Read & Reflect

True Christian gratitude does not depend on circumstances. Our gratitude is anchored in the unchanging eternal promises of God our Savior.

Habakkuk 3:17–18 (ESV)

¹⁷ Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,

¹⁸  yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Luke 10:17-20 (ESV)

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned  with  joy,  saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸ And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions,  and  over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. ²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Read & Reflect

Giving thanks is so important that God directly commands this of all Christians. Failure to obey this command causes us to forfeit much joy and strength that could be ours.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18  (ESV)

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Philippians 4:4–7 (ESV)

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to  everyone.  The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and  supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 13:15 (ESV)

¹⁵ Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Read & Reflect

Psalm 19:1 (ESV)

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 8 (ESV)

¹ O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

²     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶ You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

⁷ all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

⁸ the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Read & Reflect

Being grateful is simply to acknowledge some basic facts. There is a fittingness to it. Like marveling at the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, there is something fundamentally appropriate and proper about creatures giving thanks to God the Creator.

Psalm 147:1 (ESV)

¹ Praise the LORD!

For it is good to sing praises to our God;

for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.

1 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)

⁷ For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Psalm 100:3–5 (ESV)

³ Know that the LORD, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵ For the LORD is good;

his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Read & Reflect

A key feature of gratitude is remembering properly. Prosperity and pride can cause us to forget God and neglect our covenant with him.

Deuteronomy 8:1–18 (ESV)

¹ “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. ² And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. ³ And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.  ⁴ Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. ⁶ So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking   in his ways and by fearing him. ⁷ For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, ⁸ a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, ⁹ a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

¹¹ “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, ¹² lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart be lifted up, and you forget  the  LORD  your  God, who brought you out of the  land  of Egypt, out of  the house of slavery, ¹⁵who led you through  the  great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty  ground  where  there  was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that  he  might  humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. ¹⁷ Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ ¹⁸ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Write your personal Deuteronomy 8.

Read & Reflect

One of the manifestations of a fallen mind is that we keep forgetting to consider what God has done. We do not marvel at it, nor pause to give him proper thanks.

Psalm 78:10–11 (ESV)

¹⁰ They did not keep God’s covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
¹¹ They forgot his works
    and the wonders that he had shown them.

Psalm 106 (ESV)

¹ Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
² Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
    or declare all his praise?
³ Blessed are they who observe justice,
    who do righteousness at all times![…]

¹⁹ They made a calf in Horeb
    and worshiped a metal image.
²⁰ They exchanged the glory of God
    for the image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God, their Savior,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
²² wondrous works in the land of Ham,
    and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.. […]

²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land,
    having no faith in his promise.
²⁵ They murmured in their tents,
    and did not obey the voice of the Lord.

What are some lessons from today’s text, and how do they apply to your life?

Read & Reflect

Being disregarded is deeply offensive and hurtful. Yet, that is what a failure to give thanks to God amounts to. As you read today’s passages, think about why people, who owe their very existence to God, so regularly refuse to acknowledge him.

Isaiah 1:2–4 (ESV)

Isaiah 5:11–13 (ESV)

What works of God do you need to remember? What wonders of God do you need to consider? What are the works of his hands that you need to give thanks for?

Read & Reflect

Gratitude is at the core of man’s relationship with God.  However, a mixture of human moral corruption and pride causes a bent in the mind of man that refuses gratitude.

Romans 1:19–23 (ESV)

¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Psalm 14:1-3 (ESV)

What are some lessons from today’s text, and how do they apply to your life?