Reasons for Gratitude
“Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 5:20 TLB
This week we continue our series on gratitude by looking at some things for which we can be grateful. Once again, I am drawing inspiration from the guided journal The Weekly Gratitude Project, which encourages us to spend time being intentional about giving thanks to God. Sometimes it’s easy to look around us and fill a notebook with lists of God’s blessings. But other times, not so much. What do we do when we’re finding it hard to be thankful? The answer is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to do: We focus on Christ.
It sounds obvious enough. After all, in comparison with God’s gift to us of eternal life through faith in Christ, everything else seems small. Logically, we tell ourselves we have nothing to worry about. As followers of Christ, someday we’ll be living in paradise with Him, and all our pain and hardship will be gone. But realistically, we still struggle. We struggle because we aren’t there yet. Right now, we’re still living in a broken world full of sin and suffering, and it’s hard sometimes to feel grateful. But that doesn’t mean we should stop trying. The answer to the pain and hardship and sin and suffering that we experience is to stop focusing on it and focus instead on what God has given us through Jesus Christ.
“Jesus is the reason we can always give thanks.
The Weekly Gratitude Project
We give thanks for what He’s done . . . .
We give thanks for what He’s promised . . . .
And we give thanks for what He’s given . . . .
We may not have everything we want,
but friend, we have so much more than we deserve, especially in Jesus.”
We Give Thanks for What He’s Done
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
Romans 5:8 NIV
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
There are days when everything seems to go wrong. People let us down. Things don’t work out the way we hoped. We may feel like the universe is against us. But even on those days, we have reason to be grateful. Because there is Someone who loves us so much that He suffered and died so that we could be saved. Christ died for us, not because we deserved saving, but because He chose to.
It’s hard to comprehend that kind of love, but that doesn’t make it any less real. God loves us. In fact, He adores us. We are His masterpiece. He freed us from sin and death so that we could be with Him forever. So even on days when we feel alone or unloved, we are not. God loves us, and He is with us. He comforts us when we are hurting. He leads us when we feel lost. And He understands us better than anyone else ever could.
We Give Thanks for What He’s Promised
“Jesus says yes to all of God’s many promises.
2 Corinthians 1:20 NLV
It is through Jesus that we say, ‘Let it be so,’ when we give thanks to God.”
Scripture is full of God’s promises to us. He promises us help and power through His Spirit. He promises us peace and abundant life through Christ. He promises to give us everything we need, and even what we desire, as we seek His will. And above all, He promises us a home with Him forever in heaven. These are all amazing promises that we as Christians can claim.
But I have discovered that God loves to astound us even more by giving us individual, personal promises as well. As we seek God, we learn to hear His voice, and that’s when the adventure really begins! I’m starting to lose count of all the ways God has blown my mind and left me in awe of His power by the way He communicates with me. And He will do the same for you. Spend time seeking Him. Be intentional about learning to hear His voice. And then get ready to be amazed!
We Give Thanks for What He’s Given
“God doesn’t take back the gifts he has given or disown the people he has chosen.”
Romans 11:29 CEV
God has promised us an incredible future, but He has also given us some wonderful gifts we can enjoy now. First and foremost is His grace. When we accept Christ, God’s grace saves us and frees us to live a better life. And because we don’t earn it, we can’t lose it. God will never take it away or change His mind about us. We are His forever. Because of God’s love, He gives us His grace. And because of His grace, we have hope.
God also gives us the gift of His Presence. His Spirit dwells within every believer, giving us the wisdom and strength we need to do His will. It is through the Holy Spirit that we can discern God’s voice and access His power. That’s pretty amazing! And that’s not all. Because God calls us to do His work in the world, He gives us everything we need to do it. So as long as we are doing His will, we never have to worry about anything.
“We have countless reasons to be thankful — but do start counting!
The Weekly Gratitude Project
Open your eyes to all He has given and give thanks.”
This week’s Scripture passages remind us of God’s overwhelming love and blessings. I have also included some more reflections and writing prompts from The Weekly Gratitude Project. As we learn to focus on Christ — what He’s done, what He’s promised, and what He’s given — we learn to see His blessings all around us. We learn to see all the reasons we have to give thanks!
Reflections and writing prompts from The Weekly Gratitude Project:
~ “What does Jesus’ willingness to sacrifice all for you tell you about your worth?”
~ “Jesus knows your name, and He knows what you like. How does it feel to know that the One who cares for you deeply is preparing a forever home for you?”
~ “Describe a time God went over and above meeting your needs and gave you what you desired.”
~ “What are you facing today that’s troubling you? Write about it, and then on top of what you’ve written, around and all over it, write the words ‘I am loved.'”
~ “Write a prayer of thanks to Jesus for the abundance you have in Him now and the promise of forever blessings to come.”
“If there’s nothing else on your list today, give thanks for Jesus.
The Weekly Gratitude Project
He is reason enough.”
References:
- The Weekly Gratitude Project: A Challenge to Journal, Reflect, and Grow a Grateful Heart. Zondervan, 2020.
Images:
- Rose featured image by armennano from Pixabay
- Journal image by Joyful on Unsplash
- Cut Rose image by Joshua Wilson on Unsplash
- Rose Buds image by reji koduvath from Pixabay
- Flowers image by Dex Ezekiel on Unsplash
- White Rose image by jerry klein on Unsplash
About The Author
Christa
My vision for Wondertakings was to create a devotional blog for "nerdy" Christians like me. I do believe, as Socrates said, that wisdom begins in wonder. So I love to read or watch anything that inspires wonder and figure out what I can learn from it. I view it all through a Christian lens. I believe that God can and does speak through many sources in many ways, even if those speaking are not aware of it. I am not an expert in theology or religious studies. My goal with this blog is simply to share what I've learned as a fellow student and sinner in the Christian walk. My hope and my prayer is that by doing so I may be able to help someone else. In Deuteronomy 5:33 (NLT), we are told: "Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives. . . ." So in the words of Moses (and Spock), live long and prosper, my friends!