Before the year ends, let us not forget the wondrous things that the Lord has done in and through our lives.  But more to the works of His hands is the very thought of Who He has been, Who He is and Who He will forever be to you and to me.  What are His revealed nature through His Word that we intimately experienced that caused us to KNOW HIM MORE and made us stronger, wiser, more patient, kinder, gentler, more generous, more loving and faithful, and eventually MAKE HIM KNOWN by the fruit of our lives.

“To know You is to experience a flowing fountain, drinking in Your life, springing up to satisfy.  In Your light we receive the light of revelation.”  (Psalm 36:9 TPT)

Some of us may still be wondering and waiting for the answers to our prayers, but we  still have a million and one reasons to be thankful for and one of them is that we are a day closer to the breakthrough that we are believing for.  Or it could be that He already answered our petition but it isn’t just packaged in the very way we expected it.  Thus, in everything, we give thanks.

We are to count our blessings and remember how He wonderfully answered our prayers because above every answered prayer is His awesome and unique way of doing each one of them, carefully considering the people He chose to flow through the blessings to us, mindful of the perfect time to unveil the answer to us, and extravagantly blessing us above and beyond what we have asked for, are what make us bend our knees to worship the Lord our God.  This where our intimate relationship with Him is built.  He knows us too well.  He knows what melts our hearts and He does it in His most loving way.

Let us be reminded at all times that very reason why He answers us every time we call upon His Name is because He deeply and greatly loves us and it is His utmost delight to commune with us.

The very picture that always comes into my mind of Him being ever-eager and ever-expectant to hear from us is the Parable of the lost son.  When the son came to his senses and realized that his life away from home was worse than his father’s servants, he decided to head home.

“So the young son set off for home. From a long distance away, his father saw him coming, dressed as a beggar, and great compassion swelled up in his heart for his son who was returning home. So the father RACED OUT TO MEET HIM. He SWEPT HIM UP IN HIS ARMS, HUGGED HIM DEARLY, and KISSED HIM OVER AND OVER WITH TENDERLY LOVE.

“Then the son said, ‘Father, I was wrong. I have sinned against you. I could never deserve to be called your son. Just let me be—’

“The father interrupted and said, ‘Son, you’re home now!’

“Turning to his servants, the father said, ‘Quick, BRING ME THE BEST ROBE, my very own robe, and I will place it on his shoulders. Bring the RING, the SEAL OF SONSHIP, and I will put it on his finger. And BRING OUT THE BEST SHOES you can find for my son. Let’s PREPARE A GREAT FEAST and CELEBRATE. For this beloved son of mine was once dead, but now he’s alive again. Once he was lost, but now he is found!’ And everyone celebrated with overflowing joy.” (Luke 15:20-24 TPT)

If this father responded to the coming home of his lost son is so overwhelmingly overwhelming, it is the very same way our Heavenly Father eagerly waits, expects, listens and answers the utterances of our hearts?  The Lord our God is always more  eager to answer than we are to ask and His answers are always above and beyond what we can dare think, dream or imagine.

The son who came home expected only to become a servant.  But look at what the father did?  He restored his sonship despite his wasteful extravagance of mind you, his inheritance.  The best robe, the ring and the sandals were given back and to top it all, a great feast and celebration was done.

How much more for us who are believers in the Son of the Living God, Jesus Christ, and His finished work?  Our Heavenly Father no longer sees us with our imperfections. He sees us as His sons and daughters perpetually washed and cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb of God.  He sees us as His workmanship, His masterpieces created for good works.  He sees us with the moral grandeur and excellency of Jesus Christ, slate clean, holy and blameless for we have been REDEEMED!

This is the BEST REASON to be grateful for day in and day out, year in and year out.  The GREATEST BREAKTHROUGH that we are to be thankful for is our salvation BY GRACE through FAITH. 

Our salvation comes with our sense of belonging, just as He has planned us to be, Him saying, “You are Mine and I Am yours.” And being His means we do not have to strive hard to earn it. Jesus Christ paved the way for ua that we may experientially know what it means to be His.

Our salvation denotes not just being with God in eternal glory, but it also includes a “heaven-on-earth” life with healing and wholeness, with provision and prosperity, a joy-filled, love-filled, peaceful life with everything else are ADDED unto us.

A poetic song for thanksgiving:
Lift up a great shout of joy to the Lord!
Go ahead and do it—everyone, everywhere!
As you serve Him, be glad and worship Him.
Sing your way into His presence with joy!
And realize what this really means—
we have the privilege of worshiping the Lord our God.
For He is our Creator and we belong to Him.
We are the people of his pleasure.
You can pass through His open gates with the password of praise.
Come right into His presence with thanksgiving.
Come bring your thank offering to Him
and affectionately bless His beautiful name!
For the Lord is always good and ready to receive you.
He’s so loving that it will amaze you—
so kind that it will astound you!
And He is famous for His faithfulness toward all.
Everyone knows our God can be trusted,
for he keeps His promises to every generation!  (Psalm 100:1-5 TPT)

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for 2019!  Truly it was a great year.  Though we faced hills and mountains before us but Your grace never failed to see us through them all.  Your strength is always made perfect for our weaknesses.  You always cause us to TRIUMPH  in Christ, for You are our Yahweh Nissi, the Lord our Banner.  You are our battle flag of victory as we march forth and fight to establish Your kingdom here on earth and in our hearts.  Thank You for this year, as it is our stepping stone to the next.  With You is always progression and never recession.  You always take us from faith to faith, from strength to strength, from glory to glory and the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day, not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of God.  We face 2020 with great expectation all because we trust in Your goodness, we lean on Your love and we fully rely on Your faithfulness.  Thank You, Jesus.