Gratitude/thanksgiving fans the flames of our love and worship of God.

“Thanksgiving is wonderfully healthy for our souls. It redirects our attention from focusing on life-depleting and faith-shrinking concerns to focusing on God in Christ, who is our life (Colossians 3:4), by recalling the varied graces we have received from him through the supreme grace of the cross. Gratitude inspires joyful worship and sparks our faith.
But we can’t run our car on gratitude for yesterday’s gas. We need tomorrow’s gas to keep going tomorrow. And the gas that keeps us going is faith in God’s 'precious and very great promises' (2 Peter 1:4), faith in God’s future grace. So, give thanks today with your whole heart for all you have received from God, and let it do its work to encourage your trust in him for all you will need tomorrow.” John Bloom (TGC.org, November 27, 2019)

How to cultivate a thankful heart:

1. Rejoice in creation (Psalm 92:4).

2. Be gobsmacked/astounded by the deep thoughts of God regarding His love and mercy for you (Psalm 92:5; Romans 11:33-36).

3. Be gladdened by the daily empowerment by the Holy Spirit (Psalm 92:10).

4. Reflect upon the ultimate justice of God (Psalm 92:11). This releases us from the “that’s not fair” mindset (Psalm 73).

5. Be aware of the fact that the people of God flourish and grow because they are planted in the reality of Christ (Psalm 92:12-13).

6. “Old age” does not bring despair! (Psalm 92:14; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

“Grace does not leave the believer when the keepers of the house (the hands) tremble; the promise is still sure though the eyes can no longer read it; the bread of Heaven is fed upon when the grinders fail; and the voice of the Spirit in the soul is still melodious when the daughters of music are brought low. Blessed be the Lord for this! Because even to gray hairs he is the I AM, who made his people, he therefore bears and carries them.”  Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David, Vol 2 (p. 120)

QUESTIONS:

1. Are you prone to complaining?

2. Are you bitter about the past?

3. Are you prone to presumption and entitlement?

4. Are you anxious about the future?

“Seek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life.”  Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910)