This is a heart full of thanksgiving. Gratitude feels our heart when we recognize who God is and His marvelous deeds. His miracles, his covenants, and promises which he has established to a thousand generations. Psalm 105:3 Let the hearts of those who seek and require the Lord as their most essential need rejoice…remember with awe and gratitude the wonderful things which He has done.
David had a grateful heart. When God gave him justice he sang psalms of thanksgiving to him. When he got vindicated he praised God. Psalm 9. David lead people into the house of God with joy and thanksgiving. It is obligatory for us to recognize that God made us and He has chosen us for Himself, He is gracious and full of compassion and requires us to be grateful to Him.
A heart of gratitude causes God to shower down his blessings on us. What happens when we are grateful? God gives us favor. When David fled from Saul he went to the land of the Philistines. God made King Achish of Gath favor him. He gave him the town of Ziklag to dwell together with the six hundred men in his company and their households. The Philistines respected him. God granted David favor even with those who were against him. Daniel also prospered in Babylon when the children of Israel were taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar. He became a ruler over the entire province of Babylon and the chief governor over all the wise men in Babylon and reigned until the first year of King Cyrus because he acknowledged God.
God assures us of his protection. When David sought God in regards to pursuing the Philistines, God assured him protection and granted him victory. He enabled the Israelites to recovered the ark of God that was captured by the Philistines. After this victory, David gathered the Israelites to offer thanksgiving offerings. He appointed the Levites to minister before the ark of the covenant. David showed appreciation by praising and dancing before the ark. Regardless of his status, David understood the act of being grateful and did not let his position get in the way, he led the nation by example. Even though his wife Michal despised him, king David praised and sang psalms of thanksgiving and God gave him rest from his enemies. Note that, often when we appreciate God for what he has done for us, not everyone will celebrate or consent with us. But we have to recognize that God commands us to give him thanks at all times. After this, the Lord ministered to David through Prophet Nathan and promised David that he would humble and subdue his enemies.
God blesses our lineage. A heart full of gratitude makes one have a blessed posterity. God established David’s kingdom forever, from Solomon to the Messiah who reigns forever because of his heart which was full of gratitude. God builds our houses. God promised to build David’s house. He raised Solomon David’s son and established his kingdom. He gave him great prosperity and wisdom. Kings and Queens came from afar to inquire from him.
God rescues us in the time of trouble. When we continually practice to be grateful to God and offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, in times of trouble God will always deliver us. He will send us help when we call on Him. God says those who offer thanksgiving to Him honor Him and He will show them salvation Psalm 50:23
Being grateful should also be by the fruit of our lips. What we confess with our mouths should portray that we are grateful. When the Lord answered Hanna’s petition to give her a child, Hannah full of gratitude glorified God. For this act, God gave her three more sons and two daughters.
Be thankful in prayer. Colossians 4:2 Be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer life with an attitude of thanksgiving. Well , you may say, “This has taken too long, am anxious I don’t know what to do.” The bible admonishes us to be grateful even while praying for a particular issue. As you practice this God acts on your behalf.
God grants us peace when we have a grateful heart. You might be in the middle of a storm, but recognizing that you are not in it alone makes you hope in God and begin to give thanks for you are assured of a testimony. Just like Paul and Silas in prison gave God praise. They knew they would be executed but they kept a grateful heart that motivated God to send an earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison and opened the prison doors. God gave them peace because they magnified him even while in prison. In addition to that, God opened a door for them to evangelize and the guard together with his family got saved.
Be thankful while in anticipation. Has the Lord given you a promise? It is typical for us to worry while anticipating when His word will come to pass. Abraham and Sarah had a great promise that would completely change their lives. Awaiting it to come to pass, Abraham didn’t wallow in self-pity rather he was grateful and gave God thanks even before the promise came to pass. Murmuring and complaining instead of being grateful in anticipation can lead to delay. The children of Israel murmured and complained while in the wilderness. They had a promise to inhabit Canaan but their whining made them wander in the wilderness for forty years.
Gratitude draws multiplication. After ministering to a congregation of 5,000, the disciples asked Jesus to send them away to get something to eat because they were famished and had been there the whole day. But Jesus asked them to provide what they had. They brought him five loaves and two fish. Though this was only one person’s meal, Jesus was grateful and gave God thanks and God multiplied the two fish and five loaves so that the crowd fed and there were left overs. This shows us that no matter how little something maybe, God can easily multiply it if we give him thanks.
Thanksgiving glorifies God and He unleashes what he has in store for us. 1 Corinthians 2:9 No one has ever seen and no one has ever heard about it. No one has ever imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love Him and gratefully recognize the benefits He has bestowed.
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Preciousblogs 