Journal Entry ~ 11/28/18

1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  - Psalm 105:1-2

A thankful heart is a joyful heart - this is what God wants for us. When we neglect the sacrifices in thanksgiving, our soul suffers. Have you ever noticed how many times we are reminded in scripture to be thankful?  It is because God knows our tendency to forget, and when we forget to be thankful, we slip into a focus on self. 

Being thankful shifts our focus away from our problems, and broadens our perspective. It’s not always easy to give thanks, but it is what God calls us to do over and over in scripture. You simply need to do a bible search on thankful verses to find countless examples in the Old and New Testament. He calls us to live with hearts of gratitude. If we want to see God’s will accomplished in our lives, we must grow in our thankfulness. 

A heart of gratitude in the midst of a difficult trial brings glory to God, and it grows our faith in deep ways. It strengthens His Spirit that dwells in us, and it banishes the enemy. Satan is defeated when we speak words of thankfulness for what He has done in our lives and how He continues to work. 

Through my trials, God has trained me to not only be thankful for the obvious blessings, but also for the situations I would have never chose - a wayward child, loss of employment, loss of a loved one. That’s counterintuitive thankfulness - it goes against everything that the world teaches us, but it is possible when we trust Him at a deeper level. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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