Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone once again. I have so many things to be thankful for this year, I can't even count them all. I did a quick word search for things pertaining to thankfulness in the Bible. Thankfulness needs to be a bigger part of my life for sure. Here are ten things that I am thankful for. These are by no means the only ten things I am thankful for, but these are things that have been important over the last year.
  1. I am thankful for the Word which continually shapes my heart through the power of God.
  2. I am thankful for His faithfulness when I am unfaithful.
  3. I am thankful for His unending grace and compassion when I sin.
  4. I am thankful for my family and the unending love they show me even when I hurt them.
  5. I am thankful for my church and the teaching of the Word through Pastor Tim.
  6. I am thankful for friends that encourage me in the Lord during the hard times.
  7. I am thankful to God for providing the necessary finances to get through school without loans and to have the jaw surgery this summer.
  8. I am thankful for the trials that He brings me through in order to change me to be more like Himself.
  9. I am thankful for a job that is flexible with hours and is enjoyable.
  10. I am thankful for His conviction when I sin, and His encouragement when I am obedient to Him.

Here are just a few things that I found in the Word about thanksgiving...
  • The Israelites had a sacrifice dedicated to thanksgiving to the Lord (Leviticus 22:29).
  • Some Levites were appointed for the purpose of thanking and praising God (1 Chronicles 16:4).
  • We are told both to give thanks to Him and to make known the amazing things that He has done (1 Chronicles 16:8).
  • The Levites were to thank and praise God every morning and every night (1 Chronicles 23:30)
  • Throughout the Psalms, we see a whole lot of thanksgiving (Psalm 6:5, Psalm 7:17, Psalm 9:1, Psalm 18:49, Psalm 26:7, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 30:1, Psalm 30:4, Psalm 30:12, Psalm 33:2, Psalm 35:18, Psalm 42:4, Psalm 44:8, Psalm 45:17, Psalm 50:14, Psalm 50:23, Psalm 52:9, Psalm 54:6, Psalm 56:12, Psalm 57:9, Psalm 69:30, Psalm 75:1, Psalm 79:13, Psalm 86:12, Psalm 92:1, Psalm 95:2, Psalm 97:12, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 105:1, Psalm 106:1, Psalm 106:47, Psalm 107:1, Psalm 107:8, Psalm 107:15, Psalm 107:15, Psalm 107:21-22, Psalm 108:3, Psalm 109:30, Psalm 111:1, Psalm 116:17, Psalm 118:1, Psalm 118:19, Psalm 118:28-29, Psalm 119:7, Psalm 119:62, Psalm 122:4, Psalm 136:1-3, Psalm 136:26, Psalm 138:1-2, Psalm 138:4, Psalm 139:14, Psalm 140:13, Psalm 142:7).
  • We should thank Him for His goodness (Jeremiah 33:11).
  • We should thank Him for wisdom and power (Daniel 2:23).
  • We should give thanks for our daily sustenance (Matthew 15:36).
  • We should thank God for the faith of others being proclaimed (Romans 1:8).
  • One of the characteristics of foolishness is a lack of thanksgiving (Romans 1:21).
  • We should give thanks to God for victory over sin (Romans 6:17).
  • We should thank God for His grace (1 Corinthians 1:4).
  • We should thank God for helping us avoid tough circumstances (1 Corinthians 1:14).
  • We should thank God for the victory we have in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
  • We should thank people for their prayers (2 Corinthians 1:11).
  • We should thank God for His indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15).
  • We should never stop giving thanks for others (Ephesians 1:16, Philippians 1:3).
  • We are to make our requests known to God with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).
  • We should thank God for the inheritance that He has given us as His children (Colossians 1:12).
  • Everything we do should include an attitude of thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2).
  • We should give thanks to God for our strength (1 Timothy 1:12).
  • We will worship Him, giving thanks to Him forever (Revelation 4:9).

There are so many more, but I wanted to go through these to show you the importance of thanksgiving. It is not that Thursday in November every year... we need to be giving thanks daily! I challenge you to think of three things you are thankful for as soon as you get frustrated or upset at someone or a situation. I think it will completely change your outlook. There really are so many things we have to be thankful for.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I kept a "gratefulness journal" nightly for about a year up until school started this fall.

I told a friend that I wanted some accountability in the area of gratefulness and fighting an entitlement mindset, and so I'd provide her with updates on how many consecutive days I'd kept the journal, and we'd exchange lists in our letters.

Basically, I tried to write at least five things I was grateful for each night before going to bed. Sometimes, if I'd had a bad day, I would try to turn those things around (i.e. I'm grateful that I was able to resolve a conflict, or that my headache will be gone tomorrow!). My goal wasn't to just be a positivity guru though and only "be happy." :)

Some days I resorted to really simple stuff (e.g. what I had for a snack), but often I had neat stories to capture, so it also served as a sort of diary in very brief form, allowing me to record events and details to look back on later.

I think it's good to try to practice habits like that, but to make sure they don't become just rote actions...you sometimes have to stir 'em up a bit. :)

Goodness...why do my comments always turn out so LONG?!?! :) Blessings...

Olivia N.

11:25 AM

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