Wednesday, November 21, 2012

November 22, 2012


"Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”  I Chronicles 29: 10 – 13

 
While the turkey is cooking and before you are invaded by family and friends, let me share some thoughtful and inspiring quotes about thankfulness from some great minds and hearts.

 
Matthew Henry, the great Bible scholar, author and preacher was once ambushed and robbed. How did he respond to this harrowing experience? He said, "I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed."

 
"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice." ~ Meister Eckhart

 
"When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?" ~ G.K. Chesterton

 
"If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled." ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

 
"We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?" ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer


“A thankful heart cannot be cynical.” ~ A.W. Tozer

 
"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." ~ G.K. Chesterton

 
"Receive every day as a resurrection from death, as a new enjoyment of life; meet every rising sun with such sentiments of God's goodness, as if you had seen it, and all things, new-created upon your account: and under the sense of so great a blessing, let your joyful heart praise and magnify so good and glorious a Creator." ~ William Law

 
"Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. I can choose to be grateful when I am criticized, even when my heart still responds in bitterness. I can choose to speak about goodness and beauty, even when my inner eye still looks for someone to accuse or something to call ugly." ~ Henri Nouwen

 
So, how will you express your thanks to God today?

 
Who do you owe some “thank yous” today?

 
When will you express those?

How will you express them?