“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.”
Psalm 100: 1-5
One of the keys to success in our faith walk is having an attitude of gratitude. We know how important it is to build our faith through reading and hearing the word of God. It is also important to watch our thought life and engender a culture of thankfulness in our heart. It can be tempting when facing some tough circumstances to focus our thoughts on those things that seem to be moving in the wrong direction. The enemy wants us to get into a negative mindset, which in actuality is an unthankful mindset. When we are upset about things that happen that feel unfair or difficult, we are actually operating in a spirit of ungratefulness. It takes great discipline to watch the thought life and choose instead to remind yourself of all the blessings that God has given.
There are always ways to be thankful. If you thank God for what you have and what He has done, you can then see more clearly to begin thanking God for what He is about to do. Take time each day to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving. Thank the Lord for all that He has done for you in the past. Take time to thank Him for what is going right each day. Then, take time to thank Him for what you have received already by faith in prayer.
As you spend time being grateful instead of complaining, you train your brain to think faith filled thoughts instead of fear filled thoughts. An attitude of complaining stirs up fear and clouds the thinking. James 3:11-18 declares: “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying’s and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”
If you are focused on thanking the Lord and those around you, you stir up in your heart the fruits of the spirit. However, if you focus on what is going wrong, on negative thoughts about others and the circumstances in your life, then you are stirring up fear, strife and the works of the flesh. Take every thought captive to obedience to Christ and cast down every thought that is not of Him. (see 2 Corinthians 10: 4-6 ) If the thought is not lovely then It is not God. Philippians 4:8 instructs us: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
This way of thinking is how Paul and Silas were able to praise God despite being beaten and thrown into the depths of a prison in Phillippi. They had a heart of gratitude for what the Lord had already done for them and what HE was going to do. As a result, there was a great earthquake, and the prison doors were opened. The prison guard and his entire family received Jesus as Lord and they spent the night at his house having a wonderful meal and preaching the good news of the gospel.
When we have a heart of thankfulness, it is much easier to believe the best of others and helps increase our faith in what God will do for us. Let us use our secret ingredient of Thankfulness to our recipe of faith. Let us take this month of November and focus on being thankful for all the blessings the Lord has given us and all that He is going to do!
Further Reading: Acts 16, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 1 Chronicles 16:14, Psalm 9:1, Psalm 95:2, Psalm 103:1-5, Psalm 107:1, Isaiah 12:4-5, Philippians 4:6-7, Colossians 3:15-17
