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Thankful for His Faithful Promises
Written by Erica Peck
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100
One of the phrases I find myself most praying when talking to God is “and thank you for your faithful promises.” I am SO thankful that He calls me daughter (1 John 3:1). He has called me by name (Rev 3:5). It is written on the palm of His hand. I am His (Isaiah 43:1). He will never leave me, or forsake me (Joshua 1:5). Instead, He faithfully promises to carry my burdens (Matt. 11:28-30). He’s already gone on ahead of me (but not without leaving me a faithful counselor (John 14:26)) to go and prepare a place for me—in His eternal home (John 14:3). He waits for me with arms open wide, and my homecoming will be precious to Him (Ps. 116:15).
Even as I write these words and am reminded of His faithful promises once again, it brings tears to my eyes because of how much He loves me. He wants me. And I am His. These are only a handful of the faithful promises He gives us. We have much to be thankful for.
So, let us come before him today with gladness, joyful songs of praise and thanksgiving, knowing that the love and faithfulness of our LORD endures forever, and continues through all generations.
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Thank you for...
Written by Débora Rodrigo de Racancoj
We have the habit of praying together every night before putting my four-year-old daughter into her bed. Her prayers are so pure and innocent that, at times, I would like to pray in the same way that she does. Each sentence in her prayer begins with "Thank you for ...". It does not matter if she is actually making a request, she will also use the expression "thank you for ...". I do not think I will ever forget that night when, after some thieves entered our home to steal, she ended her day with "Thank you, Lord for the bad guys who have taken our things." Of course her intention was not to be grateful for what had happened, but this made me think about it.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us that God's will is that we give thanks to God in everything. Not only in good times. I personally struggle to thank God for all the good things He gives me every day. There are many of them. But there are very few that I thank, mainly because most of them go by without me being aware that they are gifts from God (James 1:17).
And if I am unable to overcome this first test, how much more will the second cost me: being grateful for those not so pleasant things that happen in my life. James 1:2-4 encourages us to consider the trials as a reason for joy, I surmise that also as reasons of gratitude. It is true that the trials are those moments that make us mature as Christians and help us to be complete and perfect, as James mentions in his letter. It is not, therefore, out of place to give thanks during those times, perhaps not for the pain and suffering that they make us go through, but for the opportunity that they offer for our lives as Christians.
I challenge you to imitate my daughter before going to bed tonight, and try to complete an entire prayer in which each sentence begins with the expression "Lord, thank you for ...". I'm sure that we have many more reasons to be grateful than what we normally find.