THANKFULNESS

Today’s Scripture, from Texas…
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God…  (Deuteronomy 8:10–11, NIV)
    
Don’t Lose the Awe
In Deuteronomy 8, after promising the Israelites that He was bringing them into the Promised Land, a land filled with abundance, favor, and blessing, God gave them a warning that they not forget He was the source. God was saying, “When you get that promotion, when your health turns around, when you have that house you asked Me for, don’t ever forget that it was My goodness. Always take time to thank Me for what I’ve done.”

In some area of our life, we’re all in the Promised Land. God has done something amazing. We know we have His favor. The problem with forgetting that it came from Him is that God won’t share His glory. If you don’t stay grateful, if you don’t recognize His goodness, the same God who opened the door can close the door. A lack of gratitude is what causes blessings to not last. Every morning when you wake up, the first thing you should say is, “Lord, thank You for Your goodness.”

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that Your hand has been upon my life in so many ways. Thank You for the countless things You have made happen for my good that I could never make happen. I stand in awe of Your goodness to me, and I will not forget it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

THANKFUL  SCRIPTURES:
Psalm 100:4, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!
Isaiah 57:19, “Peace, peace, to him who is far off [both Jew and Gentile] and to him who is near! says the Lord; I create the fruit of his lips, and I will heal him [make his lips blossom anew with speech in thankful praise].
1 Corinthians 10:30,  If I partake [of my food] with thankfulness, why am I accused and spoken evil of because of that for which I give thanks?
Ephesians 5:4, “Let there be no filthiness (obscenity, indecency) nor foolish and sinful (silly and corrupt) talk, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting or becoming; but instead voice your thankfulness [to God].”
Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].”
1 Thessalonians 5:18,   “Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Reveal-er and Mediator of that will].
Hebrews 13:15,   “Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.

AND UNTHANKFUL:
2 Tim. 3: 1-5,   “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”  (Paul’s prophesy about the last days which seem to now be here, Luke 21.) 

So in the morning,  be thankful for another day in which to serve King Jesus as our LORD?  Be thankful for the air, water, sleep and food that HE has given us and fully realizing that our Creator knows we have need of such things but that due to our sin, we can block HIM from blessing us.   So if we take just a moment upon waking and ask the Holy Spirit what HE would like to see us change in our lives to be like Jesus,  the answer will be immediate.  We may then choose to obey or to rebel but until we submit and are thankful, the next spiritual doors will remain shut.  Perhaps even for years and years.  Once you know the Truth but are not thankful and walk it out, we will have put a lock on the door to that room in our house that we have placed on the door all by ourselves.  The Holy Spirit will then only wait until we change your mind.  If never, we will die with the potential of that room unrealized and miss the blessings of GOD and the thankfulness of what could have been.  So try waking up and being thankful for the free air and what ever you can think about that is all around us every day of our lives.  And elect to live in obedience and humility to our LORD.   Being thankful contributes to humility,  while unthankfulness fills us with pride.

( Add / Delete, ken@Trinity-Aloha.org   “Worth Considering” library link on Homepage. )

Note:
We have space on our little farm in warm Kealia for work/trade for 2 men and 1 woman.
www.OhanaChurch.Life