THANKFUL THURSDAY...conditioned to be grateful

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone. The family has all returned home. The leftovers have all been eaten. The fall decorations have been put up and the Christmas holly has been drug out. It is almost time to close out this month of giving thanks.

A message has been ringing over and over as I have visited some of your Thanksgiving posts, that giving thanks is a matter of the heart. Not only is it a matter of the heart, giving thanks is a command given to us by God.

“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” - Colossians 2:6-7

In addition to being a command, being thankful is a spiritual gift. It grows within us like faith and charity. Being grateful for the goodness of God is portable, it can go with us thru everything, if our heart is conditioned for it.

When I think of having a conditioned heart for thanks, I think of Jesus. I think of His wonderful expressions of thanks He so eagerly offered up to his Heavenly Father. I can only imagine the great anticipation that Jesus must have had as He prepared to raise a dear friend from the dead. As the disciples took away the stone where Lazarus had laid dead for four days, He did not move forward until He expressed His gratefulness. The scripture says that He "lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard Me." (John 11:41) He then declared those powerful words, "Lazarus, come forth," and Lazarus arose from the dead.

As we condition our heart and accept the spiritual gift of gratitude, we will see and feel His goodness all around us. It won't be a day once a year designated for it, it won't even be a month of giving thanks, instead it will become a condition...one that will be rooted deep in our spirit and overflowing with every word we speak.

I am thankful for each of you who have joined in with us this month for THANKFUL THURSDAY. Iris is hosting TT next week for the month of December. I pray we will continue with our grateful hearts as we become conditioned to give thanks in EVERYTHING! Blessings to you and yours.