Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. Colossians 2:6-7.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Until you have a grateful heart you will never be happy. In fact, you will never appreciate the journey of life or enjoy good days. They are there for you, but you will be like the barren bush in the desert that does not see good when it comes but scorns it and lets it just pass by. But the grateful heart grabs hold of the good and has a continual feast, even in the time of famine.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night, with the ten-stringed lute and with the harp, with resounding music upon the lyre. For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands. Psalm 92:1-4.
You enter My gates into My Kingdom with thanksgiving and My courts with joyful thankful praise.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5.
And what happens for you there in My house? Good days that keep you young, strong, and fruitful into old age.
Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Psalm 92:13-15.
It is good to be grateful, a grateful heart is a good and faithful heart, the heart of a good and faithful servant that bears much fruit.
All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a good (tov (טוֹב)) heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15.
But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. Luke 8:15.
Mary, the grace-filled mother of Jesus, had a grateful heart. The hardships of the persecution of her Son never did stop the joyful gratitude in her heart. She never stopped singing the song with which it all begun.
“My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His handmaid; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.” Luke 1:46-55.
Mary knew the writings of Moses, the prophets, and the scriptures and she constantly pondered and treasured all the events of her life with Jesus as she saw the prophecies fulfilled in her life. A grateful heart sees My Word in all the events of life and looks for My view of the events, not to the opinions of those that are ungodly whose minds are full of the thoughts of the world, the flesh and the devil. Her joy was to do My Will, even the flight into Egypt when Jesus was a baby at the warning of the Lord through the angel to Joseph.
Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. Isaiah 19:1.
They do not understand even the joy she experienced in her great sorrow at the foot of the Cross. She was living Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, seeing it fulfilled before her eyes what many a prophet and king longed to see but did not see, to hear but did not hear, and she knew the glory that would follow. A grateful spirit is a strong spirit that can get you successfully though what the world sees as pain and suffering beyond what one can bear. She did not hide and weep in grief, though if she had given in to the flesh she would have. She was there standing strong to support Jesus in His agony. She never even sat down, but stood in reverent awe, praying for those around Him, including the thief who repented. She knew that Jesus would do what was right and all she had to do was whatever He told her. And He even gave her direction and future care and comfort from the Cross in His extreme weakness He spoke to her giving her future earthly life, since He was headed back to the Majesty, into the care of His beloved John. I am mindful of those with grateful hearts because grateful hearts are strong and faithful hearts.
The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear? Proverbs 18:14.
You stay strong, and My joy is your strength, when you are grateful. If you are not grateful for your life, you will never be happy and you will never go forward. If all you do is find fault, even when I have showered you with good things around you, you can never increase and advance. You will only decrease and decline. A depressed spirit dries up the bones. You will not be full of sap and very green, bearing continual fruit.
I am not telling you to give thanks for a sinful or abusive situation, for the oppression of the wicked, oh no! I am telling you to start thanking and praising for your deliverance before you see the way out. Call on Me as David did when Saul was chasing him with the army of Israel to kill him and he was saved from his enemies and only stood by and saw the demise of Saul and all who had followed him in his pursuit of David. I was David’s refuge, rock, deliverer, and good shepherd who rescued him from the wicked. And he beheld the fall of the wicked all around him while he remained unharmed.
A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the LORD, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent. Psalm 91:7-10.
Think of Paul and Silas beaten with rods and tied to shackles in the innermost prison cell, but were they having a pity party filled with cries of complaint? No, they knew how to escape. They lifted up their voices to Me in thankful praise, prayers, love, and songs. And I responded to their response to their trial by breaking off the chains and opening the prison gates. Thanksgiving was the catalyst that moved the situation from bad to wonderful.
A grateful heart is an obedient heart. A grateful heart is a servant heart. A grateful heart is at peace. A grateful heart is at rest in Me. When you know you have the best you are not seeking another god, you are not going after idols.
Things you value you are grateful for and vice versa, i.e., things you are grateful for you value. Remember where your treasure is, there your heart is also. Mary treasured the things I was doing in her life and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19. This is key to victory. She was not complaining and wondering why there was no room in the inn, instead she was watching in awe as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world was born in a manger and angels filled the night sky and sent shepherds in adoration of the Good Shepherd who had come down from Heaven to lay down His life for the sheep. She was quiet in the fullness of her inward joy and trust as she rested in the greatest story ever told in all its splendor in which I had set her in a primary role. All generations will call her blessed. I honor those who honor Me and gratitude honors Me.
I love you. For those whose hearts are towards Me, I show Myself strong. I make all things work together for good for those who love Me and are called according to My purpose. And that you can be thankful for as well. I have fully equipped you in Christ for every good Word and work and given you each a special gift to use for the benefit of all.