Take Time to Express Gratitude

 I thank my God every time I remember you.   Philippians 1:3  NIV

    How easy it is to take our family, friends  and others for granted!   It often takes a serious reminder for us to remember how thankful we are for the people that God has put into our lives.

   This week’s action step is clear and simple.  Take some time to list 7-10 people for whom you are thankful and then take time to thank God for why you are thankful for each one of them.  For some extra encouragement, pick one or two people on your  list and send them an encouragement card, letter or email this week to let them know how much you are thankful for them and why you are thankful for them.  

Gratitude Makes Us Stronger

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.  We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.   

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3  NIV

    Being part of the people of God is a blessing.  We are part of a people who are eternally grateful for God’s love and the hope he has given us in Christ.  We know what it is to receive mercy.  We are the family of the forgiven.  We accept each other  because God has accepted us.

    Maintaining a faithful and humble walk with God is next to impossible without the encouragement of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We all have weak times, perhaps even times we feel like completely giving up.  But then God prompts someone to pray for us or to smile at us or to give a gift to us or to hug us or to speak an encouraging word to us.  And then we have energy again.  Then God’s light pierces our darkness.

   Who in God’s family has encouraged you?  Who has shown the kindness of our Heavenly Father to you?  Take time this week to thank them.  Send them a personal note or an email.  Buy them a small gift of thanks or thank them publicly on Facebook. Pray for God’s blessing to fill their lives.  Every act of kindness and every thankful response makes us stronger together.

The Greatest Gift God Has Given Us Is Himself

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.  

         Romans 1:25  NIV

   We know that gratitude is wonderful.  We enjoy being thanked for gifts we give and God enjoys it when we sincerely thank Him for the gifts He gives.  

   We also know that the gifts we find under the tree this Christmas will not make us permanently happy.  These gifts have limits.  They might break or wear out.  They may even be designed to bring us a one time experience of happiness.

   Acknowledging the limits of the gifts we receive is the prompt we need for a greater gratitude in our hearts: the gratitude that is thankful for the Giver of the gifts more than the gifts themselves.  The best way we can start the Christmas day is with praise to the almighty, all-knowing and faithfully loving God.  It’s good and right to thank Him for His amazing gift of salvation in Christ and the many other gifts He gives, but it's even better to to praise Him for being everything that we need for a full and good life.  This is the kind of praise that helps to detach us from our materialism and helps to strengthen our trust in the absolute goodness of God.  On Christmas day, set aside some time at the very beginning of the day to praise Him for his goodness, mercy and love.  Praise Him for His faithfulness.  Acknowledge that in revealing Himself  to us and in giving Himself to us, God has given us the greatest gift of all.  

God Awareness and Gratitude

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.       Proverbs 3:5-6  ESV

   What does it mean to acknowledge God?  It means to recognize His presence.  It’s easy for us to go through the large part of our days and weeks and not recognize that God is present everywhere we are.  This proverb teaches us that if we acknowledge God, He will direct us on straight paths.

   Thanksgiving week is a great week to begin the regular practice of acknowledging God in all your ways. We can combine recognition of His presence with gratitude for His gifts at various times throughout the day.  This week, try this experiment to help you recognize God’s presence.  It will only take a few moments each time.

1.  As soon as you get up (and can think straight), say “God is here.”  Say it loud enough so you can hear it.  Say it slowly so that it sinks in.  Say it again throughout the day as often as it comes to your mind.

2.  Each time you acknowledge God's presence, thank Him for something.  Keep it simple.  Say, "Lord, thank You for..."

After this brief acknowledgement of God, go back to doing what you were doing.  You will likely be surprised at how acknowledging God changes your perspective.  For some extra learning, make note of how many times you do this each day and see if you begin to develop a habit of acknowledging God in your daily life.

A Simple Gratitude Exercise

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.    Psalm 100:4  NIV

    Writing out God’s Word helps us store it up in our heart so that it filters into our everyday life.  Writing out our praise, thanks and requests is good for our mind and  our soul. This week’s SPA is designed for Thanksgiving Day, but you can do it anytime. 

     

Take an 8.5” x 11” piece of paper and fold it in half and in half again, so that it has four  sections, one in each corner.

1. In the top left section, write out Psalm 100. (It’s only five verses)

2. In the top right section, write down some sentences of praise to God. For example, “You are patient.”

3. In the bottom left section, write “God thank you for…” and then fill the box with people, things and circumstances for which you are  thankful.

4. In the bottom right section, Write out some requests you have for God.  They can be for you or for someone else.  As you write, completely give them to God and trust him to take care of them.

Save your paper and read it again sometime in the next few weeks.

Clarity for Life through Encounters with God

When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me 17 till I entered the sanctuary of God.  Psalm 73:16-17 NIV

  
It’s easy to lose perspective in life.  One person lets us down and we start wondering if we can trust anyone.  We fail when we try something new and  then we are hesitant to try something new again.  A few things go wrong and we start expecting other things to go wrong.

What’s going on in your life right now?  Are you struggling with a negative attitude?  Do your problems feel overwhelming?  Do you feel like God is letting you down?  It could be that what you need most of all is a fresh perspective of the goodness, wisdom and power of God.   This week, enter into the sanctuary of God with the following simple activity.

     
     1.  Arrange to be alone in a quiet place for 20 minutes.

     2.  Slowly read Philippians 4:6-7 and Psalm 46:10-11.

     3.  Spend a few minutes telling God about what’s weighing you down.

     4.  Ask God to encourage you and spend the rest of the 20 minutes sitting silently in

          God’s presence.  Quietly praise God for being good, wise and strong.