Wednesday

How to Keep & Share A Thankful Heart - A Dose of Encouragement


Who or what are you thankful for & happy about today?






So many times we are drawn to think on the more unpleasant things in life which lead to unhappiness and they can keep us from being thankful for anything when we are in that frame of mind.  


What can we do to keep the right frame of mind and not get into that attitude that can get worse and worse as we dwell on the hurts and unpleasantness caused by others?







We can remember that we are blessed.


There is a little song that we used to sing years ago in church and maybe we should revive it to remind us that we are blessed.

I am blessed, I am blessed,
Every day I walk with Jesus I am blessed.
When I wake up in the morning,
When I lay my head to rest,
I am blessed, I am blessed.

If we are God's child, saved by the grace of Jesus and living by the power of the Holy Spirit then we are blessed more than be could be in any other way.


Being Blessed is not having all the money you want, having great possessions or having a great life which never sees sadness.

Being Blessed is described in Numbers 6 v 24-26 which I learnt as a song in the Presbyterian Church I grew up in as we sang it each time a baby was christened.






We are blessed as Christians because we know:

We are kept in the hand of God 
We are favoured by God 
We are in the Grace of God
We know we have the peace of God






So every day we know we are blessed and we should remember to thank God for His blessings to us.

As we thank God repeatedly we will build up a thankful heart.






As we become more thankful we will also love God more.

As we love God more we will build up a loving heart.







As we love God more we will also become more loving towards others.

As we love others more we will build up a more caring and giving heart.






I'm sure we know people who are very generous and do think often of helping and giving to others but we as Christians have the greatest thing to offer others and that is the Love of God, through the Gospel.


We can't go around saying - Oh I'm better at showing God's Love to others by giving to people rather than telling them about God's Love.

Because of God's love to us we should have a thankful and loving and giving heart which should mean give people out of the abundance of love in our hearts but that should always include the best thing we have and that is telling them about God's Salvation.



Amy Carmichael put it very simply and clearly in this quote below
because 
she knew that we cannot truly love God without giving this gift to others.






 John Wesley entreated us as believers to speak as we truly believe 
because 
he wanted us to act as the bible has also told us.







How to Keep a Thankful Heart?

Recognised how God loves & blesses us each day and remember to thank God each day.




How to Share a Thankful Heart?

React out of the Thankfulness we have which makes us more loving towards others and then we will share the Love of God.