If you know and believe...

If you know in your heart and believe in your soul that God carried you through another month and blessed you to see another,

let's give Thanks!

Expressions of thanks to our Lord should never be far from any of our lips. They should become as natural as eating and drinking every day.

There is never a shortage of reasons to thank God.

There is breath in our bodies. We’ve been given another day.

There is a roof over our heads. We’ve been given shelter.

There is food in our kitchens. We’ve been given sustenance.

We have people we can call true friends.

We have loved ones who have poured into our lives.

The list goes on and on!

Greater than all of these things to be thankful for, we have a God that loves us unconditionally and paid the ultimate price to give us redemption.

There are several psalms that include gratitude for safety during times of resting.

“In peace, I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:2

“I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.” Psalm 3:5

Living a righteous life automatically gives us greater assurance of safety and rest. We do our best to be kind to everyone and love everyone through Christ. Even so, the Word of God instructs us to be careful who we are close to, where we hang out, and activities we are involved in. These alone eliminate a good amount of danger we could find ourselves wrapped up in.

The rest and peace we feel come from obeying the One who knows how to give those things to us. Many of the Lord’s promises are fulfilled after following His guidelines for our lives.

Those times we do find ourselves in danger, yet wake up to another day, thankfulness is always in order. What is beautiful about our Creator is that He is always alert to our needs and any hazards and risks we may encounter.

Psalm 121:3-4 gives us reassurance of our faithful God:

“He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”

Additionally in Isaiah 26:3, we read: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.”

Peaceful nights are ours when our lives, our thoughts, and actions are focused on the Peace Speaker.

Awakening to a new day gives each of us an additional reason to be thankful. We’ve been given another opportunity to go out into the world and make a difference! We’ve been granted more time to pray for those we love. We get to tell others about our God of love and peace.

Life is precious. Life is fragile. Let us never forget to thank our Savior for blessing us with breath in our bodies to face another day. Not everyone awakened to face a new day. We’re among those who still have the ability to give thanks to our Lord.