Psalms 107:1
(KJV) O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 69:30
30I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Oh how it would please our God if we came before Him just to say thank you. If we came just to express our gratitude for how he provides and takes care of us in every way from our spiritual needs to our physical needs. He has carefully thought of and provided everything according to what he knows is best for each of us individually and as a whole. The very air that we breathe is a gift from Him. Our salvation of course is His greatest gift to us.
Many times we fill our days with complaints of this or that. We grumble not realizing that we are so, so very blessed.
Several years ago I heard someone say; write down 10 things you are most grateful for each day. I started to do this and it changed my life; because in the process of me thinking of what I could write, I realized that there were far more than 10 things that I had to be grateful for each day. I started to see even the small ways in which God was blessing me that I had not been fully aware of previously. I even started to notice that I no longer worried about what I didn’t have or when or if I would get it.
I started to live from a different place. I started to live from a place of gratitude, and as a result of this, I asked my family as we sat around the dinner table each night if they would share 5 things they were most grateful for in their day. I knew 10 would be a little overwhelming to say off the top of their heads, but 5 they could easily do. This was important to me because I wanted my daughter to grow up having a grateful heart. I wanted her focus to be on how blessed she was and not on what she didn’t have. I knew this would be important as she faced her teen years and the pier pressure and designer labels that would come with it. As she would share her 5 things it helped us to realize the things that were important to her as well as it helped us to see how she was beginning to see Jesus working throughout her day. This little exercise around the kitchen table opened up great conversations for our family as well as it gave my husband and I great teaching opportunities for our daughter. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving to reflect on the things you are grateful for as a family, but make it a daily conversation. Keep Jesus in your day.
I challenge you to get quiet at the end of each day. Just before bed, write down the 10 things that you are grateful for today. You will go to sleep in a very calm and peaceful state. As you are making your list you will instantly realize that you are blessed beyond measure; although you may not have everything that you want, God has certainly provided your needs. By the way, His provisions are not always material. He blesses us in so many ways that far surpass material blessings. If you have read this devotional today I know that you can be thankful for your eye sight and the ability to read . Your health and your strength alone are enough to shout about. Fall before your King today and just say “thank you”.
30 Days of Gratitude:
Count our blessings and record them. It’s a way to purposefully acknowledge our gratitude for those things, both large and small. Ways to keep a gratitude journal from In Our Write Minds
Psalms 95:1-6
1O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psalms 100:1-5
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing.
3Know ye that the LORD He isGod: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we areHis people, and the sheep of His pasture.
4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, andbless His name.
5For the LORD is good; His mercyis everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.
