THANKFULNESS

6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. 7 Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6-7 | NLT

Overflow with thankfulness.
Here we are in the Thanksgiving Season...a season when we are supposed to acknowledge how thankful we are, but mostly, as you listen, you will hear grumbling and complaining! Why is that? From the above verse I want to point out four things that may help you to be more thankful!

First, has there been a point where you made Jesus Lord of your life? I am not talking about praying and asking Him to be part of your life. Many have said the "sinners prayer" and then just keep living any way they want. Jesus has many facets to who He is. You can know Him as Savior, Lord, Friend, Brother, Groom, Lover...and at every one of these levels you have come closer to His heart with your heart. What does it mean to make Him Lord? 

A Lord has authority and power over a realm and over the subjects within that realm. Jesus has a Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, and it is found within us when we cooperate with Him. The Kingdom consists of righteousness, peace and joy (and much more) found through our relationship with the Holy Spirit. If I want to participate in this Kingdom, I must acknowledge that Jesus is my Lord. That means I willingly yield myself to His authority and tell Him I want to be directed by Him in the affairs of my life. That goes against every fiber of a human heart, because most people don't want anyone telling them what to do! 

Romans chapter one describes human nature pretty well...verses 20-23 20For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities–His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.21Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. Also verse 25 ...They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator Himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 

They would not worship Him or give Him thanks. I hope that does not describe you. I love to worship Him but I often have to be reminded to give Him thanks! To remember ALL He has done for me and let thankfulness flow from my heart! It is so easy to let the created things of this world occupy our thoughts and our hearts...including ourselves (remember we were created from the dust of the earth). I challenge you to turn your heart to Him during this Thanksgiving and remember all the times He worked for you in your life. Either choose to make Him Lord or re-establish His lordship in your life. He is trustworthy of our lives...He loves you! 

We will look at the rest of this verse over the next several days!

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