Thanksgiving (2)
BIBLE READING: PSALM 104:33-34; LAMENTATIONS 3:22-23
Thanksgiving is giving glory to God for what He has done for us, while praise is giving glory to God for Who He is. They both go together and you cannot do one without the other. It is because of Who God is that He is able to do what you are thanking Him for. You cannot thank God without giving Him praise and when I look at my life, every minute of everyday should be filled with praise and thanksgiving because He is the One Who enables me to be alive to see that minute. Like the Bible says in Lamentations 3:22-23 “It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His (tender) compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.”It is God’s mercy and faithfulness that keeps me going and gives me hope. My God is a compassionate God and so I know even though He is hurt when I make mistakes, immediately I repent, His love for me will always outweigh the distress I cause Him. I praise Him for being a merciful, compassionate, faithful, loving and kind God and I thank Him for always forgiving me my sins and never allowing the enemy rejoice over me.
The Hymn I have meditated on this week is “FOR THE BEAUTYOF THE EARTH” authored by Folliott Sandford Pierpoint (1864).The refrain of this hymn has just been popping into my spirit as I thought about the blessings of God in my life all week. I made it mine so I found myself singing “Lord my God to Thee I raise, this my song of thanks and praise” every time I thought about the blessings of God in my life. My favourite stanza of the hymn says:
For the joy of human love
Brother, sister, parent, child
Friends on earth, and friends above
For all gentle thoughts and mild…..
Christ, our Lord, to You we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
As I meditated on this stanza, I realised that God has indeed blessed me with wonderful relationships. I thought about my parents, my siblings, friends I met as I grew up, how God chose my husband for me, my in-laws, my children, my relationships now, my loved ones who are with the Lord right now and all the ups and downs of life and I ended up with tears of joy in my heart saying “LORD, MY GOD TO THEE I RAISE, THIS MY SONG OF THANKS AND PRAISE”
As I continued to think about my relationships, I remembered different trials in my life, especially the year 2005 and how God saw me through by making Lamentations 3:22-23 a reality in my life. One example that readily comes to mind was when God did not allow sadness consume me when my mother suddenly went back to be with Him in 2005. I remember asking why I was not consumed by fear and sadness, I did not realise His Word was working in my life. As I think back now and look forward to the years ahead, I praise God for Who He is and I thank Him in advance for all He is yet to do in my life. Every challenge I have faced in life has only made me stronger and drawn me closer to God. I have seen Him move in impossible situations and turn what I thought was a mess into something very beautiful and immaculate and trials into tranquillity and fulfilment. He can never change and I know because He has seen me through so many trials in the past, He is faithful to see me through the ones yet to come. My faith and confidence in Him are stronger and I put my trust in Him for the years ahead of me as I view the rest of my life through the lens of praise and thanksgiving to God.
“LORD, I WILL WORSHIP YOU WITH EXTENDED HANDS AS MY WHOLE HEART EXPLODES WITH PRAISE! I WILL TELL EVERYONE ABOUT YOUR WONDERFUL WORKS AND HOW YOUR MARVELOUS MIRACLES EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!” PSALM 9:1 (TPT)
UNDER GRACE UNDER MERCY