“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
It is difficult to be thankful every day. Thankfulness is an emotion connected to our current situation.
“Being thankful is not telling God you appreciate the fact that your life is not in shambles. If that is the basis of your gratitude, you are on slippery ground. Every day of your life you face the possibility that a blessing in your life may be taken away. But blessings are only signs of God's love. The real blessing, of course, is the love itself. Whenever we get too attached to the sign, we lose our grasp on the God who gave it to us. Churches are filled with widows who can explain this to you. We are not ultimately grateful that we are still holding our blessings. We are grateful that we are held by God even when the blessings are slipping through our fingers. “ Craig Barnes
I love the last part of that quote. My thankfulness in Christ should not be grounded by worldly blessings, but on his grace & eternal love! I should rejoice each day because he has saved me from death. Christ Jesus took my place on the cross so I could escape eternal damnation! With that in mind, I should have nothing to complain about. Every blessing I have been given is a gift, I do not deserve anything.
Psalm 103:1-5
Let my whole being bless the Lord! Let everything inside me bless his holy name! Let my whole being bless the Lord and never forget all his good deeds: how God forgives all your sins, heals all your sickness, saves your life from the pit, crowns you with faithful love and compassion, and satisfies you with plenty of good things so that your youth is made fresh like an eagle’s.
I will be the first to admit that I do not thank God as much as I should. I tend to complain when things don’t go my way because I have fallen into a human habit of expecting things as a reward for “honoring him.” My motive for obedience should not be earthly payments, but eternal rewards: love, mercy, grace, & salvation. I should want to please Christ because of how much I love him. When I am expecting something in return, my heart is not right with Him.
I think about how much my parents have done for me. They love me so much that they would do anything to please or protect me. They never expected me to repay them. As a child how could I repay them for all the sacrifices they made? Even today, they expect nothing from me. In this same way, we should want to honor the Lord because we love Him and want to please him.
Lately I have challenged myself to make a weekly list of the things I am thankful for, no matter how big or small they may be. When I start to feel envious of others or upset about a situation, I turn to this list and praise God for his blessings. I challenge you to make your own list! Even if it is difficult to list multiple things, we can all add the main bullet:
JESUS CHRIST SAVED ME FROM DEATH BECAUSE HE LOVES ME MORE THAN I CAN BEGIN TO IMAGINE. HE CREATED ME IN HIS PERFECT IMAGE. HE WANTS TO BE MY BEST FRIEND! I HAVE BEEN SAVED FROM ETERNAL DAMNATION AND WILL SPEND ETERNITY WITH HIM IN HEAVEN
Laura’s short list of thanksgivings:
- I am a daughter of the king- I am a princess
- My loving parents
- All four of my grandparents
- My sister, who is my best friend
- My brother, who loves me and is fighting for our country. (who I get to see in 3 weeks.. leading to the next bullet)
- Going to the Myrtle beach with William (vacations)
- My job- God provided me a window (Kimmie D- you will get this one)
- My health
- My friends in Texas
- My new friends in NY- God has blessed me with such an amazing community of Godly women and men.
- My Cousin Lindsay, who will be moving to NYC! And coming this weekend
· Main thanksgiving for today- God has captured my heart over the past 6 months. I can finally say I have a joy that cannot be shaken. My life is not perfect and I am happy every second of every day, but I am joyfully content. I trust that he has my life in his hands and NOTHING can take me from him!
To those who follow my blog/ or if you are reading this for the first time. Thank you for being a part of my life. I have been touched by so many people and I am truly blessed. God is so good!
I apologize for not posting as many blogs these past few weeks, I am dedicating some of my time to a new undertaking. One that will take a while to complete, but I am really excited about sharing it with each of you! This being said, my posts will be less frequent for the next several months. Pray that Christ provides some extra time for me to write about the wonderful lessons He is teaching me!
