A Week Full of ThanksgivingShembull

We can’t ponder thanksgiving and gratitude without talking about the ten lepers. Only ONE came back to thank Lord Jesus??? Yet how often have I been guilty of the very same thing?

As we surrender our lives in greater measure to Jesus, we will find that our gratefulness will become more and more evident. A surrendered life means trusting Him fully with how He will handle the small and large concerns we have. When we give up control to Him, we begin to recognize that God does know what He is doing. We then get out of the way to let Him reveal His love in ways we didn’t realize before. Gratefulness will become a spontaneous fountain from our hearts and lips. Trust me. I know this from my own life.

Think of gratefulness to Him as the temperature gauge of who is in control: is it me or my Heavenly Father? Ponder that for a bit.

Intentional gratefulness is the greatest cure for discouragement. It beats out the blues. It drowns out the voice of self-pity, and it can be a tool to overcome depression and anxiety. Indeed, there are many factors regarding these instances. Still, from personal experience and years of offering pastoral counseling, I am hard-pressed to find people who live daily in effervescent gratefulness who are down for the count for very long.

When the thankful, now-healed leper returned to Jesus, he must have immensely blessed the Lord’s heart. Let’s be people who bless our Redeemer’s heart, too.

What are some things the Lord has done recently for you that you are thankful for?