Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited. There is just something about family, food, and football that makes me happy—not to mention the much welcomed cooler weather. It is the time of year that the subject of thankfulness always finds itself in the spotlight. Unfortunately, when Black Friday arrives, the spotlight always shifts to something else and thankfulness is placed on the shelf only to be removed and dusted off again next November. This is unfortunate, especially for believers. For much of my life I never understood the power of thankfulness. Even once I met Jesus and committed my life to following Him, thankfulness was a nonissue to me. It was something I said in my prayers but it wasn’t a lifestyle. Over the past year God has been taking me on a journey of discovery. Thankfulness truly has the power to transform your life.
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (Psalm 100:4 ESV). This is a verse many Christians are familiar with. For much of my life I was too familiar with it. If we take a moment to ponder this verse we see that the Psalmist is saying that thanksgiving actually has the power to usher us into God’s presence, into his very courts. I have heard it said that the quickest way to enter into God’s presence, specifically in a time of worship, is to begin thanking Him. In my own life, I have found thankfulness not only to usher me into God’s presence but also to be an effective weapon against the enemy. One of Satan’s greatest tactics is to get Christians to doubt God’s nature. We see that one of the defining characteristics of the children of Israel while they were journeying to the promised land was grumbling. In fact, this is one of the primary reasons that what should have been an 11 day journey turned into a 40 year sojourn (Deut. 1:2-3). They chose to believe the lies of the enemy and doubt God’s faithfulness and goodness. When we choose to thank God we are choosing to say no to Satan and to believe God is who He says is. That’s powerful!
In Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul warns his disciple that difficult days are coming. Paul says that during these days, “men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful…” (2 Tim. 3:2 NKJV). Paul goes on to admonish Timothy to stay away from such men (v.5). Isn’t interesting that unthankfulness is a specific characteristic that Paul mentions. Most of us (myself included) don’t think twice about complaining. We complain about the weather, schoolwork, our job, a football game, our food etc. Complaining and unthankfulness are one in the same. Paul understood that thankfulness is a big deal to God. May we not become the type of person that Paul admonished Timothy to avoid. May we as a people begin to become known for our thankful and grateful hearts. May we complain less and commit to developing a lifestyle of Thanksgiving.
So I challenge you as I am challenging myself. Listen to yourself talk. Refuse to complain. Refuse to have an ungrateful heart. Commit to being radically thankful. I have found that when I take the time to think about all I have to be thankful for, I am overwhelmed by God’s provision in my life. Thankfulness has the power to usher us into God’s presence and release His super natural provision in our lives. That is a big deal!
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (Psalm 100:4 ESV). This is a verse many Christians are familiar with. For much of my life I was too familiar with it. If we take a moment to ponder this verse we see that the Psalmist is saying that thanksgiving actually has the power to usher us into God’s presence, into his very courts. I have heard it said that the quickest way to enter into God’s presence, specifically in a time of worship, is to begin thanking Him. In my own life, I have found thankfulness not only to usher me into God’s presence but also to be an effective weapon against the enemy. One of Satan’s greatest tactics is to get Christians to doubt God’s nature. We see that one of the defining characteristics of the children of Israel while they were journeying to the promised land was grumbling. In fact, this is one of the primary reasons that what should have been an 11 day journey turned into a 40 year sojourn (Deut. 1:2-3). They chose to believe the lies of the enemy and doubt God’s faithfulness and goodness. When we choose to thank God we are choosing to say no to Satan and to believe God is who He says is. That’s powerful!
In Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul warns his disciple that difficult days are coming. Paul says that during these days, “men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful…” (2 Tim. 3:2 NKJV). Paul goes on to admonish Timothy to stay away from such men (v.5). Isn’t interesting that unthankfulness is a specific characteristic that Paul mentions. Most of us (myself included) don’t think twice about complaining. We complain about the weather, schoolwork, our job, a football game, our food etc. Complaining and unthankfulness are one in the same. Paul understood that thankfulness is a big deal to God. May we not become the type of person that Paul admonished Timothy to avoid. May we as a people begin to become known for our thankful and grateful hearts. May we complain less and commit to developing a lifestyle of Thanksgiving.
So I challenge you as I am challenging myself. Listen to yourself talk. Refuse to complain. Refuse to have an ungrateful heart. Commit to being radically thankful. I have found that when I take the time to think about all I have to be thankful for, I am overwhelmed by God’s provision in my life. Thankfulness has the power to usher us into God’s presence and release His super natural provision in our lives. That is a big deal!
