Pastor Leo Kruger
One of the major themes of the Bible is found in the subject of giving thanks and gratefulness. It is mentioned time and time again. The Lord knows that a grateful heart is a content heart. Those who are content have less worry and stress in their everyday lives, which lead to peace and rest.
The fact that we have been forgiven and we have eternal life should resonate loudly in our hearts and sustain us through difficult times. We all experience hard times, but remaining grateful has a lot to do with how we navigate those challenging days.
Nov. 30 will be my born-again birthday of 44 years. During that time, I have witnessed many things. One thing I have noticed is people who are grateful for their salvation and their relationship with Jesus Christ have great lives. Those who are ungrateful, complain, and grumble are rarely happy. It seems that they are never satisfied.
Grateful people see life from a different perspective. They tend to see the positive side of things opposed to the negative side.
The Word of God tells us often, when we come before the Lord in prayer or worship we are to come giving thanks. Psalm 95:2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things arelovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Did you notice how rejoicing, prayer, faith, and thanksgiving leads to the peace of God which surpasses all understanding? Did you notice that thinking on good things will also lead to peace from the Lord. We are living in days where good news is hard to find, and negative communications are everywhere. Let us purpose to focus on the things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. If these things abound in your day to day life gratefulness will be a lifestyle not just a season, and the God of peace will be with you.
Pastor Leo Kruger of Valley Christian Fellowship is a member of Carson Valley Ministers’ Association.
