Four Scriptures to Meditate Upon this Thanksgiving Season
It is at this time of year that we often ponder the many things we have for which to be grateful. Cultivating a spirit of gratefulness throughout the year is vital. However, it is a wonderful thing to set aside this time to center our hearts upon the many blessings God has bestowed on us.
Recently, I have been reading the book, Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.
Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy
By Nancy Leigh DeMoss / Moody Publishers
What a convicting read! This book has encouraged me in so many different ways to develop a heart of gratefulness. Not only to the Lord, but also the many people He has placed in my life.
Nancy writes,
“True, Christ-centered, grace-motivated gratitude fits everywhere, even in life’s most desperate moments and difficult situations. Even when there are no ‘answers,’ it gives hope. It transforms overwhelmed strugglers into triumphant conquerors…Gratitude is a lifestyle. A hard-fought, grace-infused, biblical lifestyle.”
Many of you will probably make a list of blessings from the past year. While making your lists of things to thank the Lord for, let me challenge you to think of several people who have blessed you over this past year. Handwritten notes are quickly becoming a thing of the past, and will most likely be an unexpected blessing in the life of the receiver.
As we move into this holiday season, I encourage you to meditate upon these four Thanksgiving Scriptures. At the end of this post, you’ll find a free Thanksgiving Printable which includes each of these passages.
There are two key words found in each of these verses, “giving thanks.” Thanks is something we give. When we demonstrate a heart of thankfulness to God and others, we are in a sense giving a gift to them. Often the greatest gift we can give to one another and to the Lord is simply the gift of thankfulness.
One of the characteristics of the last days is unthankfulness. II Timothy 3:2, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy….” We are surely living in the midst of an unthankful generation. Let us stand against this pervasive attitude and become ladies of gratitude.
There are three areas of our lives where we should seek to cultivate an attitude of “thanks”:
Thankfulness in Prayer
Philippians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
I Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
How much of our prayer times are spent asking for answers rather than giving of thanks for our many blessings? We often expect God to answer our prayers on our own terms rather than His. God’s plan is always perfect, and we must trust that He is working ALL circumstances for good in our lives. So often we focus on the answers we haven’t received instead of the goodness He has already poured out into our lives.
Thankfulness in Our Attitudes and Actions
Colossians 3:17, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
It is much easier to be a complainer than it is to be thankful. But can we really do anything for the glory of God if we have a grumbling attitude or critical spirit?
No parent enjoys seeing this characteristic displayed in her child’s life and neither does the Lord in the lives of His children.
Let’s work at cultivating a thankful heart this Thanksgiving season that we can carry with us in the upcoming days and months!
Thankfulness in Praise and Worship
Ephesians 5:19-20, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”
One night Paul and Silas found themselves in prison chains. Most of us complain over the most insignificant matters. Have you ever found yourself bound and imprisoned for your testimony and faith in Christ? Probably not! Yet despite facing persecution, they chose not to give up hope. Instead, they sang praises and worshiped God almighty!
What an example for us to follow in our times of trial and testing!
Praising and worshiping during troublesome times, takes our focus off of our own sufficiency and places it upon an all-sufficient Saviour and Redeemer!
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For Further Reading:
Finding Contentment in the Will of God
If anyone had an excuse for wanting his circumstances to be altered, it was the apostle Paul. He was not only beaten, stoned, and shipwrecked, but also imprisoned and eventually martyred for his faith in Christ. Yet in spite of these circumstances, he pens the following words…click to read more