Prayer ~ Lord God, there is so much to be thankful for here, now, and in the future. You have told us that in Heaven there will be singing…"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen." Revelation 7:12 . I look forward to Heaven, but even now I praise You and thank you for all You have done for me. May You be glorified now and forever.
Meditate
on these Scriptures:
The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my
heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of
thanksgiving. Psalm
28:7
A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout with joy to the LORD, all the
earth! Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his
people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into
his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is
good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to
each generation. Psalm 100:1-5
Consider
what the Lord has done for you today, this week, so far this month…this year.
How thankful are you? Did you give thanks along the way, remembering that we
are to be in constant prayer—constant contact with the Father? Paul taught the
church at Thessalonica:
Rejoice always; pray without
ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ
Jesus. 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB
That
should be good for us, too. Pray constantly. I frequently use the ACTS method
of praying:
Adoration, Confession,
Thanksgiving and Supplication.
Today
we are looking specifically at Thanksgiving.
Do
you burst out in songs of thanksgiving? At any time of the year, not just
Thanksgiving, people should reflect on things, people, situations and
relationships for which they are thankful. Deeper searching brings us to: Who
is responsible for providing all for which we are giving thanks? God. He
provides all things. With that in mind—I do give thanks for I have been
abundantly provided for all year around. Indeed, He is my strength and my
shield—protecting me from the fiery darts that the enemy would like to inflict
on me. He is my teacher—reminding me that I need to get my attitude in line and
revealing more of Himself each time I delve into His Word. I trust Him—as the
classic verse in Proverbs says:
Morning Glories
Jerusalem, Israel
Do give God glory and thanks each morning?
This is the day that the Lord has made--
let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Trust in the LORD with all your
heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
Do
you trust—depend totally on—and daily rely on the Lord?
Is
your heart full of joy? I choose joy. Every
day—actually every minute of every day we have choices to make. Choosing joy is
a good thing. It doesn’t mean that I’m perky and “happy—happy.” No. It means
that I can experience God’s peace, contentment, love and other qualities in my
life by my own willful choice. Well, it is actually by willfully submitting to
God’s will. May His will be done in my life on earth, as it is in Heaven. It also
helps me focus on the good things as written in one of my favorite verses by
Paul to the church at Philippi.
And now, dear brothers and
sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and
right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are
excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 NLT
Choosing joy results
in being filled with the fruits of the Spirit.
But the Holy Spirit produces
this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these
things! Galatians
5:22-23
I
am thankful to live for Christ—to know Him as my Lord and Savior. Be thankful.
Verse of Salvation ~ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly
honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of
God." Psalm 50:23
Memory Verse of the Week ~ You will keep in perfect peace all
who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah
26:3
© 2022 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
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.
New
American Standard Bible 2020 Copyright (c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971,
1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. Used
by permission. All rights reserved http://www.lockman.org
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Books by Mickey M. Hunacek
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