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How Should We Give Thanks to God?

Give thanks to the LORD, proclaim his greatness; tell the nations what he has done.
Psalm 105: 1 (GNT)
Scripture: Psalm 136

Too many times, we don’t show our thanks to God. We let our circumstances dictate whether we are thankful or not. This devotion looks at why and how we should be thankful.

Cliff Notes

  • We have many reasons that we should be thankful to God.
  • However, we usually let circumstances dictate whether we are thankful or not.
  • The fruits of the spirit signifies a pure heart.
  • We are still witnessing to non-believers even if we don’t say a word to them.
  • We should live our lives to honor Jesus.
Flowers with title How Should We Give Thanks to God?

Today, I am really thankful. Late last night, my technology problems for some reason went away. I assume that the tech guys reset everything back to the way it was. For that I am very grateful.

But if you are like me, you probably don’t thank God enough. Part of me says that we can never thank God enough for what He has done for us. Still, we do need to thank God more. How do we do that?

Thanks

Thanks is an expression of gratitude for something. We have so many reasons to be thankful.

God created us. God provides for us. Jesus was victorious over sin and death. So, we should be thankful.

Part of the problem is that gratitude is a feeling. Feelings come and go based on our circumstances.

First Thessalonians 5: 18 says, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (RSV). That is hard — all circumstances. Pastor Tim said today that we are always in one of three conditions: getting ready to enter trials, experiencing trials, or ending trials. That means circumstances will probably never be described as optimal for us to feel thankful.

Crowd

We should be thankful anyway because God is always there for us. Psalm 146: 5-6 are interesting verses. Let’s unpack them.

"But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper …” (Ps. 146: 5 NLT).

There are so many ways in which God helps us. He strengthens us (Isa. 41: 10), upholds us (Ps. 54: 4), and gives us confidence (Heb. 4: 16).

To read Our Joy Is Not Dependent on Circumstances, click the button below.

Our Joy Is Not Dependent on Circumstanes

Not only that, but God has given us the Holy Spirit as a helper. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn. 14: 26 ESV).

“… whose hope is in the Lord their God” (Ps. 146: 5 NLT).

We have hope in the Lord because “faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see” (Heb 11: 1 CEV). When our hope is in the Sovereign God, faith is fairly easy.

“He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them …” (Ps. 146: 6 NLT).

God is the Creator of the universe. While Genesis 1 tells the whole story, there are many places in the Bible that reaffirms this. Just one is “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you” (Neh. 9: 6 ESV).

“… He keeps every promise forever” (Ps. 146: 6 NLT).

Have you ever said of someone, “I wish I could just believe what s/he said?” You can with God. He isn’t going to lie to you. He isn’t going to say He is going do something for you, and them have something else come up. He promises; it will be.

Why can we believe that? “So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us” (Heb. 6: 18 NLT).

That gives us reason to praise Him! With all the turmoil going on in the world today, it is comforting to have this assurance.

We have the assurance because we have the faith, but that also brings responsibilities. “So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let’s keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water” (Heb. 10: 22 CEV).

My ladies talked this morning about what signifies a pure heart. We decided that it was the fruits of the spirit. You know, “… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5: 22-23 HCSB).

Heart

How do we keep our consciences free from evil? I would say controlling our thoughts goes a long way. Satan wants to control us, and one of the easiest ways for him to do so is to take over our thoughts.

To read How Can We Corral Our Thoughts?, click the button below.

How Can We Corral Our Thoughts

Baptism is symbolic of our bodies being washed with clean water. It is a way people can show by their actions that they have accepted Jesus’ message and repented of their sins. It also shows their entrance into the fellowship.

Proclaim

We are to proclaim God’s greatness. Oooo, baby. That means witnessing.

Witnessing is usually so hard for us. That means we have to put ourselves out there for rejection and ridicule.

To read When to Talk the Talk, click the button below.

When to Talk the Talk

But we are witnesses without uttering a single word. My ladies and I talked discussed that not only are non-believers observing believers’ actions but also their attitudes and motives to make sure believers are real.

Unfortunately, non-believers are expecting fruit-of-the-spirit perfection from believers. Jesus is the only one that pulled that off. Non-believers are putting unrealistic expectations on believers.

Meeting

Why? My ladies and I think it is so they can discount God and His love. If they can “prove” that believers are “liars,” then they can justify their decision to not trust in God.

Problem is they are just proving how much we need God. We could never improve ourselves into salvation.

So, believers get a pass from witnessing because we are never going to change the minds of non-believers? Nope. We must praise God. We must tell of His love. We must tell what He has done for us. That is our job as believers.

What He Has Done

What has God done (besides what we’ve already talked about)? He equips us with everything we need to do His will (Heb. 13: 20-21 NLT). He grows us into the people we need to be to do His work.

We can do and face anything because of God. “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Phil. 4: 13 NLT). Said another way, “Christ gives me the strength to face anything” (Phil. 4: 13 CEV). Whatever — God is equipping us to handle it. So whatever condition we are in (entering, experiencing, or ending trials), we can be thankful that God will give us what we need.

How Do We Apply This?

Colossians 3: 17 says, “Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father” (GNT). To me, that means we need to give thanks always. We need to live our lives — through what we say and do — in honor of Jesus. That is an outward expression of thanks.

Psalm 9: 1 echos that but also extends it. “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” (Ps. 9: 1 NIV). We honor Jesus with our heart, but the thanks just wants to bubble out of us so that we can’t keep quiet about it. Haven’t you been so excited about something that you just can’t wait to tell everyone you see?

Not only that, remember what we were just saying about what signifies a pure heart? The fruits of the spirit (Gal. 5: 22-23) should also bubble out of that pure heart.

Being a musician, I like the next verse. “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” (Ps. 95: 2 ESV). Whether it is music or noise, it is to come out of us.

Not a musician? I bet God would be just as pleased if we wrote words down instead of sang them. I bet He would be just as pleased if we spoke those words to someone else — especially if the someone else was a non-believer.

Think about it this way. What are we supposed to do? Give thanks. Why? Because of all He has done for us. How? Bubbling. Telling others what He has done for us. We can do this because He is going to equip us.

Merciful Father. You deserve our praise. We say that not because our praise is excellent but because of Who You are and what You have done for us. You deserve more praise than what we give You. Forgive us, Lord, when we get so caught up in whatever condition we are in — when we put this world above You. Help us to look to You. Help us to tell others of Your love and mercy.

What do you think? Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.

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