The Power Of Understanding True Thanksgiving/Gratitude
There are so many things that we can find ourselves thanking God for like a car, home, children, job, food and clothes to name a few. But when God tells us to be thankful by chance are there reasons outside of what we may think He says that we should be thankful.
Being thankful espeacailly during challenging times can often be difficult. Because our minds will have us to focus more on the negative than anything that could be a positive.
Thankfulness and Gratitude can also be based on our perspective and our relationship with the Lord.
Psalm 95: 2 says "Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!" This is not predicated on what our current challenges or circumstances may be.
Colossians 4:2 says “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” This is a command and also not predicated on our circumstances.
2 Corinthians 9:11. “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
Through our generosity to others they themselves will give thanks to God. Our generosity can cause others to give thanks and praise to God.
Hebrews 12:28-29 "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"
The kingdom of God that you are a part of cannot be shaken. Therefore we can always be in a state of thanksgiving and assurance of His love for us and the fact that He has our back in every situation. That His consuming fire can come into our situations and make it into exactly what God intends for it to be. But like a good Father He will not make us do anything. We have to submit ourselves to His will and His way and His guidance.
Psalm 106: 1 "Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."
This scripture is a clear indication that irregardless to what is happening or not happening in our lives He deserves the praise!
Hebrews 13:15 "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
When we see people in the midst of trouble praising God its not because they are in denial. It is because they are acknowledging the God they serve and the fact that they are on the winning side regardless.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”-
This is our one and only job!
Psalm 100 “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”-
Joshua 6: 2-5
2 And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat.
Let us watch the walls of the enemy in our lives fall down as we praise God with a heart of Thansgiving!