Today's WORD -- Thankfulness

Colossians 3:16

Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

THANKFULNESS (Strong's): grace, gratitude; 'that which affords joy, delight'

To have a THANKFUL heart is to have a heart filled with gratitude towards God, from Whom all Blessings flow. 

Psalm 56:10 "In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word."

Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Ephesians 5:20-21 "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Psalm 34:1 "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips."

Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

It is impossible to have a Gratitude Attitude towards God if we do not have a personal relationship with His only begotten Son Jesus Christ living in our hearts, Whose Holy Spirit leads us through God's written Word that we might become the people He has called us to be.

Do we have THANKFUL hearts? We must respond to this question. Where there is no thankfulness, no gratitude, no praise to God, there is no blessing of any kind. No peace, no hope, no grace, no mercy. 

Psalm 136 describes perfectly why we should have thankfulness in our hearts. 

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.

His loving devotion endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods.

His loving devotion endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.

His loving devotion endures forever.

4 He alone does great wonders.

His loving devotion endures forever.

5 By His insight He made the heavens.

His loving devotion endures forever.

6 He spread out the earth upon the waters.

His loving devotion endures forever.

7 He made the great lights—

His loving devotion endures forever.

8 the sun to rule the day,

His loving devotion endures forever.

9 the moon and stars to govern the night.

His loving devotion endures forever.

10 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt

His loving devotion endures forever.

11 and brought Israel out from among them

His loving devotion endures forever.

12 with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

His loving devotion endures forever.

13 He divided the Red Seaa in two

His loving devotion endures forever.

14 and led Israel through the midst,

His loving devotion endures forever.

15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.

His loving devotion endures forever.

16 He led His people through the wilderness.

His loving devotion endures forever.

17 He struck down great kings

His loving devotion endures forever.

18 and slaughtered mighty kings—

His loving devotion endures forever.

19 Sihon king of the Amorites

His loving devotion endures forever.

20 and Og king of Bashan—

His loving devotion endures forever.

21 and He gave their land as an inheritance,

His loving devotion endures forever.

22 a heritage to His servant Israel.

His loving devotion endures forever.

23 He remembered us in our low estate

His loving devotion endures forever.

24 and freed us from our enemies.

His loving devotion endures forever.

25 He gives food to every creature.

His loving devotion endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven!

His loving devotion endures forever.

And above all this: JESUS DIED FOR US. For this alone, if for no other reason, THIS is why we should have THANKFULNESS in our hearts! 

1 Chronicles 16:34 "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever."

Psalm 100:5 "

For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations."

Psalm 105:1 "Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the nations."

Psalm 106:47 "Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise."

Psalm 118:25 "O LORD, save us, we pray. We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper!"

See that? Prosperity is not in finances. Prosperity is salvation from God. Prosperity is knowing Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. We must be saved on an individual basis: each of us must fall on our knees before God in this life we have been given and acknowledge that He is God and there is no other. We must repent of our wicked ways (disobedience to God's Word) and seek His forgiveness. We must ask Christ into our hearts, to come and live there permanently; to change us from the inside out and wash away the sins from our hearts, making us clean and whole. 

What He did in the books of the New Testament He is still doing today! That's something to be thankful for! He still saves! He still heals! He still pours out His Holy Spirit on those who seek to walk in the power of God and speak boldly the Truth of the Word of God. 

The words "thank, thanked, thankful, thankfulness, thanking, thanksgiving, thanksgivings" when referring to thanking God are mentioned  129 times. This gives me the understanding that thanking God for everything is very important. But a thankful heart requires a thankful attitude. The Bible calls it being a 'cheerful giver', though this verse in 2 Corinthians 9:7 refers to the offerings, or donations, we give above and beyond the tithe we are required to give. Cheerfully, and with joy at being able to give at all. 

However, if we are not thanking God with a cheerful heart, then our thanks is not sincere and it won't be received. When the life we live in Christ and He lives in us is sincere and true, we can't help but be joyful in the thanks we render to God for every blessing He has given us. 

