1Thessalonians 5:18(NLT)
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Terrible things are happening all over the world, and we can sense that something has changed in the spiritual realm. Regarding the last days, Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:6(NKJV), “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Many of God’s end-time prophecies are coming to pass before our very eyes, and people around the world are experiencing devastating situations. We must pray diligently for them. Most of us have nothing like their circumstances to deal with. We can go to sleep at night in peace, and we’re not struggling with shortages of food or clean water. God has blessed us above measure, yet we take so much for granted. We desperately need to wake-up and develop a heart and mind that are filled to overflowing with gratitude to God for all He’s done for us.
Years ago, we didn’t understand the scriptures the way that we understand them today. And because we know more, more is required of us. We have a greater accountability to meet the standards that our Heavenly Father has set forth in His Word, and we can’t afford to move away from these standards. They are life to us! Of course, we all miss the mark at times, and when we do and ask God for forgiveness, He gives it to us. He doesn’t punish us when we move away from the mark of the example of Jesus Christ, but He expects us to acknowledge the tremendous gift of His grace and spiritual blessings. When we comprehend the depth of God’s love and all that He’s given us through Jesus Christ, our hearts and minds should swell with gratitude towards Him.
Thankful to God
Often our prayers are centered around what is important to us, like our desires or the situations we encounter in life. We neglect the reality that God tells us in His Word that we should pray with a heart of thanksgiving. Philippians 4:6(NLT), “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” We must pray in a way that signifies we know who God is, that we’re in awe of Him, and we’re thankful for all He has done for us in the past and will do for us in the future.
God doesn’t need anyone or anything to be who He is. He’s God all by Himself, and there are no words to describe or define His magnificence. He is brilliant beyond brilliance, perfect beyond perfection, and intelligent beyond our comprehension of intelligence. He tells us in Revelation 22:13(NLT), “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” He is love, and everything He does is done through His overwhelming, limitless love for us all. Jesus Christ declared in 1John 1:5(NLT), “God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.” This is our Heavenly Father, the Creator of all that we survey! He is worthy of all praise, glory, and honor, and our hearts should leap with joy every moment of each day that He is our God and He chose us to be His children. We should never neglect to thank Him for being who He is.
Thankful for Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ declared in John 3:16-17(NKJV), “16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Jesus Christ is the slain lamb of God. He was sent by God to the earth to save us, and he freely gave up his life on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of every person so that we could receive the gift of eternal life.
Nearing the time of his crucifixion, in Luke 22:42(NLT) he prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Our Master Jesus was not like us. He always did the Will of the Father, and there was never a time that he didn’t follow God’s Will. Without abandon, he walked perfectly on the earth and left us an example of how to love God and walk in God’s love. We couldn’t make ourselves righteous. We couldn’t reconcile ourselves back to the Father, so He sent His Son to do this for us. Jesus Christ is Lord! The gratitude that we must have in our hearts for what God accomplished through Christ should swell to overflowing, and when it does, we will seek the Will and Word of God in all that we do.
Thankful for the Holy Spirit
We cannot live a successful Christian life without the help, guidance, and power of the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside of our human spirits. Romans 8:16(NLT) tells us, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” The Holy Spirit is God’s seed, and he testifies within that we are God’s children of love and light. Jesus Christ said in John 16:13(NLT), “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” We can live by the Holy Spirit’s power when we allow him to lead and guide us through life. This is a blessing beyond our greatest imaginations.
John 3:16(NKJV) tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Through our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, God has saved us and placed His powerful Holy Spirit within every born-again believer. Because of what our loving and awesome Heavenly Father has done, we will never see hell, but instead, we will live victoriously on earth, and we get to spend an eternity with Him. God has blessed us exceedingly abundantly, and we should honor Him with a thankful heart and mind every day of our lives. ∎
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Having a Thankful Heart and Mind”, written for 4theChristianMan.com© 2024. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.