A Heart Of Thanksgiving
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you.
No matter what is happening in our life, the Lord is forever in
full control.
God desires that everything that happens to us will draw us closer
to Him. This is His will in Christ Jesus for all of us!
God has also given us the Holy Spirit to help us to rejoice always,
pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances.
We have so much to be thankful and grateful for what the Lord has
done in our life. Thus, we need to remember His goodness and His
love each and every day.
However, in reality, these things are not easy to do. The demands,
struggles, and worries for our todays and tomorrows often take up
more room in our hearts and minds leading to defeat and despair
rather than a heart of thanksgiving and praise.
We often forget to pause for a few moments and give thanks to the
Lord. We are always engrossed in our own daily agendas and routines,
busily doing this and that, but forgetting all about the Lord!
We continue to drown ourselves with unnecessary stresses, pressures
and anxieties that weigh more and more each day. We become more
burdened and wearisome as the days go by.
But God continues to do His work that He has begun in our lives. He
is forever faithful. We must not only remember what He has done for
us in the past and what He is doing for us in the present, but also
keep in view of what He will do for us in the future!
We need to take our eyes off ourselves and begin to look up! Yes, to
offer praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. No matter how we feel, no
matter whether we like it or not, no matter what we are going
through or struggling, no matter whether we are weary and worn out,
no matter how we think that God is very
distant from us or has let us down, we just pause and give thanks!
We cannot let the troubles and pains in our life continue to send us
spiraling downwards.
We have a choice to make each day. Yes, to give thanks to the Lord.
A heart of thanksgiving will do wonders in our life, no matter what
we are going through or facing daily.
Sometimes, God may change our situations and help us through our
problems. But very often, He changes our hearts so that we become
stronger to tackle and solve those problems, or braver to face those
situations! In Christ, we can overcome anything that happens in our
life! With Christ in our hearts and minds, we can smile in the
storms of our life! His perfect peace will reign in our hearts, and
we will be strengthened to do what really pleases Him! And our
troubles and problems will lose their grips and controls over us!
Psalm 103:1-5
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord! And we have more than a
million reasons to do so!
If interested, please view a song:
Give Thanks
Written on 31 December 2022