An Attitude of 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

Let your minds take this in:

(1)  REJOICE ALWAYS  Now this means in the good times and, in the bad ones too. Pretty easy for the first one but, not so for the second. But we know that joy is our strength and this can be promoted by laughter. Laughter is linked to rejoicing so this gives us our joy. So whenever we are able to rejoice at whatever is happening at any given time, our strength should be strong enough to help us cope with what we are facing.

(2)  PRAY WITHOUT CEASING  This means we don't give up when no answer is imminent, we press on. When we pray in the Spirit, our prayers have an energetic power about them, and we become even more bolder. As we adopt our prayer language - (Speaking in tongues), we are given words that we could never dream of; words that fit the occasion much more than our ordinary language can. No matter what, we are seeking the answer and praising Jesus until He shows us to stop. If you don't speak in the Spirit, seek out your pastor or someone who is able to pray and guide you through this process. It is a heavenly language and, not everyone knows how to speak it and some even frown at it.

(3)  GIVE THANKS  We have so much to thank Jesus for. Some times we may think, 'Why  does He still bother with me - I let Him down so much.'  But this is His love for us, it really does have no end to it. These are the times when we need to cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude, to Him. He is so faithful; so loving, in fact, it is hard to put into words how kind and loyal He is to each of us. 

Joel Osteen, an American pastor of a huge church in Houston Texas says this, 'Choose to live your life in enjoyment, despite the circumstances, every day and every moment. Every day, choose to be happy' This guy knows what he is talking about, he has one of the largest churches in the world and it is growing by the week. These words are typical of what Jesus wants us to be - happy, contented and enjoying life. You know, life is too short for petty arguments, bad feelings and stress. We need to strip off every inch of criticism and hand it over to Jesus. It robs us of happiness. We are all subject to moaning and groaning, criticising, judging and finding fault. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE THIS WAY. 

We were not created to be this way. Therefore, why not adopt the plan that God gave us above. It makes so much sense. 

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

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. 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
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