Week of August 5
A Heart of Thanksgiving
As the enemy attempts to lure us subtly away from God’s best plan for our lives, we begin to compromise in many areas. And the trick that the enemy has used since the beginning of time is trying to convince us that we are getting a bad deal.
Human nature does not like to get taken by anybody or anything—and the enemy knows this. So, once Satan convinces us that God is robbing us of some of life’s greatest pleasures, we begin to plan and to plot how we will get what we think we deserve. It is dangerous to venture down such a path.
However, there is a way to combat such tempting thoughts. To have a heart of gratitude means that we appreciate what God has given us. In fact, life itself is a gift from God to us for our enjoyment and pleasure.
When Paul and Silas were tossed into prison, they sang praises and hymns to God. These grateful hearts prepared the way for God to do something incredible in that Philippian jail. Had they been murmuring and grumbling about how a loving God could let them land in such a place, they would have missed an opportunity to lead a man and his entire family to the Lord.
As we seek God more and more, we discover that for every temptation the enemy presents, there is a greater blessing God wants to give. We must remain faithful to the Lord in those trying moments, pressing ahead with the knowledge that God will not withhold His best plan for our lives as long as we are putting Him first.
Prayer: Lord, please help me realize when I have an ungrateful heart and give me a heart of thanksgiving.
The Lord is my strength. … My heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song (Psalm 28:7).
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