How is your mood this morning? Are you dreading the day or thankful for a chance to start anew. Let’s take a moment together to examine our attitudes as we greet a new week.
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Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Colossians 3:15-16 – NIV
Friends, are you blessed this morning? Are there good things in your life? Are you healthy? Is their food in your refrigerator? Are there clothes in your closet? Is there a roof over your head, a comfortable place for you to sleep tonight?
Did the sun come up this morning? Are the birds chirping? Are there flowers blooming in your yard or along the roadside?
Do you know the love of a friend, a spouse, a parent, a child? Do you have good work awaiting you this morning, an opportunity to earn a paycheck, sufficient wages to pay your bills?
Go ahead. Make a list. What are you grateful for this morning?
I know. It’s a new approach. Most of us wake up irritable and overwhelmed at the demands of the day before us. We see the problems ahead. We are annoyed by the inconveniences. We are bitter over life’s disappointments, focused on the unfairness of our earthly existence. Gratitude and grace are conspicuously absent from our countenance. Just call us grumpy.
Is that really how we want to be? Is that what we want others to see when they stare into our eyes, when they hear the tone of our conversations? If we are God’s people set apart by a faith that saves and sustains us, why don’t we have a smile shining from our faces? Why aren’t we living like we know the joy of Jesus?
It’s time for a new approach. It’s time for a gratitude attitude. It’s time to give thanks.
Every day, there are tons of things to be thankful for. We can begin the day with a list of our blessings and a praise of thanksgiving to the God who bestowed those blessings upon us. We can smile, and laugh. We can be gracious, remembering to say “please” and “thank you” as we receive acts of kindness from our friends and family. We can reach out in love to others, our hearts overflowing with joy and praise. We are allowed, encouraged, even commanded to enjoy God’s gifts to us. We are forgiven. We are redeemed. We are loved.
Let’s set a new standard. Let’s live loved. Let’s love as we have been loved. Let’s rejoice over all the good things, trusting that God will see us through the not-so-good things.
May we shine with a gratitude attitude today. May it change our countenance and bring glory to our God.
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Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,
Hebrews 12:28 – NIV
PRAYER
O Gracious God, we praise You this morning. You are our Creator, our Savior, our Redeemer. We are so grateful for Your Grace. You bless us daily with a love we do not deserve and can never earn. Yet, You love us so completely, so beautifully. You gift us with the sunrise. Your creation delights us. We give thanks for the good people in our lives who bring us such joy. Every day, there is so much to rejoice about, because of Your great love for us. O Lord, we give You thanks and praise Your Holy Name this morning.
Faith Beyond Sight 