Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And
into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Psalm
100:4
Thanksgiving Thoughts
The Progression of Thanksgiving
The psalmist shows us that the state of thanksgiving in our
hearts and lives has a progression to it.
Thanksgiving takes on a note of praise.
The words of John Henry gave proof that our praising God is a privilege
both public and private. The private or
personal invades to enhance the public and the public praising creates a host
for personal praise.
Public Praise ... Enter into His
gates
Corporate worship is the time we enter into the gates ...
the opening of praising God. What is your attitude in worship . . . get it over
or I can't get over it? Are you thankful
the service is over or are you thankful to be serving? Public praise worship is the real barometer
of our personal worship of God. The
heart and voice attitude is . . . "We praise You God!"
Personal Praise ... And into His courts
The gates made entry into the presence and the courts lend
themselves to our private or personal times of praising God. Do you have those times? Take the extra time to just worship with free
abandonment. No one is watching, no one
but you and God. Open your heart and let
the worship pour out. The heart and
voice attitude is . . . "I praise You God!"
Privileged Praise ... Be thankful and
bless His name
If our hearts are geared to the public and private arenas of
praise we will discover the privilege of praise. It truly is a privilege to praise God. It is intended for Him, but we gain so much
out of it as well. Through
Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is,
the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Hebrews 13:15 There are times when it is a
true sacrifice to offer praises through the pain we feel. It is a sacrifice to begin with but there is
great healing in praise through pain.
Never Take Your Blessings for Granted
Warren Wiersbe states, "I
have felt for a long time that one of the particular temptations of the
maturing Christian is the danger of getting accustomed to his blessings. Like the world traveler who has been
everywhere and seen everything, the maturing Christian is in danger of taking
his blessings for granted and getting so accustomed to them that they fail to
excite him as they once did."
Emerson said if the stars came out only once a year, we
would all want to stay up and see them.
But because we see the stars all the time we don't take the time to look
at them.
Sometimes we take God’s blessings and gifts for
granted.
Why did only one cleansed leper return to praise and give
thanks to Jesus?
One waited
to see if the cure was real.
One waited to see if it would last.
One said he would see Jesus later.
One decided that he had never had leprosy.
One said he would have gotten well anyway.
One gave the glory to the priests.
One said, "O, well, Jesus didn't really do anything."
One said, "Any rabbi could have done it."
One said, "I was already much improved."
(George Mikes, "How to be Decadent")
One waited to see if it would last.
One said he would see Jesus later.
One decided that he had never had leprosy.
One said he would have gotten well anyway.
One gave the glory to the priests.
One said, "O, well, Jesus didn't really do anything."
One said, "Any rabbi could have done it."
One said, "I was already much improved."
(George Mikes, "How to be Decadent")
Do they sound like us?
Have we become accustomed to God's blessings? The progression of our thanksgiving will lead
us to see it as a privilege in both public and personal praise.
Scripture to Claim:
I will
give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness and will sing praise to
the name of the LORD Most High. Psalm
7:17 