Do you want to live a life filled with joy? Do you want to live in His presence? Do you want your “cup to be half empty” or “your cup half full”? All of us have good things and bad things happen to us.
Matthew 5:45 for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
That is the way life is and the older you get the more good will happen and the more bad will happen. Your attitude is determines the difference in your life. Have you ever noticed that there are certain people that others gravitate towards? They are the ones who are filled with thanksgiving and their cup is always “half full”. After you are around them for awhile you start to think that their “cup of life” is all the way full because of the joy that they have in their life. Their life is not any different from yours or anyone else’s life. They are not more blessed than you. They are thankful people rather than complainers.
Psalm 9:1 I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.
When you give thanks to the Lord with all of your hear then you will see and tell of all of His wonders. His wonders are all around us if we will only give thanks to Him then we will see the multitude of blessings that He has given to us. You have to give thanks to Him with ALL of your heart to see ALL of His wonders.
Psalm 26:7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders.
Do you want to honor the Lord. He has given us clear instruction how to do so.
Psalm 50:23 He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
He wants us to come into His presence through thanksgiving.
Psalm 95:2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
If He has saved you then should a day go by when we do not thank Him for the precious gift of His Son, Jesus Christ? God’s wrath that you deserved was poured out on Jesus. His anger is turned away and you now have His comfort!
Isaiah 12:1 Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, O Lord; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me.
All of your prayers should be filled with thanksgiving.
Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Finally, thanksgiving is what distinguishes the Christian from the nonChristian. How sweet it is to see a family bow their heads in a restaurant before they eat and give thanks to the Lord. All of us when we see it we know that they are doing the right thing. They are not ashamed of the Gospel.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
If we don’t give thanks to the Lord then our foolish heart will become darkened.
Romans 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Giving thanks is one of the beautiful ways that we can humble ourselves before God and honor Him and bless Him. Let us give thanks to Him and not forget any of His benefits.
Psalm 103:1,2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Instructions To A Young Life 