Greetings to you in the name of “the Lamb of God who carries away our sins”, Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! I trust that you had a ‘good’ Thanksgiving weekend and Monday-Tuesday…with an accumulation of memories to ponder as you move though the week. What a beautiful autumn morning in the Kingdom – it even ‘feels’ like the seasons have changed! I will be praying for you today, asking Father to release health, energy, and shalom-peace with abundance.
Preparing for Thanksgiving weekend, I was once again challenged by the number of times the Bible reminds us – to give thanks, to rejoice, to be glad, and variations of those words. I was also challenged by how many times the direction is not to complain or grumble or murmur – which, I suppose, is still an encouragement to give thanks and be positive. I am thinking that the attitude of gratitude that is often talked about is not the natural state for humans.
I came across five reasons why not ‘giving thanks’ is dangerous to us: it makes us forget what is good , it causes stress, it deteriorates our faith, it gives Satan an opening into our lives, and it gives us a poor testimony. ‘Giving thanks’, therefore is positive therapy. Here’s an assignment – take note of how many ungrateful, unthankful people you meet or hear…and how they affect your life and attitude. Then, be a little ‘self-aware’ and notice what your “thankfulness” is like.
Another thing I noticed from the Bible is that we are told to – “enter His gates with thanksgiving on our lips” and “to come before God with joyful songs”. All too often, it seems, we come to worship times to get happy or blessed or charged up, whereas, it seems, that we are to be happy or blessed or charged up or thankful as we are coming. Now that is a challenge as we don’t often prepare before we come to church. I have a sense that we are coming to church – worship – all too often, hoping it can prepare us for the days ahead.
Something I am pondering – be blessed!