“…giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Eph. 5:20
I awoke this morning with a great desire to thank the Lord. I have unending reasons to give thanks so you would think that giving thanks would be normal and continuous and yet I woke up this morning “remembering” to give thanks. Even the command to give thanks is a perfect example…since I forget. So on this day after Father’s day, where my blessings abounded in my home in celebration, I awoke to give thanks to the God who made them all possible and certain.
1. I thank Him for commanding things that deepen our knowledge of Him, and joy in Him…because I forget.
2. I thank Him for granting us 100% forgiveness, robing us in Jesus’ righteousness, and hiding our lives in Christ. He can’t love us more, and He can never love us less. That good news should shrinks all other bad news.
3. I thank Him for sovereignly ruling over all things all the time. Nothing is more certain than His commitment to complete His work in us, and finish making all things new. Though we often question His timing, the Gospel reassures me of His heart…especially when I forget.
4. I thank Him for my wife, children, grandchildren and ALL the children of our church that make life not bearable but WONDERFUL in the extreme!
5. I thank Him for sunshine, blue water, white beaches and 3 Musketeer Bars. (I had to put that is there!)
6. I thank Him that Cancer and Covid, mental illness and addiction, prodigal wandering and family disappointments DON’T get the last word. Because the Gospel is true, we can stress less and repent quicker, fear less and trust more, sleep deeper and laugh louder.
7. And I thank for the near Day of wiped tears and redeemed sorrows, no more sin in my heart, and His glory covering the earth as things will FINALLY be made new!
I could and should go on, but stopping at 7 states that there ARE more…so much more. What would you add to my list today? I pray that throughout this day and this week you will spend more time “…giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Now, I have reminded you…just in case you forgot.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
