When you begin your Thanksgiving gratitude list, what do you include?
Most of us probably begin with God’s gifts of salvation, family, church family, and friends. We then move to tangible gifts such as shelter, clothing, vehicle, and financial provision. If we stay at our list long enough, we add events and highlights of the past year.
I want to encourage you this year to add a new category to your list. This category represents one of the greatest reasons to be thankful—and every item on the list can be found between the covers of your Bible.
What is it? God’s promises.
Through God’s promises we have comfort for today and hope for tomorrow. Regardless of what we’re facing in the moment, God’s promises provide an unending reason for gratitude.
If you want to count your blessings, begin with God’s promises! Here are ten to get you started:
- God’s presence: I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.—Hebrews 13:5
- God’s protection: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.—Genesis 15:1
- God’s power: I will strengthen thee.—Isaiah 41:10
- God’s provision: I will help thee.—Isaiah 41:10
- God’s leading: And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.—John 10:4
- God’s purposes: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.—Jeremiah 29:11
- God’s rest: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.—Matthew 11:28
- God’s cleansing: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.—1 John 1:9
- God’s goodness: For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.—Psalm 84:11
- God’s faithfulness: For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake.—1 Samuel 12:22
I’ve only listed ten, and there are thousands more. What promise are you most grateful for as you look toward the coming year? Share in the comments below:
