One of the best ways to show God we love Him is to be thankful. When we express our deep gratitude to Him, it actually invites His presence onto our lives. Being thankful also neutralizes the enemy and brings victory into our situations no matter what the outcome. Those are some pretty great incentives for being a thankful person!
The Bible instructs us that the way we enter into God’s presence is to first give Him thanks. It says we enter into His gates before we can enter into His courts. It would be similar to visiting the home of a friend. We would first enter the courtyard of their home before we were invited into the more private and intimate interior of the home. God wants us to enter into His presence but this won’t happen without first letting God know we are thankful for all He has done. We need a posture of humility, reverence and thankfulness to be in the company of our Creator.
We’re also told in scripture to make our requests to God in prayer, and then thank Him in advance for answering them. This is how we exhibit faith in Him and in His Word. The Bible says it is impossible to please God without faith. We should have a desire to please Him with our faith and gratitude. If you can think back on your life, I’m sure you will remember many times that you were spared from an accident, or delivered out of a problem, or you experienced great success. God has intervened so many times in each of our lives, and we yet often neglect to even recognize what He has spared us from. All of these good things are a result of God’s goodness and mercy. We should never take them for granted.
We can also thank the Lord for a long list of things we get to enjoy every day. We can and should thank Him for His love, His peace, our family, our friends, protection, provision, clean running water, a bed to sleep in, a roof over our heads, a car to drive, another day to be alive and help someone, a sound mind…and this is just a start! Most importantly, we can thank Him for our salvation through Jesus Christ. Our salvation is by far the most precious gift we have ever received! Thank God we’ve been saved from suffering in hell for all eternity! Thank God we will never be separated from everything good that He has created for us. How often do we think on this tremendous blessing?
The Bible says to give God our thanks continuously. Why? This instruction is not because God needs our thanksgiving or praise. It is for our benefit. Giving thanks shows that we place our trust in God, which in turn produces peace in our lives regardless of our circumstances. We are the ones who reap the greatest blessing from being a thankful people. We experience His peace, His joy, greater faith and confidence, and we see the world through the lens of hope and expectation.
Thankfulness also guards our hearts from anger, hatred, arrogance, fear and indifference. How encouraging to know that God keeps us from these debilitating emotions when we obey His Word. It’s also interesting to note that when the Bible describes the condition of mankind in the last days, it includes a lack of thankfulness.
There truly is power in the choice to be thankful!
Bill Wiese is the author of New York Times best-selling book, “23 Minutes In Hell,” the story of his life-changing visit to hell in 1998. Bill has since authored six additional book titles, and continues to share his experience around the world. He and his wife Annette founded Soul Choice Ministries in late 2006 and have dedicated their lives to reaching the unsaved. For more information about Bill Wiese and Soul Choice Ministries please visit us at: https://soulchoiceministries.org/. You can find more of Bill’s teachings at: https://www.youtube.com/user/BillWieseTV.
