This project has the sole goal of cultivating thankfulness. I hope that happens in the testimonies that you give, the ones you read, the posts you see here, and the occasional research I find. Today I want to challenge you to do something else, something that may take a bit more time but will be completely worth it.
I want to challenge you to write a letter of gratitude. Don't go anywhere! Stay with me now.
Psychologists have grabbed a hold of a concept that started with God ages ago: gratitude is good for you. It is something that we need to cultivate in our lives and it's always appropriate and beneficial. As with all things God asks of us, a little gratitude will do you good. He tells us to honor and love one another—recognize and appreciate the people who impact our lives.
Discipline & a Gratitude Challenge
Happy Thanksgiving!
Day's End and Dedication
I love when dreams come true. I love it when a plan comes together. I love seeing fulfillment in the lives of people.
At the end of a long process of planning and building, Solomon finished the temple in Jerusalem and was in the time of dedicating it. That's where we come to in 2 Chronicles 5:13 and 14,
"The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:
"He is good;
his love endures forever."
Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God."
Thankful for the Insignificant Significant (or Vice Versa)
Being thankful is such a huge part of worship. When the woman came to anoint Jesus with the perfume in Luke 7, He said that those who are forgiven much will love much. I’m convinced that if we can all get over ourselves and our self-righteousness we will see how much we’ve been forgiven and how much we should express our love.
“Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:
He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God." (emphasis mine)
- Lack of thankfulness is really a forgetting of God.
- Training ourselves to walk in a continuous state of thanksgiving is hard, but if we believe His word, then we are preparing the way for Him to show us His salvation, which I want to see!
Thankful for Community
Today, there is a blog carnival run by Bridget Chumbley and Peter Pollock that asks us to write on the subject of community (click here to see all the entries so far).
As I continue reading through these insightful, wonderful posts, I see many stories of what true community has meant in people's lives. It has relieved stress and pressure. It has mended brokenness. It has helped to facilitate purpose. The stories are diverse and the benefits, profound.
This is why community is God's desire for us and Jesus prayed in John 17,
"...I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you."
Many amazing testimonies arise out of this type of community. It is a breeding ground for the miraculous. In big and small ways, we always find that God's desire and purpose for us will always bring about the best for us.
My reason for writing this today is to see if you would write an encouragement about community today. Share one of your everyday testimonies here or keep it short and link back to your blog for the longer version.
Will you take this moment to share your thanks and praise for living in community (however that has manifested itself)? Click here to hit the home page...
Calling All Thankful Writers
I think it's time to open this up a bit. Since this project started, I've wanted to develop a community around this idea of sharing everyday testimonies. I know we grow as we share our lives and hearts, giving thanks and praise to God.
In the spirit and interest of building that community, I would love to have you write a post (or more) for this site. If you are a blogger, writer, pastor, housewife, ad executive, dog groomer or anything else who wants to write about gratitude, thanks, and its importance then I want to hear from you!
It's all Been Said...Say It Again
Last Sunday, we sang the MercyMe song, Cannot Say Enough
What can we say to describe just a glimpse of Your Glory
How can our words portray but a thread of Your Majesty
But still we praise our Savior in Spirit and in Truth
For we cannot say enough about You
Every time we got to that last line, I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude. I felt as if I was going to explode!
The sad thing is that some feel they don't know what to say and say nothing. Sometimes we feel inadequate to share our praise.
Grateful for Gratitude Research
I know I can't convince you that cultivating thankfulness is worthwhile, and I won't attempt to persuade you. The Bible is full of commands to "give thanks," but if we don't believe He is who He shows Himself to be, we'll miss it. They become a burden or a rule unrelated to "real life."
The same is true as I present findings from research projects. I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I'm hoping to encourage you and confirm that our gratitude or lack thereof affects every part of our lives.
On that note, here are some highlights from Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough's research on the topic of thankfulness and gratitude (here's a link back to their findings):
Gratitude Interventions and Psychological and Physical Well-Being
- In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
Giving Thanks, Seeing Salvation
This post originally appeared on my blog, Connecting to Impact. Since it's subject is giving thanks, I thought it appropriate to share it here as well (with a few additional interjections).
Here is one of my favorite verses about giving thanks. It's Psalm 50:23,
But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to
my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.
What a promise that is! All I have to do is stay close to Him and He will reveal His salvation. The Father is always willing to give us revelation so we can expect the further establishing of His healing, wholeness, salvation, deliverance, and whatever He wants to show us. That is plenty reason to give thanks with a passionate cry and honest worship.
No matter the circumstances or what we face, He is a great God and He is showing His salvation as we honor Him with our thanksgiving. Eric Hoffer said, "The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." We don't have to live that way because the Son has set us free and we are free indeed.
In Everything Give Thanks...
...for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:18
Today is the launch of the Everyday Testimony Project where I hope you will return over and over to share in praising God for the miracles He does in our lives. I also hope you are encouraged as you read what others are saying.
Being thankful is so important to our faith
Some Updates & Progress Report
In the process of launching this project, I decided I should make a few notes, explain a couple things, and ask a few questions.
First off, thank you to everyone who has become a fan on Facebook, followed on Twitter, checked out the site, and got the word out. I'm so excited about how this is all coming together!
Next, some people were trying to use the comments and were having some trouble with them so I thought I would take a minute to explain how they work. First, I enabled the ability to post as an anonymous user instead of logging into an existing account. This means you can now type your name, enter your comments, and be done.
Give Your Everyday Testimony Now...
