Tag: Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart

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Lift Your Burdens

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Though giving thanks in all circumstances seems impossible, God desires for us to do so for our own benefit. On one of the TED Talks I listened to, a doctor told a story about a patient saying thank you to her back pain, and after a period of time saying thank you to her back pain, it eased. Just the act of having a thankful heart, the woman got pain relief.

Let me list the 7 scientifically proven benefits of gratitude for you:

  1. Gratitude opens the door to more relationships
  2. Gratitude improves physical health
  3. Gratitude improves psychological health
  4. Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression
  5. Grateful people sleep better
  6. Gratitude improves self-esteem
  7. Gratitude increases mental strength

Giving thanks can bring healing in so many ways. The enemy often tries to show us the negatives of our lives so that we can focus on the pain. So that the weight of the world hangs on our shoulders, but God desires to remove that weight. When we are thankful, especially in the hard times, the burden is lifted off of our shoulders.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lift Your Burdens.

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The Love of Jesus

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~ John 1:1–5

Jesus is the All-Powerful God who created everything, yet for the love of mankind, He laid down His life. “For God so loved the world…” He, with joy, endured a terrible beating at the hands of Roman soldiers while He was tied to a wiping post. He was punched, spit upon, ridiculed, and mocked. He even had His hair and beard pulled out. He was so badly beaten, he was unrecognizable.

Then He was forced to carry His own cross up a hill called Golgotha, which means the place of a skull, according to Matthew 27:33. There, they stretched out his arms and drove nails into His hands and into his feet, nailing Him to a cruel cross. He hung there fighting for every breath, trying to push Himself up so He wouldn’t suffocate. As He strained to push Himself up, the rough wood would tear into His already shredded back.

He went there knowing fully well exactly what would happen to Him. Yet, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured it all. That is how much He loves us. Can we love Him any less? Think about it. He did not have to do that. He very well could have taken another lump of clay and start all over again, but He chose to endure the cross. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured.

LORD God, please help us to set aside our flesh for the joy that is set before us. For the joy of Your everlasting love. Help us to love you more than we love ourselves. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.

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Thank Him For His Sacrifice

26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for His own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. ~ Hebrews 7:26-28

We needed Jesus’ blood because His blood was and is untainted by sin. Just as the writer of Hebrews tells us that it was impossible for someone tainted by sin to redeem us from our sins, it always will be impossible for anyone other than Jesus to redeem us from our sins. Why? Because Jesus was our perfect, untainted, innocent final sacrifice. This act was not and is not God’s accepting nor condoning human sacrifice. This was Jesus saying Father, they’ve sinned, they can’t pay their debt; they can’t take their punishment, let me take their place. Jesus took our place on the cross. He took our punishment by sacrificing Himself so that we might be saved.

So, what does this blood do for us? According to Hebrews 9:13-14, the blood of Jesus did what the blood of animals could not do; it cleansed us from our sins and all unrighteousness. Unlike the animals’ blood, Jesus’ blood purified us from our sin and purified our minds from the guilt of our sins. He not only cleansed us physically but spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. He freed us in every aspect we can think of, with His Holy and precious blood.

Now because the Blood of Jesus cleansed us of our sins, it also brought us closer to God. The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 10:19-20 that we are now able to enter the Holy places, that we couldn’t enter before the cleansing Blood of Jesus. We have been given, through the new way of Jesus, a path into the Holy places. We can now go before the Throne of God with confidence.

“16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ~ Hebrews 4:16

Before we couldn’t do that, we couldn’t enter into the presence of God, or we would die because of our sin and filth, but now we have that privilege because of the cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for taking our place and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Thank Him For His Sacrifice.

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Give Thanks In All Circumstances

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Many people believe that God is saying that we have to be thankful for all of our circumstances, or even that we have to be happy about all of our circumstances, but is that what Paul is saying? Does God really want us to be thankful for all of our circumstances? No, of course not.

God doesn’t expect us to be thankful for all of our circumstances. He expects us to be thankful IN all of our circumstances. There are things in this world that we can’t control, loved ones dying, losing our job, finding out a loved one, or we have cancer. When His plan for us is for our good and not for evil, God doesn’t want us to be thankful for cancer. He wants us to be thankful THROUGH cancer. In spite of cancer. So that we can fight through cancer.

God doesn’t give us hardships, but He allows us to go through them. He allows us to suffer for a short time, but He always gives us the strength to make it through to the other side. The Joy of the LORD is our strength. That doesn’t mean that we’re happy about our situation, but instead that we’re gonna put our trust in the LORD because He loves us. When we trust in Him, we can make it through anything.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Give Thanks In All Circumstances.

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Thrive

“23 In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.” ~ Proverbs 14:23

We have become a people of complaints. We complain about everything. As a church, we have forgotten what it means to be thankful. We tend to look at the glass half empty instead of half full. We’re so busy complaining about what we don’t have instead of what we do have. We don’t see how blessed we are. We have become a selfish, self-serving people.

When we look back at the Bible and see what those who have gone before us went through so that we can have all that we do, we really need to be thankful. When I look back at what my grandparents and great-grandparents did and what they went through so that their children and their children’s children could have better lives, it’s very humbling. They were innovative. They found ways to stretch very little.

My grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ generations were generations that took the bad, the ugly, and made good out of it. They didn’t make excuses that things were too hard; they didn’t make excuses that they didn’t have the education to be successful. They took what little they had, and they made so much out of it. Little to no education, no help, but they fought, they strove, and succeeded. They believed they could, so they did. They were a generation that had the fear of God in them and believed they could do anything.

Where is that in today’s world? Would they be disappointed if they saw what we did with their hard work? What we did with their sweat and tears? We complain so much that we envy and hate those who have more than we do instead of fighting for a better life. We give up and accept the plate that has been set before us. Why don’t we fight for a better future?

Those of us who grew up with it all, are we at a disadvantage? We shouldn’t be, but it seems like we’ve done the complete opposite than past generations. We’ve taken the good and beautiful, and we’ve turned it to the bad and the ugly. With all of the education we have at our fingertips, the opportunities, and the technological advances, we should be the generation making a difference. Making things better. Correcting past mistakes. But instead, we’ve become complacent and entitled. We no longer believe in working hard; instead, we want hand-outs.

What does that get us? Just enough to survive. Do you want to survive or thrive? I implore you to take advantage of what you have because I guarantee it is more than the generations before us could have ever dreamed of having. Be better than what you have come from. Never forget where you come from. Be thankful for what you have, but always strive for better.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Thrive.

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Thank The LORD

“18 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” ~ Matthew 28:18-20

As the majority of us are Non-Jews, this verse can be very encouraging. Before His death and resurrection, Jesus said He only came to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. To His disciples, He said only go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. But something shifted in the Spiritual when He died and rose again; Gentiles were grafted in because now, Jesus gave us The Great Commission, to go out and make disciples of all nations. Sometimes we don’t even see the bigger picture because we get caught up in how amazing it is that we, Gentiles, were grafted in. But Paul takes that a step further, from just Gentiles, but the entire Earth being grafted into the Overwhelming, Never-Ending, Reckless Love of God. Paul said in Ephesians 1:4-6 that before the world’s foundation, God chose us (humanity) to be adopted to Himself through Christ Jesus.

So, before we were separated as Jew and Gentile. Before we ever sinned. Before Adam ever ate the fruit. And before there was even a foundation, God saw that we would sin, and therefore created a way to adopt us from darkness. For every sin we’ve committed, are currently committing, and are going to commit, Jesus died for. Jesus took the weight of all of our sin on Himself, taking our place on the cross. And then 3 days later, rising from the grave and finishing it all, for death has lost its sting and the grave has lost its power over us. For now, when we die, we are called to our new home, Heaven.

Thank you, LORD, for bearing our punishment. For taking our lashing. For paying our debt. You alone could bear our suffering on your back. You alone could overcome the grave, for we sin, not fully understanding what our sin cost. Some of us refuse to even acknowledge what You went through, and yet, You still did it knowing all of this. Knowing that we would betray You, spit in Your face, and call You a liar, You still got off of Your throne and came down to Earth to save us. Thank You, LORD Jesus, for paying our debt. In Your Holy and Precious Name, Amen.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Thank The LORD.

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The Offering of Thanksgiving

“For His anger endureth but a moment; in His favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” ~ Psalm 30:5

If God loves you, He will discipline you; but it’s only for a short time because He loves you. Therefore, His favor lasts a lifetime. His favor will open doors that were once closed; it brings that promotion that was out of reach. It protects that wayward child and restores that broken relationship.

His love is the reason why weeping will only last the night, but when the sun comes up, it brings joy, new hope, renewed mercies, and new blessings. Be blessed today, be joyful today, be hopeful today and be optimistic today; God loves you and cares for you.

Father, we, Your children, come and present to You the offering of thanksgiving and praise. Receive it today, and leave behind a blessing. Thank You, in Jesus’ name, amen.

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Call Upon His Name

“Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known his deeds among the people.” ~ 1 Chronicles 16:8

A triple command, first, we’re instructed to give thanks for all the wondrous works God has done. Then we’re to continually seek His face by calling upon His Holy name. Then, we must tell others of His wondrous deeds so that they too may rejoice and be glad, and their faith also will be strengthened.

Father help us to have grateful hearts, seeking spirits, and praising tongues, that Your name may be glorified, amen.

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The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

“When you sacrifice a thank offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf.” ~ Leviticus 22:29

It is said that the LORD loves a cheerful giver. We have much to be thankful for, remember how much you have been given and been blessed with. Also, remember those who have nothing and give to them as unto God, with thankful hearts. When we bless others, God blesses us. Bring forth your sacrifice of thanksgiving before the LORD today.

Thank you, LORD, for all You’ve given me. Thank you for Your many blessings. Help me to always be grateful in all situations. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Choose To Be Thankful

“15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” ~ Colossians 3:15-17

When life happens, it’s often hard to be thankful. We forget the blessing of God, and we focus solely on the pain that we are enduring in that moment. In that season. But God’s love and faithfulness have not ceased. Did you noticed that it says, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… and be thankful?

Then it goes on to say let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing… with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And finally, everything you do, do it in the name of the LORD Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. So what does all of that mean?

In everything, give thanks. No matter the situation. No matter the hurt or pain. And in doing so, the LORD God will bless you. He will give you peace. He will give you joy. And nothing in Heaven, nor on Earth, can take that away from you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Choose To Be Thankful.

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