Give Thanks

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

I thought that since it is Thanksgiving day today, it would only be natural to do a devotional on true thanksgiving. But, before we get into anything too serious, what are you thankful for? Here's my top five:

1. my family.
2. my friends.
3. food and water.
4. shelter.
5. clothes.

When I look at that list, I notice that they all have one thing in common; they are all gifts from God. When I really think about it, I realize that I could have been born into a completely different situation: I might not know who my real dad is; I might go days without knowing when my next meal will be; I might not have a place to sleep at night. When I think about it, that I have all of these things, I can't help but be thankful to God.

I want to look at two points about what it means to be truely thankful.

1. How can I be thankful times are tough?

I have two answers for this one.

First, check out Psalm 107: 1,

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."

The answer is right there. God is good and His love endures forever. That is reason enough to give Him our thanks. And, because God's love for us never fades, we can be sure that He will provide us with everything we need, even in the hard times.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6: 26

Second, Romans 5: 3- 5 says this:

"Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces persaverance; persaverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

We can thank God in the tough times because we know that good will come out of it.

Does being thankful mean only in the good times? No! It means that we are thankful in the hard times, too.

2. How exactly can I show thankfulness to God?

The definition of "thanks" is: to show, or express, appreciation or gratitude.

Usually when we thank someone, it is with a gesture, such as: saying "thank you", or giving a card or gift. Just as there are different ways of saying "thank you" to another person, there are different ways of showing our gratitude to God.

• We can just say "thank you" to Him through prayer.
• We can praise and worship Him, "Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things." Psalm 98: 1.
• We can thank Him for everything He has done for us by living for Him in everything we do, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3: 17.

So, I will ask it again: what are you thankful for? Are there all good things on your list? Or are there some hard times on your list now, too? Remember, that when we are truely thankful, we can be thankful for all things, whether good or bad.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Walking in faith, Kyla