“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (NKJV)
Thanksgiving is a wonderful day to remember God’s goodness to us, and to express our thanks to Him and to other kind people in our lives, but thankfulness should be a permanent state of the heart. It is more than an emotion or an expression of gratitude to God. It is an acknowledgement that God is our source, and that everything we have is really from Him. It is evidence of a humble heart that depends on God and trusts in Him for everything.
Thankfulness is powerful and always fills me with joy! I begin to feel the Father’s pleasure in my acknowledgement of His kindness and generosity every time I express my gratitude to Him. We all would feel a sense of delight when someone is sincerely thankful, and our Abba too. Whenever I feel despair or discouragement creeping into my heart, I look for something I can be thankful for in the situation and thank God audibly. This is heard not only by the Lord and His angels, but also by my own heart, which then begins to respond and rise up into His joy again!
Friend, there are many things you and I could be concerned, disappointed or upset about, but it is time to start focusing on the goodness of the Lord in our lives. We are alive and well and worshiping Him. We made it through this year despite all the challenges we have experienced, and the difficulties we have seen. God has been faithful; God has been so very good! It is a slippery slope to start focusing on what we see as the bad things in our lives; one thing leads to another and it all snowballs into one big mess of discontent until it becomes hard to see anything good happening around us. On the other hand, when you focus on the goodness of God and train yourself to be thankful for each thing in your life, you begin to attract more and more of the favor of God, and His miraculous power on everything you do. You become surrounded by a realm of heavenly grace which multiplies as thankfulness grows. The more thankful we are, the more we have to be thankful for, as sincere gratitude attracts the abundance and blessing of God.
In Psalm 136:1 the psalmist says “Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and His mercy endures forever”. He continues to exhort the people to thank God because the thought of God’s goodness to him just blew him away! Sincerely thanking God is a good way to get filled up with joy! It shakes off depression and discouragement, and gets our eyes back on our Source – our beautiful Bridegroom Jesus, who paid with His life to make available to us everything we could ever need. (2 Peter 1:3).
Dear friend, you can change your life and future by becoming a grateful person, living in the daily awareness of God’s goodness and graciousness upon your life. You will attract heaven’s favor on yourself each day when you acknowledge the hand of the Father is on you, leading you through challenging circumstances and into the fullness of His plans for you. You are so deeply loved and cherished, and there is so much more you will experience of Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit, when you cultivate a lifestyle of gratitude, and consciously begin to thank Him! You are not alone in this world, struggling to make it through the rain. No, you are a much loved offspring of the Omnipotent Abba, and He is causing all things to work together for your good. He has bigger plans for you than any you could have conceived for yourself. So let us give thanks to the Lord for He is so good, and His mercy towards us truly endures forever! “Jesus, we are so grateful, so thankful for all that you have done. Thank you Lord!”
Minoli Haththotuwa, 26 November 2020
