Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- November 24, 2013
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God… Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:11, 15
Gratitude to God is a natural overflow of generosity. For example, the gift of salvation in Christ is indescribable. He gave when we did not deserve. He still gives, even though we are undeserving. His gift of liberty is freeing; His gift of health is healing; His gift of relationships is rich; His gift of peace is calming; His gift of wisdom is confidence; His gift of the Holy Spirit is comforting; His gift of finances is security; His gift of Himself is reassuring and humbling. Gratitude explodes from our hearts when we are reminded of His generous gifts. They are incomparable and incomprehensible. Thanksgiving to God is a tremendous opportunity to unleash joy. This is one of the fruits of gratitude. Joy, joy, joy, joy down in our hearts, because He came down to earth and into our heart. This is an occasion for a raucous but righteous celebration.
Gratitude to God can be a moment-by-moment expression. Even in the middle of the worst of circumstances, your thanksgiving to God is appropriate and needed. Look beyond your current condition to your heavenly hope. He has prepared a place for you, and His preparations are not lacking. They are just what you need and desire. So, your thanksgiving is for what He has done in the past, His current provision, and what He has prepared for you in the future. God’s generosity is without competition. You can be very, very grateful for this. Let thanksgiving escape from your lips often. Use it to put out the fires of fear and worry before they spread too far. Thanks be to God for you are made rich.
Yes, in Christ you are made rich. You have everything needed for this life in Christ. As a upshot of your management of His riches, you can be ridiculously generous. This is the natural result of thanksgiving. Because of your deep gratitude to God, you are called and compelled to give. Gratitude invites you to generosity. You cannot experience authentic thanksgiving and not see it birth giving. It is a beautiful process: because God has given to you, you give to others. At the moment you receive the gift of God, generosity is conceived in your heart.
This is why your heart feels pregnant with thanksgiving. It will explode without the regular birthing of generosity to others. This expression of gratitude results in action. It is tangibly and regularly giving to people for whom Christ died. The poor need food, a job, and Jesus; orphans need parents, a home, and Jesus; divorcees need acceptance, healing, and Jesus; the angry ones need gentleness and Jesus; the confused need clarity and Jesus; the bankrupt need financial wholeness and Jesus. Opportunities abound that invite your generous expression of gratitude. Gratitude is one of God’s prescriptions for discontentment. The two cannot comfortably coexist. Thanksgiving gives the credit for your accomplishments to God and others. Without either, you would not be in your current position of influence and success. Gratitude is generous. Gratitude is content. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. The Bible says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34).
Taken from the November 24th reading in the 365-day devotional book, “Seeking Daily the Heart of God” volume 1… http://bit.ly/Tv6y9a
Post/Tweet today: Gratitude to God follows receiving the extravagant generosity of God. #thanksgivingtoGod
Blessed by these readings?: pray about giving a donation, click… http://bit.ly/KArLE5
© 2013 by Boyd Bailey. All rights reserved.
Wisdom Hunters Resources / A registered 501 c3 ministry
info@wisdomhuntersdevotional.com / www.wisdomhunters.com
Comments are closed.
It’s easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for their setbacks. I am reminded of a verse in an old Bill Gaither hymn, “The God of the mountain is the God of the valley; the God of daytime is the God of the darkness.” If I could be so bold, I might add, “the God of our good times is the God of our bad times; and the God of your blessings is the God of your troubles.” Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they will become your blessings.
Let me say to you that gratitude to God is not some magnanimous gesture on your part – it is God’s will that we be thankful. “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thes. 5:18) The result of not being grateful to God is also given to us in the Bible. In Romans chapter 1, Paul describes a culture in disintegration, a culture sliding backward into darkness. Perhaps like our American culture. Paul sets the scene, and then adds these significant words in verses 21-22: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools”
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul cautions his protégé of the mindset of many in times to come. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (2 Tim. 3:1-5) Did you catch that the trait of “ungrateful” was followed immediately by “unholy”? Do we suppose that God, in His infinite wisdom, arbitrarily placed these two characteristics together? I doubt it. He places ‘ingratitude’ in with some very unsavory company
Dear Michael~
Once again, I thank you for your comments and insight to the Wisdom Hunters devotional. Your well thought out response is appreciated and I must say, very thought provoking!
I agree, Paul’s caution in 2 Timothy is a wise reminder for all of us today.
Once again, God’s Word, proves to be our “moral compass” and “rule book”.
Thank you again, friend, for your comments. During this season of celebrating our Savior’s birth, I hope you and yours are well and basking in HIS LOVE.
Believing and trusting~
Gwynne