Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing!
Know (perceive, recognise, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise!
Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!
For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.
Psalm 100 AMP
I love this Psalm for many reasons, including that it helps us to keep in perspective who God is, and who we are.
Know this: GOD is God, and God, GOD.
He made us; we didn't make him.
We're his people, his well-tended sheep.
Psalm 100:3 The Message
This morning though, God spoke to me specifically about the 'being thankful' verse.
Enter with the password: "Thank you!"
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
Psalm 100:4 The Message
Sometimes we don't want to be thankful. We want to complain. We want to remind God of how difficult things can be. We want to remind Him of what we haven't got, or what we have 'missed out' on. But that isn't what God wants. He wants us to 'Be thankful and say so to Him.'
Here is a little example from my life of what happens when we stop complaining and start being thankful ......
My husband (for all those married reading this blog, I am sure you can relate to this in some way), likes things to be secure - locked. I am not quite so security conscious, especially with internal gates and doors. I would find things locked and get annoyed because it would slow down 'my schedule' - I would have to go and find the keys, unlock the gate, door etc, and then put the keys away, taking up 'my valuable' time.
One day, when I was muttering under my breath about how annoying this was, the Holy Spirit prompted me with a completely different perspective - that of thanking God for giving me a husband who wants to protect his family and our property. This revelation helped me to appreciate my husband in a whole new way. Now when I find a locked gate or door, I take a few moments to say, "Thank Lord for giving me a husband who is so security conscious and wants to protect us." The power of being thankful.
Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 AMP
Sometimes we have to thank God in faith for things we know are possible with God, but we have not yet seen.
Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. Hebrews 11:1 AMP
The Message Bible puts it this way,
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. Hebrews 11:1 The Message
Thanking for the unseen - it is a decision.
Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests) with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. Philippians 4:6 AMP
But watch what God will do in you and through you when you make that decision to 'Be thankful and say so to Him.'
And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of it's salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with it's earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 AMP
Question for today, is there something in your life that is continually annoying you or causing you anxiety? Why not have some quiet time and ask God to show you what you can be thankful for? If there is something in your life that is yet to come, unseen, ask Him for the courage to believe that all things are possible with God, and to be able to thank Him while you wait.
Jesus glanced around at them and said, With men [it is] impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God. Mark 10:27 AMP
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