"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name."
Psalm 100:4 (NKJV)
There are many different methods that can used to access various places. Some places require you to buy a ticket before you enter. Some places require you to show a certain form of identification before you can enter. Some places require you to enter an access code on a security panel before you can get in. Some places require a special key to enter in. While there may be different methods that are used to enter a place, the point is that something is necessary before one can enter and the same thing is true with the things of God.
We have access to God today through the blood of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:13, 18), this is the basis for our relationship with God. But what about our every day fellowship with God and walking in the blessings of God, is there something we can do to make sure we have clear access to all that God has provided for us through Jesus? By looking at what Psalm 100:4 tells us I believe we have an answer: thanksgiving gives us access. Being thankful and praising God for who He is and what He has done will keep doors of opportunity and blessing open in our life.
When we are thankful we are focused on the right things. If we consider all of the good things that God has done for us and how much God loves us it is easy to be thankful and also easy for us to walk by faith. If we think about what we may not have or what might not be exactly right in our life it means we are more focused on natural things and it is easy to complain and harder to live a life of faith. By maintaining a lifestyle of thanksgiving we keep ourselves in the place where God can work in our life; let's all make it our goal to be thankful and enter into God's best.
Psalm 100:4 (NKJV)
There are many different methods that can used to access various places. Some places require you to buy a ticket before you enter. Some places require you to show a certain form of identification before you can enter. Some places require you to enter an access code on a security panel before you can get in. Some places require a special key to enter in. While there may be different methods that are used to enter a place, the point is that something is necessary before one can enter and the same thing is true with the things of God.
We have access to God today through the blood of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:13, 18), this is the basis for our relationship with God. But what about our every day fellowship with God and walking in the blessings of God, is there something we can do to make sure we have clear access to all that God has provided for us through Jesus? By looking at what Psalm 100:4 tells us I believe we have an answer: thanksgiving gives us access. Being thankful and praising God for who He is and what He has done will keep doors of opportunity and blessing open in our life.
When we are thankful we are focused on the right things. If we consider all of the good things that God has done for us and how much God loves us it is easy to be thankful and also easy for us to walk by faith. If we think about what we may not have or what might not be exactly right in our life it means we are more focused on natural things and it is easy to complain and harder to live a life of faith. By maintaining a lifestyle of thanksgiving we keep ourselves in the place where God can work in our life; let's all make it our goal to be thankful and enter into God's best.