Let's be thankful people of God and nourish a Gratitude Attitude with the love of God through Jesus Christ that any and all who are around us can't help but notice there's something different in us. Let's be salt and light in a flavorless dark world. 

Diving into Surrender

Oh to be found in the favor of God,
Living the life He desires;
Surrendering daily  into His grace,
Enjoying the sweetest of times.


     While searching for photos or pic to align with this post, I stumbled across a NASA Science page on the colors of the ocean, with the help of the Holy Spirit. He is, after all, my Guide. See, I always thought that the deeper the ocean, the darker the green. I knew that some oceans were blue near the top, but I had believed that all oceans are eventually green after that. But the deeper you get into the ocean, not only is there less color, there is less light.
     Turquoise Plankton in the water reflect the light of the sun.
    Azure How many plankton living in the water decides what color the water is.
  Green Black Light Absorbed and light reflected.
Blue-Green Spiral  Type of plankton reveals color of water. In this photo, two types caused the blue-green effect. The spiral is because they are alive and in motion. Pretty cool, huh? This is my favorite.
     There is an emerald rainbow around the base of the throne of God. Revelation 4:5 "And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." Ezekiel 1:28 "As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake." John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
     In the previous verse, John 4:23, Jesus stated not only that the true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth, but that this is the worshipper God is seeking, or looking for. Am I that true worshipper yet? Are you that true worshipper God is seeking? What does it take to be a true worshipper of God?
     The true worshipper walks in the Spirit, not in the world. In other words, he walks the walk. Romans 8:4 "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.". 
     The true worshipper not only walks in the Spirit, but lives in the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
     The true worshipper rejoices in Jesus, and trusts Him. Philippians 3:3 "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
    The true worshipper has a circumcised heart and lifestyle. Colossians 2:6-23 and Colossians 3, but just let me whet your appetite with the first few verses in it. You can continue in your own Bible, okay? Colossians 2:6-11 "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. (7)Rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. (8)Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (9)For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (10)And you are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power: (11) In Whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 
     These scriptures are speaking to the Christian, the person who repents of their sins and accepts the forgiveness of God for such. So, we see here that the true worshipper to whom Christ is referring to in John 4:23, 23 is a Christian not just in name, but in heart and mind and spirit, which make up the soul of a person. In John 3:3 Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again. What follows in John 3:4-21 is Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus.
     As we have already covered what it means to be Christian, we will continue from here to verse 7 in Colossians 2. This verse tells us that the Christian is also not a newbie, or newly born again Christian, but one whose faith is visible to others, a Christian who is always thankful for everything in their lives. But it is hard to be thankful for every little thing, isn't it? Unless you determine to be thankful; having that "Gratitude Attitude". Verse 8 warns us to be careful, and not believe those who would turn us away from the truth of God's Word according to their logic and flattery. Verse 9 reveals to us without reservation that Jesus Christ is the fullness of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
      Verse 10 reminds us that we are complete in Him. Which is what He prayed for in the garden of Gethsemane, later on in this book: John 17:21 "That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, are in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." Finish reading this chapter through verse 26, it's really awesome how every Word of God comes together when the Holy Spirit is active in your Bible studies.
     Verse 11 tells the Christian that God circumcises the heart, not the body. Ezekiel 11:19, 20 "And I will give them a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh. That they may walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances, and do them: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God." Ezekiel 36:26 "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep my judgments, and do them."
     The true worshipper is strong in the Lord, strong in the Spirit, strong in the Word. Their heart is focused on the things of God, not on the things of this world. The true worshipper reads their Bible for to profit the soul, not to seek monetary gain. The true worshipper surrenders not only their heart to God, but their whole life. And having surrendered one's heart and given one's life to worship and thankfulness, the next goal is to see the glory of God face to face. It is not just this side of heaven we are to worship God in, but the other side of heaven, also.
     Where are the true worshippers?