A Choice that Will Change Your Life

I discount much of what I hear because I am accustomed to the overblown, over-promised advertisting that fills my world … this supplement will cure all your ills, this pill will make you sleep like a baby, this car will make you the envy of your neighbors … you get it, right?  The principle I want to share with you today WILL change your life, increase your joy, deepen your faith, and help you to find peace. If you do this, others will like you more and most importantly, when you choose to do this you please the Lord, our God.  Are you ready for it?

Here it is - "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV)

Gratitude does not always come naturally or easily. When someone steps on our toes or even seems to ignore our preferences, the response is often irritation and/or complaint. Sometimes we look around at others and find ourselves making comparisons - which leads too often to envy or self-pity. “Why them and not me?”  We all fall into the trap of complaining sometimes. But, we can choose differently.  We need not ignore our reality, nor must we forget our difficulties or sorrows. God cares about our tears and fears. In all of that, He asks us to remember Him with thanksgiving, to love Him and to offer worshipful praise for Who is even more than for what He has done!

Let’s take our cue from the Psalm that urges us to this choice.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." (Psalm 118:1, NIV)

"Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD." (Psalm 118:19, NIV)

Another song of the Psalms speaks of exuberant thanksgiving. "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" (Psalm 30:11-12, NLT)

The foundation of this kind of gratitude is our conviction that our God reigns, that He holds us in His hand, that nothing - not death, not disease, not disappointment, not disaster - can separate us from His loving care. We receive Christ’s grace gift and become the children of God, held securely in His hand, even when we cannot see the way ahead. From that place of grace, we are able to offer up our thanksgiving.  When we choose gratitude to God, worshipping Him in all of His mystery and splendor, that gratitude will inevitably begin to spill over into our human relationships.

On Thursday I will enjoy Thanksgiving, the uniquely American holiday inspired by the Pilgrim’s celebrations. Those hardy souls that remained alive after the first year of terrible trials, gathered with their Native American friends to give thanks to God. The facts that a third of them had perished in their first year in the New World, that they had suffered tremendously, and that their future was anything but secure did not keep them from looking upward in gratitude. Three centuries later their day of prayer has grown into our Thanksgiving. Go beyond football, family, and feasting to really ‘give thanks’ on Thanksgiving! 

Support a life of thankfulness with these habits.

Become GENEROUS, in spirit as well as wallet!

Aim to encourage, choose to forgive, offer your hands to serve.

WORSHIP often, not just on Sunday but everyday.

True worship restores proper perspective. Worship both in our individual life and with the congregation each week will help to shift our focuses our heart to things eternal, helping us to keep God first in life. In worship we learn how to live to bless. It is not wrong to pray about our needs. God wants us to ask boldly. But, I think each of us can remember more than a few prayers that were more about our wants than our needs. Spiritual worship helps us to discern the difference.

Express GRATITUDE!

“Thank you,” spoken sincerely and often, is a simple, yet transformative choice. Cultivating a habit of thankfulness helps us to avoid a 'me centered' life. We keep in sight the ways that God has blessed us. We realize how much those around contribute to our well-being. Thanksgiving should not be just a day on the calendar, it should be a way of life.

So, let’s us give thanks, today, tomorrow, and each day. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV)  Happy Thanksgiving.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Thanks To God For My Redeemer

Thanks to God for my Redeemer

Thanks for all Thou dost provide

Thanks for times now but a mem'ry

Thanks for Jesus by my side

Thanks for pleasant balmy springtime

Thanks for dark and dreary fall

Thanks for tears by now forgotten

Thanks for peace within my soul

 

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered

Thanks for what Thou dost deny

Thanks for storms that I have weathered

Thanks for all Thou dost supply

Thanks for pain and thanks for pleasure

Thanks for comfort in despair

Thanks for grace that none can measure

Thanks for love beyond compare

 

Thanks for roses by the wayside

Thanks for thorns their stems contain

Thanks for home and thanks for fireside

Thanks for hope that sweet refrain

Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow

Thanks for heav'nly peace with Thee

Thanks for hope in the tomorrow

Thanks thro' all eternity

And we offer up to You

The sacrifices of joy

 

Words: Public Domain