“Enter His gates with THANKSGIVING, and go into His courts with praise.  GIVE THANKS to Him and praise His name.  For the Lord is good; His unfailing love continues forever and His faithfulness continues to each generation.”  Psalm 100:4-5 NLT

Thanksgiving tunes us into God’s frequency.  When we do, we get see and hear Him clearly at the same time we get to see ourselves being seen and heard by Him clearly.  There is a crisp and crystal clear divine connection.  It is akin to us revolving a knob of a radio trying to get the exact number of an AM or FM station where static sound goes and a clear sound surfaces.

Thanksgiving gets us consumed by what we have than being focused on what we don’t have.  It positions our hearts to acknowledge all that Jesus has done in our lives and is continuously doing.  It brings us to remember that HE IS GOOD and HE IS GREAT.  It also takes us further than knowing Him in our heads and into our hearts where He put His goodness and His greatness in us that results to HIM walking through us.

Thanksgiving opens the gates into His presence which plays an integral part of our communion with Jesus.  Once the gates are open, PRAISE comes out from our mouths and we begin to encounter Him.

Thanksgiving and praise are us calling Him to invade our lives.  He sits on the praises of His people, settles and dwells for a purpose and that is to influence our thoughts, wills and emotions to conform into His.  He makes us enter in to see His goodness and glory displayed in our lives.

A lot of times, we only see the negative situations magnified before our eyes  that always bring us down, depresses us and oppresses us.  How about switching our thoughts into counting the good that He has brought into our lives?  Start with the simple things.  We are not here to impress Him but He SURELY will impress us when He opens our eyes to see a million and one things that we ought to be thankful for yet we take them for granted.

Why not begin the journey now?  Why not open your mouth to say “THANK YOU, JESUS”? Why not get a pen and a paper and write down all the things that you ought to be thankful for?  His Word says. “IN everything GIVE THANKS for this is THE WILL OF GOD in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV).

His word didn’t say “FOR EVERYTHING” give thanks because we don’t get thankful for the bad things that happen to us.  BUT His word says “IN EVERYTHING” give thanks.  Why?  Because we know that ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR OUR GOOD (Romans 8:28 NKJV).  We know that even in the midst of shaking, HE IS ABLE TO TURN AROUND THE THINGS FOR OUR GOOD!   What the devil meant for evil, God SURELY will turn it to good.

I remember what happened to Joseph, sold to slavery by his own flesh and blood BUT when the time came when he became the second most powerful man in Egypt and his brothers came to him, he said to them, “But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.  Now, do not be afraid, I will provide for you and your little ones.  And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” (Genesis 50:20-21 NKJV)

You and I are no different.  If you see yourself not in a comfortable situation, BE OF GOOD CHEER for God is about to turn it around.  Keep thanking Him!  Keep praising Him!  It is in this place of praise and worship where the enemy gets so confused why we are rejoicing in the midst of trials.  KNOW that there is growth in adversity.  We just need to focus on the treasures that lies behind the difficulties.  Pruning always happens to be MORE fruitful.  So, IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS!  That’s faith and faith always pleases God!

Prayer:

Father, I thank You that you hear me and see me every time I call upon Your name.  Thank You for Your unfailing love that is from everlasting to everlasting.  Thank You that You remain faithful even if at times I am not.  Thank You for Your grace and mercy IN Christ.  Thank You for Your Holy Spirit comforting me when I need comfort, guiding me when I need guidance, helping me when I need help, and teaching me how to be thankful.  Daddy God, THANK YOU!