A Thankful Heart

I Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Sometimes the circumstances of our lives are not always the best. In fact, they may be downright bad, but still, we are to look for something to be thankful for! And there is ALWAYS something positive for which we can be thankful!
A Thankful Heart
I have three simple thoughts about thanksgiving.
1- We have it so good
2- We enjoy it so much
3- We express it so little
1. Great Days
Matthew 6:34:
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Don’t let your worries about tomorrow affect your relationship with God today.

I read a story about a man who started having a problem with his eye.
He went to the doctor and was dx as having cancer in the eye..
The man was devastated that he was going to lose his vision. In surgery, the doctors discovered that rather than cancer, the problem was an extremely unusual fungus that they were able to remove and save his vision.
When the man heard the good news, he said, ‘this is the greatest day of my life”.
Think about it. He had simply received the news that he could continue to see.
If you can see and hear, if you are healthy, if you have family and friends, if you’ve got a job, food, and a place to live, then learn to appreciate those things.
Thank God for all you have.
2. Praise Him
Psalm 100:4:
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name
God alone is worthy of being worshiped.
We need to learn to start off our day by thanking God for the basics: “Father, thank you for my health. Thank you for my children. Thank you for my family. Thank you for your home. Father thank you for all you’ve done.”
God already knows your needs. He knows what you’re going to say before you say it.
There is nothing wrong with asking God for things, but we need to learn to spend more time in prayer thanking Him and praising Him for His goodness than requesting His goodies.
We need to learn to spend more time giving God thanks for what Hes already done than we do asking Him to do new things.
3. Extol the Lord
Psalm 34
1 I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
God promises great blessings to His people, but many of these blessings require active participation.
Life is all about how you choose to see things.
You can complain about your boss, or you can thank God for your job.
You can complain about mowing the lawn, or you can thank God that you have a yard.
You could complain about the price of gas or you could thank God that you have a car.
Imagine if you got in a wreck and an 18 wheeler almost crashed into you. Know would you complain about your crashed up car or be thankful you’re even alive.
We need to make up our minds to let His praise continually be in our mouths.