A grateful heart is one that finds the countless blessings of God in the seemingly mundane everyday life.

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 2 of 5.

1. Journal
2. Tell Stories. Share the story of Pastor Martin Rinkart with your family.

In 1636 the Thirty Years’ War was raging. Death, disease, and economic collapse enveloped Europe in a fog of terror. One German pastor, Martin Rinkart, is said to have buried five thousand of his parishioners in one year, an average of fifteen people daily! Yet under the shadow of death and amidst a crucible of chaos, Rinkart penned this beautiful table grace for his children:

Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things had done
In whom His world rejoices.
Who, from our mother’s arms
Hath led us on our way
With countless gifts of love
And still is ours today.

Talk about this with your family. Was this man in denial? Out of touch? Hardly. Rinkart was a person of audacious faith. He knew thanksgiving flows from love of God, not outward circumstance. Share this story and sing the table grace he wrote for his children.

Tomorrow, part 3.

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. – Henry Clay

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 1 of 5.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward

Thanksgiving is too wonderful a holiday to let slip by without some intentional, active gratitude. But unless we’re deliberate, that’s exactly what will happen. Already busy lives seem to be compounded this time of year, right? By the time Thanksgiving Day arrives, we can be so emotionally and physically tired from all the prep or travel that the actual “giving thanks” gets lost.

But the Christian heart is a heart of gratitude. And to the extent that we express gratitude, we reflect the heart of our Savior and brother, Jesus Christ. God’s word implores us:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100).

We were made to worship and enjoy the triune God who has set his love upon us and lavished us with good gifts. Yet where or how do we begin this journey into the very heart of Christ? Here are some thoughts to assist you in cultivating a thankful spirit within your family this season!

1. Journal. In the beginning of November or a few days prior to Thanksgiving Day, place a journal on your kitchen counter (or a highly trafficked area) or attach a paper to your refrigerator. At the top of the page you can write or print, I’m thankful for… Then encourage your family to fill out the journal as things come to mind during this season. Include anything and everything that comes to mind from the simple pleasures of life, I’m thankful for hot coffee! To the profound, I’m thankful that God’s mercies are new every morning. Have the thankful person be sure to include his or her name next to the line of gratitude. Tell little ones who cannot write to simply share with someone in your home who can record it for him/her. On Thanksgiving Day, select a person to read the list or pass it around the table giving each person a chance to read.

Chaplain Rob

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. – Matthew 6:14

When past injustices have caused you pain, you often seek to bury them in the deep recesses of your mind. It’s not the way to handle things, however, and almost always when you bury things, it allows your pain from the past to translate into mistakes and suffering in the future. You become powerless against the strength of your inner turmoil and can lose control of the very feelings you’ve tried to hide.

What do you do to distract yourself from unresolved pain? There may be strong emotions that you don’t know how to process appropriately, so you simply try to stuff them down inside. Eventually these feelings are expressed in one way or another. Be honest about your past hurts, express your feelings, confront when necessary, and work through forgiveness, it’s probably the most important thing to learn to do.

I think if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him. – C. S. Lewis

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. – Luke 1:11-12

Fear is an interesting emotion. The more we give in to being afraid, the more afraid we tend to become.

When Zechariah saw an angel, his reaction was the same as Mary’s reaction when an angel visited her. Both were overwhelmed with fear. But in each case, the angel’s message to them was, “Don’t be afraid” (Luke 1:13, 30). God does not want his people to live in fear!

Often, when we give our lives away to the seeming needs of others, our basic motivation is fear. We are afraid to be ourselves and afraid of others’ reactions. (If you struggle with such feelings, know that you are not alone.) God provides what we need to live beyond these fears:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Notice that Paul states this to his protégé, Timothy, as something that has already happened. God has given us power. If we’re still living in fear, we simply haven’t chosen to receive this gift.

Ask Yourself
Describe a typical situation in which you feel fear. How could you move against that fear?

Memorize 2 Timothy 1:7 and repeat it to yourself whenever you are faced with a fearful situation.

Ask God
God of power and love, thank you for your gift of power, love, and self-discipline. Help me to trust you and face fearful situations in your power. Help me to hear your voice saying to me, “Don’t be afraid.”

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. – Romans 12:2

This Scripture passage presents us with a choice. We can either pick up the behaviors and customs of this world, or we can let God transform us into our true selves.

Stated that way, it doesn’t seem like a hard choice. Who wouldn’t want to be transformed by God? And yet most of us find it extremely difficult to resist the influence of the world around us.

Almost without knowing it, we absorb ideas, attitudes, and habits that keep us stuck in our old, reactive ways.

Jesus says, “Don’t worry.” But we can’t sleep because of anxiety or worrying about the past.

Jesus says, “Love your neighbor.” But we’re concerned that the wrong sort of person has moved in next door or we find it hard to love some people.

Jesus says, “The truth will set you free.” But we can’t help thinking that little white lies can make everything easier and honesty with others is sometimes hard.

The key point Paul is making is that transformation begins with changing the way we think. Our thoughts generate our feelings, and our feelings generate our behaviors. If we want to live and act the way God wants us to, we must begin by thinking differently.

Ask Yourself
What are some of the behaviors and customs you have picked up from the world?

Do you agree that our thoughts generate our feelings? Have you ever seen this work in your life?

Ask God
Dear Jesus, I want to become my true self—the person you created me to be.

Give me discernment to recognize when I have picked up worldly thinking, and help me replace those thoughts with your thoughts.

My prayer is that each of us will find where we have “stinking thinking” and prayerfully offer that part of our lives to God so that we can be transformed today.

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:13-14

Are you living a life of ‘if only’s’?

If only I had made better decisions.
If only I had been brought up in a better family.
If only I had spent more time with the children.
If only you had said I’m sorry or I was wrong

Sometimes this ‘if only’ thinking is projected onto others:

If only you hadn’t been so stupid.
If only you had made more money.
If only you hadn’t failed to understand our child.

‘If only’ thinking takes all of a person’s energy and emotions and uselessly spends that energy on a destructive rehash of the past, through the dank marshes of what might have been.

This focus is so all-consuming that it leaves you without strength or motivation to resolve the past and move on to achieve your future. . . a future full of possibilities that God puts before you, that He wants you to take hold of.

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. – Will Rogers

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob