Christmas, Encouragement, Faith, Friendship, God's Glory, God's Plan, Guidance, Hope, Perseverence, Praise, Prayer, Relationship to Christ, Salvation, Strength, Struggles, Thankfulness

Intentional Gratitude

As we wrap up our study on gratitude, I want us to think about being grateful on purpose, in other words, having intentional gratitude. Our Bible Journaling Scripture says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV) What jumps out at me in these verses is two things. One, we are to give thanks in EVERY circumstance, whether good or bad, we are to be thankful. The other thing that has popped out at me is that God’s will for us is to be grateful, as well as rejoicing and praying. All of these are put together for a reason. When we are grateful, we can’t help but rejoice, and no matter the circumstance, we are to pray and be thankful.

Sometimes it is hard to be grateful, especially when things are difficult. We may not be thankful or rejoicing when something devastating occurs, but our attitude oftentimes makes a demanding situation better. When we look at tough times as something we go through but don’t stay there, we recognize that they will not last forever, and we may even learn something through them. But it is in those times we need to make up our minds to be grateful. Be grateful that God is walking through this difficult period with you, and not leaving you on your own. I’ve found, when I look back at a hard time, that it was a good thing for me, the situation may not have been good, but the results were good, because I found out that God is faithful, and I didn’t disintegrate but came through it with a stronger faith than I had at the beginning of the situation. The Psalmist tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” (Psalm 46:1-3 NIV) This is his anthem of praise during difficulty! He declares strongly that God is his refuge and strength!

When I went through a very trying time, to the point of being in depression, it took me having a complete meltdown in a Wednesday night church service to experience the effect of praise in the middle of the trial. At that point when it seemed there was nothing to praise God for, one of my dear friends just about got in my face to tell me that I MUST sing praise to God no matter how I felt inside. It was a wake-up call to me. My fears began to wash away as I sang half-heartedly with the congregation, by the end of service I could at least admit that I wasn’t alone in this struggle. Not only did I have a church full of friends who were praying for me, but God had to Spiritually slap me in the face to get me to pay attention to Who was walking with me through this. I will be forever grateful to my friends and church family for holding me through the most difficult time in my life, and to God for placing me in a church He knew would not leave me in my mess but help me through it.

I’m learning little by little that I must always have a grateful heart. Gratitude changes how we look at circumstances, it also helps us realize how much God has given us. I think that it is no mistake that Thanksgiving comes the month before Christmas. God’s greatest gift to us, His Son, Jesus Christ, came to save us. How can we not be thankful?  

I am grateful for a God who loves me so much that He provided a way for me to be saved from my sin, and to have a hope of eternal life. I am filled with gratitude for His guidance and plans for my life. (Jeremiah 29:11) And I have intentional gratitude for the challenging times, because when I look back at those times, I see His Hands working in each situation to mold me into what He created me to be and see how much I have grown stronger by each trial. To God be the Glory!  

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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