John Piper says “Gratitude flourishes in the sphere of Grace”.
When we look at the Greek translation for gratitude we see that it is closely related to grace. In 2 Corinthians 4:15 we see this relationship: “It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God”
How can our understanding and appreciation of grace help our hearts overflow with thanksgiving?
It will first help us see that EVERYTHING we have is a gift and comes from God. James 1:17b says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…”
More importantly, as we grow in our understanding, we will also grow in our acknowledgement of our unworthiness of it all. We DESERVE nothing that comes from the hands of our Holy Father and receive it all thanks to His Grace! Understanding these things will inevitably change us into a person that gives thanks in “ALL circumstances”.
Pray with me…Lord,
We are humbled and full of gratitude because “we have peace with you through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith, into this grace in which we now stand”. Because of the grace we stand on, we rejoice in the knowledge that nothing can separate us from You!
We take time today to pause and consider all the blessings we enjoy NOW, from the significant ones to the ones we so often take for granted. Forgive us for the times we have overlooked these and instead focused on what we feel we need or think are lacking;
Lord, because of your grace and generosity we are blessed with so much from You! We choose to abandon our society’s attitude of entitlement and learn to look at EVERYTHING we enjoy as a gift: every new day we wake up to, our health, our jobs, the food we enjoy…EVERYTHING is a gift!
In your precious name we pray, Amen
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