Thanksgiving Everyday Part 1.

God challenged me to read about thanksgiving.

Easy right? I mean there is Psalm after Psalm, and verse after verse, on giving thanks to God.

Right at the beginning of my journey I said to myself "assumptions are the enemy of understanding". And so I diligently try to understand every fundamental concept: what is faith? what is worship

And so what exactly is thanksgiving? Why is God asking me to look into this? What do I have to be thankful for? When am I supposed to thank Him?

Personally I always turn to the scriptures first, and then sermons etc. after.

At first, it was just about building good habits. Then I realised there is so much misunderstanding out there that you can be misled, and if you get the foundation of your faith wrong, the building upon which it stands will falter. Equally a sermon, even the best of them, cannot tell you everything about the text in the 30 minutes to 2 hours that they have. The Bible just has too much depth! (Side-note make sure you read the Bible!)

I am not saying do not watch sermons, read bible commentaries etc. I am saying pray to God for a spirit of discernment should you choose to do so, to make sure the interpretation is of Him; and understand that they should not be the only source of your faith building.

So I did the work and I read, noted and meditated....then I went to YouTube and came across this video:

This is one the greatest videos I have ever seen, and I urge you to watch it. Dr. Charles Stanley talks about thanksgiving far greater than I ever could.

This video awakened my eyes to the frivolity of my earlier questioning, but far more poignantly, the grace of God, and how much He does for us.

I have so much to be thankful for! And yet I hardly ever thank Him. Yes I thank Him in every prayer, but I can do more.

I am ashamed at my lack of thanks.

So I write this post convicted.

I have fallen short of God's glory once again.

I have sinned.

I have, in yet another area, fallen short of the standard God has set.

I am not unique in my expression.

These are phrases all too familiar to those on the journey of Christianity. The idea that this walk is too hard, and far from being emboldened at the prospect of being saved, often people spurn the faith for the fear and dislike of feeling judged (a whole post in itself).

So you may be thinking typical. This stated of as being thankful to God, and ended up in being a day of feeling condemned by Him......

But Wait!

I did state I was feeling convicted. Yet, do not confuse this with feeling sad. Far from it. For in my conviction I have hope. I'm also delighted that my shortcoming may help you:

2 Corinthians 12:9

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

This verse is so empowering. The sooner you understand that the Word of God is a powerful tool, the sooner you will see the words give life. My short-coming can be shared with you that, you might benefit, and I am all the more happy to do so because when I decrease, Christ increases within me.

I want you to understand as a reader, that but a few short months ago my elated reaction would not be possible. This is only through accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and saviour, that I can rejoie in my conviction and feel empowered to better myself.

Only through faith in Jesus, can I speak to you this way.

And so I end this post thankful. 

Thankful that God is God, thankful to God that you have read it, thankful to God that I was able to write it, thankful to God I can read, thankful to God for water, thankful to God for...(you get the idea)

I am thankful to God. For everything.

But then....how exactly do I show my thanks? (Part 2 coming soon!)