“O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.  Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.  The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.  O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” Psalm 95:1-6 KJV

The scripture says make a joyful noise; being filled with spiritual joy!  We are to worship and bow down to Him; be in awe of Him.  The sacred texts of the Psalms, although written 1400 – 430 B.C., ring as true today as they did those many centuries ago.  My prayers should commence with praise and thanksgiving to my maker for His goodness.  As a child growing up in the Methodist church, I was required to learn and recite the 100^th Psalm.  In recollection, we children played a significant role in the church sixty-seventy years ago.  I am unable to recall the frequency however, if memory serves me correctly, we offered a program before the congregation quite often.  There are lots of powerful memories associated with the following Psalm.

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.  Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.  Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”  Psalm 100 KJV

God formed our bodies and fathered our spirits.  To Him we owe the ultimate praise, in a joyful presence of mind.  Without Him we would not be; we are not our own, but His.  As I approach this season of Thanksgiving I will focus on His goodness and His greatness.  What if God only gave us what we thanked him for?  It is something to think about.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”  Colossians 3:15-16 NIV

While under house arrest in Rome the apostle Paul wrote the foregoing verses to the people of Colosse.  The same can be transposed to the people of America this day.  What better time than this very moment to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and overflow to others.  How richly fulfilled our lives would be if we could approach all things with thanksgiving and gratitude.

Dr. Donald McCall Brunson, a Baptist minister wrote in his book The Miracle You’ve Been Searching For, “I believe that when we are in the midst of even the worst life storms, our reaction as children of the King should be to thank God, for it may be that He allowed the very trauma we’re going through at the moment for the purpose of preventing us from going through storms that might well destroy us or hinder us in doing what He has called us to do.”  I agree with Dr. Brunson. I do admit that emotional pain may cloud my judgment of conviction and that is when I must concentrate my whole being on the Lord.

Lord, I thank YOU for creating me in YOUR image.  I thank YOU for YOUR goodness and YOUR greatness. I am weak Lord and lean on YOU for strength of spirit and heart and soul.  I give thanks to YOU for all things, always.  In JESUS name I pray, Amen.