1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Are you thankful? We take so much for granted. Are we thankful that we can see? Not everyone can. Or that we can walk, talk, think, work, smell, or feel? Again, not everyone can. All these things are gifts from God.
Are we thankful for the food we eat, the roof over our head, a warm shower, a bed to sleep in, the vehicles we drive? How about our parents, our spouses, our children, our church family, our pastor, our freedoms in this great nation? Are we thankful for the beauty in this world: the stars, the sky, the streams, the forests, the mountains, the oceans, and the ability to experience them in the many ways we are enabled to? Are we thankful for the tough times in our lives, the times that God has used and is using to teach us things we would otherwise not learn, and to prepare us to be sensitive to the needs of others and to help them? Are we thankful for the opportunities that God has given us to serve Him, to use us to spread His wonderful message, to share with others the gospel that brings the great and eternal hope to this lost world? Are we thankful that God loves us, sees us, provides for us, helps us, knows us, allows us to be called His children, and that He is in total control of our lives? Are we thankful that He’s our Great Shepherd, King, Friend, Brother, Lord, Father, Comforter, and Savior; the One Who has given His life for us?
There is so much to be thankful for! Isn’t it wonderful that it is God’s very will that we think on such things and be thankful for them? Isn’t it wonderful that God calls us to think about “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, whatever is excellent and whatever is worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8)?
May these be the thoughts we most dwell on today, and every day that the Lord, in His goodness, has give us.
To Encourage You 
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