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Have you ever thought of gratitude or giving thanks as a weapon against our enemy? You are aware that you have an enemy who wants to steal your joy, right? Always!!!
Before science came up with the study of gratitude being good for the mind, body, and soul, God was already into that! He invented science! He did some of His best work in Astronomy, Geology, Oceanography, Geography, Sociology, Psychology, et al., and went over the top with His best work in Anthropology and Biology in the creation of humankind! What an awesome Creator God!
Science has recognized that focusing on good things, blessings, and gratitude has emotional and interpersonal benefits. Science and psychologists have observed and endorsed that a person’s well-being and happiness can be improved by writing down three things daily in a gratitude journal.
Being grateful even positively affects essential neurochemicals in the brain and body!
But - we have an enemy, a thief who is very stealthy at breaking into our thoughts and minds and influencing how we think. Satan tries to steal our most precious gifts of love, joy, and peace. He uses every weapon in his evil playbook to replace our reasonable and healthy thoughts with anxiety, stress, worry, bitterness, guilt, and a list of other sinister things.
BUT - we also have an alarm that goes off when Satan attempts to break into our minds and steal our godly thoughts from us. God’s Word is written and hidden in our hearts and minds, filled with His promises of safety and protection. When we hold on to these promises, we confront the thief, and he is stopped. He has no power to rob us of the treasures God has lovingly provided through His Son, Jesus Christ.
“For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:8.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3;16.
Are you feeling thankful yet?
I found this many years ago, author unknown, that has been widely shared across the internet and used in sermons:
“There is a legend of a man who found a barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. Upon finding the seeds of discouragement more numerous than others, he asked about them. The devil said, ‘If I can sow discouragement into a person’s life, then I can get almost anything else I want in his life. The seeds of discouragement will sprout almost anywhere.” He reluctantly added there was one place he could never get them to thrive. The man asked, “Where is that?” Satan replied, “In the heart of a grateful man.”
There is always something for which to be thankful. It’s not just an “at Thanksgiving” observance type of thing. It is a daily attitude of the heart. Add a “gr” to attitude, remove one “t,” and you have gratitude! Attitude is a whole other topic, but suffice it to say, it goes a long way in determining how we think, feel, and act!
Sow seeds of goodness and gratitude in your heart, my friends! Don’t let Satan be the gardener of your soul, allowing him to plow and plant his poisonous seeds! We have God as our Gardener, and everything He produces is beautiful, fragrant, and good! I think I will add Gardener as one of my personal names for Him! After all, He did create the very first Garden! He is a Master Gardener!
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful.”
Colossians 3:15 (ESV)
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7
Peace and Thanksgiving to YOU!
Mary Bass Gray is the Spiritual Advisor for the Humble Faith Ministries’ team. She is a wife, mother of three sons, mother-in-love, Nonnie to eight grands, and Daughter of the King. She resides in the High Country of North Carolina with her husband and lab/beagle baby, Sully. She enjoys looking her window every morning and being surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation and the majesty of His mountains.