Thankfulness...

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Psalm 95: 1-6

Whenever we come into the Lord's presence, we are to come with thanksgiving. Our Lord is to be praised! He is the creator of heaven and earth. In this Psalm, we are called to worship our Lord publicly and with others, we are to do it vocally and we are to do it joyfully!

How often do you thank our God for what He has created? What He has done in your life?
How often do you thank our God publicly? Vocally? Joyfully?  I found myself meditating over these verses and realized that I do not thank or praise my God publicly, vocally or joyfully often enough. I have every reason to do so, but why is it that I do not?

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
"For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"...that is so amazing to me. God's will is for us to rejoice and give thanks in everything.

As we approach Thanksgiving, allow yourself to reflect on what things you ought to vocally, publicly and joyfully thank your Lord and Savior for this year. No matter how big or small you may think it is, God cares deeply for you and wants to hear from you daily!

Heavenly Father,
I ask that you be with us this coming Thanksgiving season. Cause us to be public about our thankfulness, cause us to be vocal about our thankfulness and cause us to be joyful about our thankfulness regardless of what's going on in our lives. Knowing that it's Your will for us to rejoice always and pray without ceasing is so comforting to me. Wrap your loving arms around those who are hurting or troubled. May Your loving presence be known in their lives and to those around them.
Amen