A Thankful Heart

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17)

How do you think you would view your life if you ~started each day~ and ~ended each day~ with a grateful heart?

Counting our blessings, noticing the simple pleasures, and living each moment as if it were a miracle shifts our focus from what our lives may be lacking to the abundance that is already present. It’s so easy to take for granted the good that is already present in our lives, and rather focus on what’s not present in our lives. When things don’t go our way, we need to remember that with every difficulty we need to ask ourselves, “what’s good about this?”, “what can I learn from this?”, and “how can I benefit from this?”. Many people struggle with finding contentment, but why do we put ourselves in a race to succeed and gain when instead we could be enjoying what we have and where we are currently in this present moment?

So…how do we come to have a thankful heart?

~How can we be grateful to God for the small things, the stuff we take for granted, or the things that we feel we are entitled to?~

~How can we be thankful in the hard things, the ugly things, the “I never wanted” things, the things of sorrow and pain; is it really possible?~

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (I Thessalonians 5:18)

·         Choose your feelings…begin each day with prayer, inspirational reading, uplifting music; speak words of gratitude, and think on all the things you have to be thankful for!

·         Choose your actions…our hearts overflow when we put love in action and give the gift of friendship; thankfulness is expressed through our ability to bless others!

·        Choose your words…Pause and think before you speak, and rather than grumble, think about what is helpful, useful, and uplifting in all circumstances. Our conversation reveals what is in our hearts!

“Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!” (Psalm 95:2)

There is a strength that comes from having a thankful heart; possessing a grateful heart is not an obligation, but rather a privilege! There is something to be thankful for in each and every moment of our day. When we start to recognize everything as something to be grateful for, that’s when things begin to change. Trust and gratitude go hand in hand, and when we trust that there is a divine reason for everything, we can be thankful for all of it.

We are showing…

v  faith in place of uncertainty;

v  appreciation instead of dissatisfaction,

v  and love instead of fear!

When we show gratitude for all our blessings (no matter how big or small), they multiply and we have more to be thankful for! Every experience comes to us from God’s personal and loving hand; He is arranging the events of our lives, and we need to see this evidence all around with eyes that see God’s hand at work in every moment of every day. When our feelings, actions, and words are focused on our many blessings, we see normal, everyday things as a gift, and with thankfulness in our hearts we will reap a harvest of gratitude instead of dissatisfaction and restlessness. Thankfulness and gratitude protects and guards our heart!!






                                                Linking up this week with: