I love this time of year! The air is cooler, the Fall decorations come out and our hearts turn toward Thanksgiving! And what I love about Thanksgiving is being reminded of the source of all the good things in my life. James 1:17 says: "Every good and perfect give is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
These have been a difficult six months...but we still have so much to be thankful for. Gratitude is a choice we make...listen to Ann Voskamp:
Have you ever thought that happiness was tied to your gratitude? I loved listening to Tim Keller preach on Psalm 103 a few weeks ago. He talks about how important it is for us to "...forget not all his benefits" (v. 2). In fact, he makes this rather bold statement: "Every problem we have is that we don't internalize the good things (the Lord) has done." What he's saying, I think, is that whatever is wrong with your life can be made better if we will keep our eyes on the goodness of God and say thanks instead of being critical or whining about what we don't have.
When we focus on pleasing the Lord who created us and are grateful to Him for what He has already done, we are not focused on what may be wrong or hard in our every day life. The Bible study I am doing talks about living lives that please Him and one of those things is "...giving joyful thanks to the Father" (Col. 1:12). Conversely, we see in Romans 1:21 that those who "...knew God but neither glorifed him...nor gave thanks to him" were darkened in their "foolish hearts". He created us to have pure and grateful hearts...and to be in fellowship with him.
Giving thanks feels like a great privilege I want to embrace! I make a choice today...and will make it several more times this day...to be grateful to the God who calls me His own, who gave me salvation almost 50 years ago, and is faithful to do His work in me every day...for His glory and not my own!
May you have the joy of being in fellowship with Him as well!
For further study: 1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 9:1, Psalm 100:4, Matt. 10:8, 2 Cor. 9:15, Phil. 4:6, Col. 3:16-17, 1 Thess. 5:18, Heb. 12:28, Rev. 11:17.
Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.
Love,
Holly
