SjP is giving God MUCH praise and honor this morning. With the economy in the pits and more and more people losing their jobs, I am so thankful that two of my family members have just had employment breaks. My cousin begins training tomorrow for a job he's been trying to get for over a year and my brother was just moved to interim director were he works. As the saying goes, "God is Good All the Time. And All the Time God is Good"!

This morning, I am giving thanks to God for always making a way out of no way. So, it is more than fitting that today's Sunday Inspiration presents 11 Scriptural Principals of Giving Thanks to God because doing so honors Him.

1. Giving thanks Honors Him. Why is it so important that we express gratitude to God? Because He deserves the glory.When we bring hearts of thanksgiving to the Lord, we glorify and magnify His name.We act in obedience by giving the credit and praise to the One who should receive it. He is the author of every good thing, and should receive every honor

2. Giving thanks to God refocuses our attention. Expressing gratitude to the Lord sets our sights on Him.What better way to bring our attention back to God than to think of the many blessings He has given us.What happens when we rise in the morning? We hurry and focus on the world.We should begin each day by setting our minds on eternal things, and realizing the many awesome things about Him prepares us for the day.

3. Giving thanks to God releases us from anxiety. We live in an age of anxiety and worry. In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul urges us not to give in to worry. Instead, we should bring God our requests with thanksgiving. Then, the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. Giving thanks to God is the best way to be at peace in a time that has so much fear
and anxiety.

4. Giving thanks to God refreshes our relationship with Him. Bringing our gratitude to the Lord has a wonderful effect on our personal relationship with Him. As we declare His loving kindness in the morning and His faithfulness at night, our spirits are rejuvenated. We feel closer and closer to Him, because He draws near to us when we thank Him and praise Him.
You can’t reflect on His blessings and continue to feel downhearted.

5. Giving thanks to God reinforces our faith. The Israelites remembered the mighty works of God.They recalled how He crushed the Egyptians at the Red Sea, and how He fed them on manna in the wilderness.When they kept these memories alive, their faith grew stronger. When you remember the things God has done for you, your faith is reinforced.

6. Giving thanks to God causes our spirit to rejoice. What else happens through thanking God? We get more joy out of life. Counting blessings can only make your heart soar. Do you sing when you’re alone? It doesn’t matter how your voice sounds, but only how your heart feels. Give Him thanks and praise by singing songs that express gratitude and worship.

7. We give thanks by expressing it in words. Giving thanks to God is one of the greatest possible ways we could use our time.Thank Him in words, even if all you can think of at first to say is,“Thank you, God.” Then begin saying thank you for every single blessing and fact about God that you can recall.

8. We give thanks by singing. Another way to thank God is by singing.There is music all around us, from the birds and from the streams that make their own melodies.There is power in song, and God made that power so that we could use it to bring Him our thanks and our praise.There are so many kinds of music today, and we can use them to sing with hearts of joy about the wonderful things God has done for us.

9. We give thanks by living obediently. We can however, express our gratitude without ever saying or singing a word. Nothing pleases God more than an obedient life, because that says,“Lord, you have done so much for me, now I will live for You.” Sincere gratitude will come from an obedient heart, and will lead to obedient actions.We can devote our entire lives to thanksgiving by serving Him and following His will every day.

10. We give thanks through public worship. One of the reasons we gather for worship is to express our thanks to God. Most people attend church to receive something, whether it is teaching, fellowship, or just enjoying the choir. God’s primary purpose for fellowship, however, is that we might worship and express adoration and thanksgiving. As we hear the gospel, God is giving us something; when we sing, we are giving something back.

11. We give thanks by giving generously. Finally, we offer our thanksgiving by giving our resources back to God.We owe every breath and everything we own to our Lord and Creator. When we understand this, we give naturally from hearts filled with joy and thanksgiving. He would not spare His only Son, so how can we be anything but generous in returning our gifts to Him?

Source

Sunday Inspirations, is the meme created in honor of my Mother for Mother's Day 2008 and is just one way to help get us through the week ahead, the trials we may face, and yes, to say Thank Ya and testify! I hope that you participate and share with us your Sunday Inspirations. Your weekly contribution may very well be the inspiration that someone else may need and has been looking for.

Obliged to you for hearing me,
and now old SjP ain't got nothin' more to say...
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