What Does The Bible Say About Thankfulness

Thankfulness is a Prominent Bible Theme

 

Give Thanks

Ephesians 5:20 says, “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

How Important Is Thankfulness

Psalm 136 – 12 times says: “Give thanks” and 26 times says “His love endures forever.” — Romans 8:37-39 assures us that nothing can separate us from the love of God – “³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Psalm 136 teaches us to be thankful because of who God is and what He has done.

Psalm136 teaches us to be thankful because of who God is and what He has done. Click To Tweet

How Should We Enter His Presence

Psalm 100:4-5 – 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. – Be thankful for God’s Eternal Goodness – A thankful heart can change the whole way you see life! It is a flood-gate opener to blessings, joy peace and all sorts of goodness. With thankful hearts, we can even touch the very heart of God, and King David even told us that when we approach God, enter into His gates with thankful hearts! — Developing a thankful heart can revolutionize the quality and enjoyment of one’s life!

 

Be Thankful

Colossians 3:15–17 (ESV) — “15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Everything we do should flow out of a thankful heart and be done in the name of Jesus.

Everything we do should flow out of a thankful heart and be done in the name of Jesus. Click To Tweet

 

Why In Jesus’ Name?

Jesus has 256 different names given to Him in the Bible. He is able to take care of  anything that comes up  in our lives and He wants to.

John 6:33 The Message — ^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Let’s consider a few Of His Names:

• Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8)                         
• Author of Life (Acts 3:15)         
• Christ (Matt. 1:16)
• Good Shepherd (John 10:14)                         
• Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14)
• I Am (John 8:58)                    
• King of Kings (Rev. 19:16)               
• Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16)   
• Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6)        
• True Vine (John 15:1)  
• Wonderful Counselor (Isa. 9:6)
• Word of God (Rev. 19:13)

If we are lacking reasons to be grateful, we’ve most likely taken our focus off of Jesus and placed it on our self.  — Ken Rossen 

Keeping your focus on Jesus makes being thankful easier. Click To Tweet

 

For What He Has Done

Psalm 66:16–20 (ESV) — “16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. 17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” We should be thankful for answered prayer.

 

From troubles in life

Psalm 30 gives praise to God for His deliverance. David writes, “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. . . . You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever”.

Here David gives thanks to God following an obviously difficult circumstance. This psalm of thanksgiving not only praises God in the moment but remembers God’s past faithfulness. It is a statement of God’s character, which is so wonderful that praise is the only appropriate response.

 

Let’s  demonstrate a different attitude by giving thanks to God in both good and bad times.

 

Ingratitude – Not Being Like Jesus

“2 Timothy 3:2 — 3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

 As God’s people we should be very thankful

Expressing Thankfulness Accepts God’s In  Control (Sovereignty)

When we are thankful, our focus moves off selfish desires and off the pain of current circumstances. Expressing thankfulness helps us remember that God is in control. Thankfulness, reminds us of the bigger picture, that we belong to God, and that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). Truly, we have an abundant life (John 10:10), and gratefulness is fitting.

 

CONCLUSION:

How to become thankful!

One of the vital steps to developing a thankful personality, is to meditate (that is to think about often) the things that you have in your life to be thankful for. Make a list of the things God has done for you, and keep those things on your mind throughout the day. It may take a little more work at first, especially if your mind is programmed to think negatively. This process is the tearing down of strongholds and the renewing of your mind as God’s Word tells us:

Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Philippines 4:8 tells us what we are to set our minds upon… “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.”

We should think often about our relationship with God and the blessings He’s given us. — Isaiah 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Every one of us have a LOT to be thankful for! — 1 Corinthians 2:9, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

 

One the of the articles I read while doing my research for this post was this sermon by Ken Rossen – 7 Reasons-to-be-thankful — I benefited from his sermon and so can you —  He shared a lot more information than I needed — so check it out – click  the title.

 

How are you  planning to be more thankful this week?

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