Skip to main content

choose to be thankful


This week is THANSKGIVING.  I believe that an attitude of being grateful is a choice.  Far too many of us have fallen in to the pattern of trusting our situations to make us happy or thankful when it ought to be a steady or constant in our lives.  Like living by faith is a choice, being thankful is a choice. 

Philippians 1:3  NLT
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

That verse takes on new meaning for me when I step back to see all God is doing and has done.  I am grateful for my family and the time we will be able to spend together this holiday.  I am grateful for my friends and church family. You are part of my thanks.  Many of you have a special place in my heart, and I am thankful for what I have seen in your experience of faith.

God has a plan.  As we examine AND experience God Himself we will be thankful and fall ever more in love with Him.  I believe that being thankful is an outcome of being consumed by Him.

There is another reason to make sure that we do not allow our situations of life to dictate how we feel or if we are thankful.  Choose before anything happens to be thankful.  Pick some things that you don’t normally express thanks for and tell God.  Look at the people in your life who rarely hear thanks and tell them that you are grateful for them.  Don’t let the situations of life determine your thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18  NLT
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Yes.  It is God’s will for us to be thankful.  Determine it now.

Psalms 7:17 NASB
I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Giving thanks is a choice, and it is a choice that few people seem to take seriously.  I challenge each of us to not let opportunities to be thankful to pass us by. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns.  One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns.  When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her.  Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns.  Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved.  Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?"  Beverly said, "Why yes I do."  Edith said, "Well, what do you ...
Post a Comment
Read more

wash feet, sharing hope

  John 13:4-5,14 NLT  So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow.  He served.  He valued and gave value to others.  That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet.  It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives.  Jesus said we should do this.  See the verse above.  Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....
Post a Comment
Read more

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!
10 comments
Read more