Christian: Word of Faith Community Group Community Group
A place for fellow Word-of-Faith believers to support each other, connect, and grow in Christ. Our key verse is Revelation 12:11(KJV) "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony...."
I copied this from a post in Worshipping Ladies. I thought it was awesome, and I wanted to share it here.
| Gratitude Changes Everything Nov 05, 2018 08:13 pm | Sharon Jaynes |
I just love Thanksgiving! It is my favorite time of year. A time to remember all that we have to be thankful for! But what about the times when we just don’t feel very thankful. When the job stinks or the kids get on that last nerve. When we’ve got too much to do and not enough me to do it. When life doesn’t turn out like we thought it would. Hmmm. I hear a distant grumble coming on. Paul wrote the Thessalonians, “Give thanks in all circumstances,” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Notice the Bible doesn’t command us to feel thankful in all circumstances. Instead it commands us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” When I begin to praise God in a difficult situation, even if I don’t feel like it, many times the scales fall from my eyes and I begin to see glimpses of His glory sprinkled on the black backdrop of the situation like diamonds on black velvet. Sometimes I don’t see glory in tragedy, but I still can praise God because I know He is there. Gratitude changes the lens through which we see the circumstances in our little slice of time. Thanksgiving changes our perspective despite broken dreams, broken relationships, tumultuous circumstances, and unfulfilled longings. As you praise God for who He is and thank Him for what He’s done, your perspective of Him grows larger and your problems grow smaller. As a result, you will experience a deeper sense of intimacy with God as the emotional gap between what you know to be true and how you feel at the moment closes. On many occasions in the Psalms, David complained about his circumstances (Psalms 42, 57, 62). But more often than not, about midway through David’s laments, he begins praising God for who He is and thanking God for what He’s done. And you know what happens? All of a sudden David starts feeling better! Life isn’t so bad after all! His problems grow smaller as his perspective of God grows larger, and he begins to see God’s glory shining through the situation. Why is that? In the writing of one little Psalm, David shifted from depression to rejoicing. He didn’t wait until God changed his situation, solved his problem, or made him feel better before he began thanking Him. Oh friend, when we stop complaining and grumbling and begin speaking God’s love language of gratitude, our perspective will change as well. We will begin seeing moments of sudden glory through the lens of praise and thanksgiving—glory moments that were there all along, but hidden from the grumbling eye. And that makes every day Thanksgiving day. Dear Lord, I praise Your name. I exalt Your name forever. Even though I may not understand what is going on in my life, I trust that You are good and Your plans are good. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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