Thank you Pastor Richard Mansfield for sharing your Church sign with us! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your angel Cindy and your entire family and congregation! We love you all!
This is from or Dear Sister in Christ Shonda Savage……..
Sometimes we may be caught up in the trials of life and feel overwhelmed. When we become consumed by the pressures of life, it may be difficult to think of reasons to give God thanks.
Even while in the midst of our tough seasons, the Bible teaches us to give thanks. One my toughest seasons came when my son was arrested. The tragedy of the situation felt like I lived in a nightmare and I couldn’t wake up. However, the Lord showed me that in spite of my son’s incarceration, I have reasons to give Him thanks.
Once I pressed through the barrier of anguish and began to give thanks to God for reasons listed in His word, other reasons began to rise up in my thoughts.
Here is a list of seven scriptural reasons to give God thanks to get you started.
FOR GOD IS GOOD.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1 NLT).
“Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them” (Psalm 107:8 NLT).
FOR GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1-3 (NLT)
FOR GOD’S MERCIES NEVER CEASE AND ARE NEW EVERY MORNING.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:21-23 (NLT)
FOR GOD RESCUED US FROM THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS AND WE LIVE IN THE KINGDOM OF HIS SON.
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (Colossians 1:10-14 NLT).
FOR VICTORY OVER SIN AND DEATH.
“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57 NLT).
FOR WISDOM AND STRENGTH.
“I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength” (Daniel 2:23 NLT).
FOR OUR FOOD.
“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted” (John 6:11 NLT).
“Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it” (Acts 27:35 NLT).
Your turn. What do you give thanks to God for today?
Do you realize when we give God thanks in spite of our circumstances that we walk in victory? First Corinthians 15:57 reads, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NKJV).
WHEN WE THANK GOD THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD, WE HAVE VICTORY!
One way the enemy attempts to get us to surrender our victory is to darken our thoughts. What does that mean?
Our thoughts become darkened when we meditate on things that are contrary to God’s word. It can lead to depression – a spirit of heaviness, anxiety, fears and such.
There may be times that enemy drops thoughts into our minds like…
- God did it for her, but will HE do it for me?
- I’ll never be good enough.
- I never do anything right.
- I’ll always be like this.
- Nothing will ever change.
- I wish I was somewhere else.
- I can’t seem to get things pulled together.
- What’s wrong with me?
- When will I get a break?
- Why can’t someone understand me?
- I always let others down.
Just so you know, God never talks to us like that! Those are lies from the evil one!
Thinking thoughts like that torment us and bring us down. We need to identify thoughts that are contrary to God’s word and take them captive (see 2 Cor 10:4-5).
If we continue to entertain negative thoughts, our thoughts will become futile and our hearts will become darkened. That means depression rests on us like a heavy quilt. Scripture warns us about it.
“because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).
When we fail to give God thanks in spite of our circumstances, our thoughts will be futile, and our hearts become darkened.
In the Greek, the phrase “they became futile” means “to become vain or foolish, be perverted, to render foolish, i.e. wicked or, idolatrous.”
After my son’s sentencing to prison and without knowing it, I fell into this snare of the enemy. I focused on all the things that I thought should of happened at the trial that did not happen. The more I thought about what went awry, the more depressed I became.
But God put a praying friend in my life. This powerful intercessor told me how when she prayed for me she heard the words “vain imagination.” When I searched for a scripture with those words, Romans 1:21 from the King James Version would show up.
I denied that this had anything to do with me and continued in my downward spiral of depression. Then she asked me meet with me in person. Sitting face to face with her, she explained to me that in spite of my dire circumstances, I have something to be grateful for.
The first thing she told me to be thankful about was that when I went to bed at night, I knew where my son was at. Then she proceeded to tell me how for two years she did not know where her daughter was. She had no contact with her and did not know her condition. With tears streaming down my face, I knew the Lord used her to show me how to be thankful.
With a new perspective, I began to thank God for the blessings I do have and for my son’s safety. By giving thanks, the darkness lifted off my life.
Colossians 1:12-14 reads, “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
Giving thanks to the Father delivers us from the darkness and places us in the Kingdom of His Son giving us redemption and the forgiveness of sins!
So whatever situation you find yourself in, find something to be grateful for. When you do, the Lord promises to deliver you from the darkness and into His glorious light!
Give thanks to God today for we have the victory through His Son, Jesus!
Happy Thanksgiving!
