Gratitude

"Rejoice always,  17pray without ceasing,  18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you".     1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  NKJV

How do we express gratitude biblically? Well firstly, we must:

(1)  Remember what the Lord has done for us and for all the times, He has made a way when we felt there was no way out of this.

(2)  Tell others about Him. When God provides for us, we should brag about it. It's a blessing!

(3)  Share the Gospel

(4)  Offer yourself as a living sacrifice dedicated to Him

Can you remember the old Chorus 'Count your blessing'? 

'Count your blessing name them one by one; count your blessing see what God has done/. Count your blessings, name them one by one, and you will discover what the Lord has done'.

It is true, We often allow ourselves to become discouraged by things that try our patience. This can lead to frustration and before we know it, it almost like we have lost sight of God and we feel guilty that we may have grieved the Holy Spirit. God wants us to be happy, joyful. In fact, truly exhilarating not depressing. We need to pray and thank God more and more. When we know that we have sinned, we need to confess this straightaway or as soon as we can. Some people with a Hyper-Grace teaching would argue with me here, stating they we are already forgiven. We were forgiven when we were saved. There is no need to ever ask for forgiveness again. Well in answer to that, we only need to look at verses such as 1John 1:8-10 where John was speaking to Christians. Why would he write this if they were already forgiven. Bottom line, we need to ask forgiveness, daily.

There is always something to thank God for, even on those dark and dismal of days. Just think, when we face the sun, the shadows fall behind us. But when we turn our backs to the sun, the shadows will be in front of us. The moral of this analogy is, don't turn away from the Son, Jesus Christ Himself. Keep Him always in your sight, where we can walk in the Light, not the shadow.

Have an attitude of gratitude and choose to live your life in enjoyment despite the circumstances that come against us. He has done so many wonderful things for us, including dying in our place, so that we may have freedom. So be grateful to Him.

Perhaps you need to talk this over with Jesus and ask Him to help you put things right.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

'Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2024 Grahame Howard.                                

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