With Thanksgiving...

Telos- Gratitude is the key to breakthrough. With Thanksgiving!

Philippians 4:6 LSB

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6 TPT

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life,

Psychology Today reports a number of significant benefits:

Gratitude opens the door to more relationships.

Gratitude improves physical health. One 2012 study indicates that thankful people experience fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier, and may also be more likely to prioritize other healthy practices.

Grateful people sleep better. A big part of physical health is sleeping well. A 2011 study indicates that spending time before bed writing down areas of gratitude may lead to better and longer sleep.

Gratitude improves psychological health. The world’s leading expert on gratitude is Dr. Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California – Davis, who discovered that gratitude reduces toxic emotions, increases happiness, and reduces depression.

Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression. Thankful people are more likely to be kind to people — even to those who aren’t kind to them. A 2012 study indicated that those who were more grateful were less likely to retaliate when given negative feedback.

Gratitude improves confidence. When we are grateful, we’re less likely to compare ourselves to others.

Gratitude increases mental strength. Multiple studies have shown that those who practice gratitude have more resilience and lower rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Inspiration

Romans 1:21 LSB

For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 LSB

in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Deuteronomy 8:18 LSB

“But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 28:47 LSB

“Because you did not serve Yahweh your God with gladness and a merry heart—because of the abundance of all things,

Deuteronomy 28:47 AMP

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness of [mind and] heart [in gratitude] for the abundance of all [with which He had blessed you],

Our Gratitude makes the Difference

“unthankful” is a translation of the Greek word acharistos. The word charistos on its own simply means thankful, but when an a is attached to the front of it, it reverses the condition and turns it into an attitude that is unthankful and ungrateful. It is a picture of people who previously had a thankful heart but now are unthankful and unappreciative.

Unthankful and unholy are directly linked

2 Timothy 3:1–2 LSB

But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

Are you grateful and thankful for what you have, or has unthankfulness begun to poison your spiritual life?

How long has it been since you took time to thank God for what you do have?

Taking your words and actions into account, would God count you to be among those who have thankful and grateful hearts, or would He count you to be among the ungrateful and unthankful?

How long has it been since you considered your blessings and set aside time to specifically thank God for what He has provided in your life?

Start Small, not Big

Sharon and I

Start Now!

What are your most painful challenges right now?