ThankfulnessSample

Thankfulness

by Rocky Fleming

Day One - Entering in

Growing up it was common for me to hear a prayer that started with, “Lord make us thankful.” I suppose this is why so many of God’s family, including me at a time, think that thankfulness is an obligation, and to be a special dedicated time to give back our thanks to God for His goodness. I’m starting to see things differently about thankfulness. I no longer think of it as an obligation or a special time of giving thanks. 

I now see it as a life perspective, something that I wake with, go to bed with, and declare throughout my day. It is a privilege, a responsibility, an up-lifter and orientation for my day and my life. Having a thankful spirit and allowing the fruit of this thankfulness to invade every aspect of my life has created a very special benefit for me, which I hope to lead you to. I will share what that benefit is on Day 5. Before doing so, I want to share with you a process that will help you move toward that benefit, and I will cover it each day this week. Let’s start with the foundation of thankfulness, which is entering into the truth of why we should be thankful.

Before true thankfulness can enter your heart, a true evaluation of your life without Christ must be the beginning. We are told by the Lord to consider where we started with Him. He was under no obligation to share His glory and His goodness with you and me. But, His goodness in Him created an action from Him to us that in turn reached us. We consider His goodness and what that means to us. 

Therefore, ask yourself what would it have been like for you now and in your future to have this hope completely removed from you. When you can see it and feel the desperation, you are about to enter into what I call a desperate prayer of thanks. The emotions begin to run high at this point, which is a good beginning.

Each morning my wife enters her quiet time with God by playing a song by Matt Redman called 10,000 Reasons. It gets her started in the right direction. I am including the link to this song and suggest that you listen to it and allow it to drive your heart toward your King. I am also providing the scripture from which the song was inspired. Begin this week of thankfulness by entering into your Father’s presence.