving thanks to Him. Bible says in Romans 14: 6 He who observes
the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; It is good to give thanks to the Lord
everyday and it is also good to specialize a day to remember all the goodness
and blessings of the Lord and be thankful to Him.
To be thankful is nothing but doing Gods Perfect Will. He has revealed His Will in His word in I
Thessalonians 5:18 Thank [God] in
everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you
[who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].
Being thankful is feeling or being
appreciative of kindness or benefits received; It is most of the time expressive
either by words or actions. It is a very
sweet attitude.
Colossians 3:15b says And
be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].
Psalmist says about expressing the thankfulness in the
sanctuary of the Lord. Psalm 100:4 Enter
into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His
courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and
affectionately praise His name!
Ephesians 5:4 says Let there be no filthiness (obscenity,
indecency) nor foolish and sinful (silly and corrupt) talk, nor coarse
jesting, which are not fitting or becoming; but instead voice your thankfulness
[to God].
The Lord’s will is always good for us. Thankfulness to God and people around is also
associated with our well-being. People
who have the attitude of gratitude are happier, less depressed, less stressed,
and higher sense of self-worth.
According to Marcus Tullius
Cicero, Roman Philosopher, "Gratitude is not only the greatest of
the virtues but the parent of all others." Multiple psychological studies
have shown the correlation between gratitude and increased wellbeing not only
for the individual but for all people involved.
There is a curse if we are not grateful to God. It is recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 28 in
verse 47 and 48
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness of [mind
and] heart [in gratitude] for the abundance of all [with which He had blessed
you],
Therefore
you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord shall send against you, in hunger
and thirst, in nakedness and in want of all things; and He will put a yoke of
iron upon your neck until He has destroyed you.
Therefore it is implicated here that we need to cheerfully
serve the Lord with gratitude in heart.
It will definitely bring in more blessings into our lives.
Know The Schemes
Of The Enemy:
Discontentment is one of the biggest weapons the enemy
uses. It makes you feel dissatisfied
with your life in spite of all the good things you have and you enjoy. It causes jealousy, bitterness, envying,
complaining, etc. It causes you to
oppress others as well. It makes you
stingy and not generous and benevolent.
You would not be able to thank God for what God has done in your life,
but you'll always be looking at the other person.
Finally, you are not living your life to the fullest as God
ordained. It is well said “Gratitude is
not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others.” Perhaps that is why the Lord has made it one
of His Ten Commandments, not to be covetous of what is others. When we covet what is others',
it would cause discontentment with our own life causing us to ungrateful to
God. You may wish to have blessings like
car or house, but let that wish be not because somebody else has them, but let
that be because you need it for your life.
God is good and benevolent to supply all your needs according to His
riches and glory.
How do we
cultivate this lifestyle of Thankfulness:
Ask the Lord for a
Sensitive Heart:
Hard and insensitive heart cannot appreciate the goodness or
benefit or blessing. It would take
everything for granted. We need to
appreciate everything around us. Albert
Einstein said “There are only two ways to live a life; one is as though nothing
is a miracle; The other is as if everything is.” If we look at everything as a
miracle, how excited we would be and it creates a positive attitude and
gratefulness towards God. That gratitude
towards God will reflect into other avenues and areas of life.
Though there are circumstances that you would not be able to show
your thankful because of certain constraints, when you express your
gratitude in the presence of the Lord for that person or a thing and pray for
that person, though they may not know that you are being thankful
for them but the Lord knows and He sees you.
As you continue in this lifestyle of gratitude and being thankful, at
the right time, the Lord will enable you to bless those who blessed you and
express your gratitude for them in action. The Key is Gratitude in heart. For the lips
speak from the fullness of the heart.
Luke 6:45. Not just words you
would translate your gratitude into actions as well.
Journal It:
It is good to record events and things on a daily basis
because you may forget as you carry it over or procrastinate. I maintain a notebook called “Record of
The Goodness of the Lord In Year __________” I have been having notebooks like that
since 2011. I should have started it
before itself. It is better late than
never. This has been a very effective
way to defeat the schemes of the enemy and to appreciate the Lord’s goodness
everyday. Everything I attribute it
finally to the Lord. The sentence would start like this invariably
“Thank you Jesus for __________.”
Here is a simple or silly example:
October 23, 2014:
Thank you Jesus today there’s a milestone in my ministry, today my
youtube video – Closer crossed 1000 views (1314 views actually).
This is just for example, you and I can be thankful for so
many other good and great things the Lord has done in our lives each and every
day. Nothing is simple or silly. Everything counts. If we do not record them, we may forget them
and we may lose this lifestyle of being grateful and thankful to God.
Count Your Blessings
by The Martins have these wonderful lyric lines;
He had family friends and money, loved the lord with all his
heart
So the devil went to God and said ole Job would fall apart
If you would take away his fortune, let me put him to the
test
Soon poor Job had lost his health, and wealth, and all the
rest
And as his troubles added up, he fell down on his knees
He said lord I still got one thing, and that’s your love for
me
You got to count your blessing, you’ll find one if you try
Count on the lord and watch that blessing multiply
All those might have, could have, should have beens, are
nothing but distressing
When you’re down and out, its time to count your blessing
You might go through hard times, when you fall into despair
Remember you’re surrounded by his blessings everywhere
It’s in a neighbors helping hand, or in the sunshine of a
smile
One blessing leads to one more, you’ll be counting for a
while
It’s best to look at what you have, forget what you have not
And just learn a lesson from old Job and give thanks for
what you got
Find Ways To
Express Your Gratitude:
Praising God is a way of expressing our gratitude. Every morning when we get up to seek God, our
heart should be filled with gratitude for the new day, for His new mercies, for
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, for the salvation wrought through
Him, for the Holy Spirit who is with Us, for the Father God’s love over us, so
on and so forth. As we begin our day
with gratitude for God, then we become appreciative of other things in our
lives. Though you may feel life has been
so unfair or unkind to me what is there for me to be thankful for. If you are washed by the Blood of Jesus
Christ, that is enough for you to be grateful and thankful for the Lord. Just focus on Jesus Christ, His sacrifice and
His grace and what He accomplished for you on the cross and this one thing is ENOUGH
for you and me to be thankful for. He
has expressed His love for you and me by dying on the cross. This Love of God is more than enough to be
thankful for. Other things are just
additions.
Express your gratitude to God not just by words also by
actions. A teaching leader in our Bible
Study Fellowship has put it beautifully,
“Jesus Paid It All – Gratitude demands that I grow my
relationship with Him.”
“Jesus Paid It All – Gratitude demands that we live holy
obedient lives.”
Beautiful isn’t it?
Similarly, we should express our thankfulness and gratitude
to people in our lives. We normally
express our thankfulness to so many people outside our family but we take our
own people for granted. Appreciate your
husband, your wife, your mother, your father, your sister or brother, even the
little ones. Express your thankfulness
for them. As we journal everything in
our record, we also record the people who were instrumental for every goodness
and blessing, be grateful for them and express your gratitude for them in ways
you can find possible and at right times.
Make them know that you are appreciative of them.
Give thanks to the Lord for the Lord is good and His Love
endures forever!!
Hope this post is a blessing to you. What are you grateful for today and what are
the ways you follow to cultivate this lifestyle of gratitude? Please feel free
to share.
This time of the year has always been a blessed time. Happy Thanksgiving!! God Bless!!
Written by Shanta S. Daniel
[Copyright@ Permission is granted
to duplicate this article in its entirety, but only without additions,
alterations or omissions of any kind, including the author and ministry name at
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