Thank God!

What are you thankful for in 2020? I’ve been thinking about that a little during this Thanksgiving season, how ‘bout you? If I asked you to come up with a list of things you are thankful for, what would you say? Most of us would be able to reel off a list pretty quickly… family, friends, food, freedom… (got an alliteration going!). Add to that a nice home, education, opportunity. Yes, we enjoy so many blessings. Have you paused to thank God for all His many blessings in your life?

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

The Psalmist tells us to enter the Lord’s gates with thanksgiving and praise! When we come into His presence, we are to enter with a spirit of thanksgiving. Even when we are discouraged, disappointed or disillusioned, we can still enter God’s presence with hearts filled with gratitude. How is that possible? The Psalmist outlines a few really good reasons for being thankful…

1) God is good! Do you know what that means? That even when life doesn’t seem to be going “good”, God is still good. Even in a pandemic, God is good; even when an election doesn’t go the way you want it to go, God is still good; even when people can’t seem to get along, God is still good; even when you are battling health issues, or struggling together to make ends meet, or fighting depression or heartache, God is still good! He will always be good, even when life may not seem so good. Can you enter His gates today and thank Him for being good, especially when life doesn’t seem good?

2) God’s love endures! Things aren’t built to last these days… furniture, kitchen appliances, cell phones, even cars are generally disposable. The toys we buy our kids for Christmas are made to throw away in a few years, or months… or even hours. I collect some of the toys that my dad would have played with when he was a kid because they were built to last… they were durable. God’s love endures! It lasts forever. Where so much in our world is disposable, God’s love endures forever!

3) God is faithful! He doesn’t turn His back on us, no matter what. I have been disappointed in the Panthers this season; I always want to see them in the playoffs, but when they get out of contention, I lose interest fast. I can only imagine how hard it is for my friends from Michigan who have only seen their Detroit Lions win one playoff game since 1957… and that was nearly 30 years ago in 1991! I wonder how they stay faithful to their team when losing has become part of their DNA. The truth is, I’m sure God is disappointed in us too when we let Him down, but He doesn’t lose interest in us… He is faithful, no matter what!

If you are a Believer, you have much to be grateful for… God is good, His love endures forever and He is faithful! Will you give Him thanks today and every day?

We finished our Blessed series with an outstanding message from guest speaker, Dan Roseman. If you missed it, click here to listen to Blessed - Part 4 - Blessed When Insulted.