"Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the LORD is God. He made us, and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations."! Psalm 100
Autumn is in the air! All week I have heard people say, "Wow, I love this cooler weather after a very hot summer!" Everywhere we go we see the signs of our season of thankfulness called Autumn: Pumpkins, Pine Cones, Changing Leaves, Bales of Hay, Scarecrows, Candy Corn, Earth-tone Colors, and most of all signs of Thankfulness to God!
The psalmist teaches us how to thank God as we enter our daily attitudes with thankfulness and praise. As we walk in an attitude of gratefulness we have many opportunities to share the one and only author of blessings, JESUS, with others!
People, especially people that need the Lord, have voids in their lives that they are trying to fill with earthy worldly things. What are some of the voids in the lives of people that need the Lord? As a first-generation Christian that didn't hear about and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior until I was in my 20's, let me share with you some of the things that were missing in my life as someone that needed The Lord; I was missing - peace, belonging, gratefulness, purpose, direction, joy, and much more!
As Christ's disciples and witnesses when we share simple things that we Thank God for, He can use our attitudes of gratitude to draw people to Jesus! What are 2 ways that we can do this?
- Worship God For Who He Is! Share With Others The Reason God is First In Your Life! (Always Present~Always Providing~Always Personal, etc.)
- Thank God For What He Does! Share With Others The Ways God Has Blessed Your Life! (Salvation~Forgiveness~Hope, etc.)
As blessings come into our lives, give thanks to God. Simply say, "Thank You, God!" When someone compliments you on anything that you know was from God's Grace working in or through you, give thanks to God. Simply say, "Thank You, God!" And be willing to share times in your life that you were not walking with Him or were not thankful so that those that we are sharing with can relate!
When we regularly thank and praise God for the good and difficult events in our lives, God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3), an atmosphere of thankfulness which conversations about Jesus are more likely to take place.
As a new season of Autumn, let's ask God (pray) for an attitude of gratitude. Let's also ask God (pray) to help us count our many blessings daily. Let's ask God (pray) to remind us to be quick to acknowledge the One who is the Provider in our lives, the Provider of all our inspiration and creativity = Jesus!
God's Word promises that if we will openly acknowledge Him before others now, He will openly acknowledge us before God!! (Matt.10:32)
