Principles of Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Psalm 100:1-2

Principles of Thanksgiving

Taking a quick look about it might be easy to see the world as becoming ungrateful and in a bad mood all the time.  Words like please and thank you seem to be heard less and less. However, it is not just the world at large that has become thankless...how about you and me? Is Thanksgiving just a holiday, or the way we live our lives? 

The psalmist speaks of the principles of thanksgiving.  Principles are eternal and therefore they never change with the culture or circumstances we might happen to find ourselves in. Regardless, God’s principles are to rule our voice and the way we live our lives before Him and others. 

Joyfully Thankful ... Let the whole earth shout triumphantly …

To make a joyful shout is more than yelling loudly or screaming.  The emphasis is on what we are shouting about.  The psalmist is speaking of making an open-air confession of God’s goodness and grace. In fact, the Hebrew word means "an extension of the hand."  It is as if the psalmist is saying to cup the hand to the mouth and speak out loud a very joyful confession to the Lord.  It could also reflect the lifting of the hands in praise to God.  A joyful shout can bring a joyful spirit.

Serving with Thankfulness ... Serve the Lord with gladness… 

When our lives are governed by a joyful heart that speaks words of thanksgiving to the Lord, our lives will naturally fall in line to become servants filled with glad works.  Worshipful service is the natural response of the heart and life of a believer filled with God’s love.  

Coming in Thankfulness ... Come before him with joyful songs …

As believers of God, we are to come into His presence with our hearts filled with the joy and gladness of knowing Him. We are to come singing with joyful voices of praise and thanksgiving. 

Shouting, serving and singing out of a heart of thankfulness brings joy to the heart of the Father.  The key is that whatever we do, we do it from a heart turned toward Him. 

Are you living a life of thanksgiving, pointing others to Jesus? 

Are you serving him with a joyful heart?

Are you giving thanks to him and praising him today and every day? 

God Has Been Good To You

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14

God Has Been Good To You

It is Thanksgiving week. Hopefully as believers we are giving thanks continually for all God has done in our lives and in the lives of those around us. But this week we focus just a little harder on being thankful.  It seems every direction we look we can find so many wrong things in this world. Often, we let the wrong things dim the light of the goodness of God in our own lives.

One story of God’s goodness in my own life is when a friend casually reminded me that God has been good to me after the news of my son giving his life to Jesus. He had been away from church for around 10 years and gave his life to Christ in his little brother’s living room on the Saturday before Easter two years ago. It was such a blessing – and i was happily surprised! I had been praying specifically that God would bring him back to a relationship with him – and I was surprised when it happened. I should not have been surprised. I should have prayed expectantly and lived expectantly like I believed in the power of the God I was praying to. 

When he was saved and I was telling some friends about it, one of them turned as she was walking away and casually said over her shoulder “You know, God has been good to you.” It has been one of the most powerful statements anyone has ever said to me - and it is so basic and simple. Yes, God has been so good to me and her saying that to me reminds me every day to look at my life and give thanks for the things he has done. 

We do this a lot. We pray because we know as Christians that is what we are supposed to do but we may not actually believe that God is going to answer our prayers. In the verses above David encourages us to believe in seeing the goodness of the Lord and to patience for waiting is really short. We give up hope or we try to start fixing tidings ourselves, which usually ends disastrously.  The Bible tells us to wait patiently on the Lord, in strength and courage – and to believe. God is faithful and trustworthy. He will answer our prayers in the way that is best for our good and his glory. 

What/who are you waiting on or what/who have you given up on? 

How have you seen the goodness of the Lord in your life this past year?

No matter what we ae going through or how long we have been praying, we need to strand strong and courageous believing in the goodness of the Lord in our lives.  

Again, it’s Thanksgiving week – here is your reminder: God has been good to you. Stand strong and courageous in faith and wait expectantly for the things you are still praying about – and don’t stop praying. Examine your life every day and thank God for all he has done. It is overwhelming when we really look at our lives and see all he has done for us. We all have so much to be thankful for in our lives.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34