Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Understand:
This month as we go through the psalms we’re focusing on thankfulness. For us, the New Testament believer, we have great reason to rejoice in thanksgiving because of the work of Christ. For when we come to Christ, we are new creation. From now on we don’t have to live the way culture demands. Pride and selfish ambition don’t drive us. We don’t have to live according to appearances or obtain certain credentials. No, we’ve been set free from these things. Through faith in Jesus, we have been made right with Him. This is the Gospel, the Good News! It’s the reason our hearts are filled with thankfulness.
Apply:
So what do we do with this? First, I think we humble our self, quiet our soul, and rest in Christ as a weaned child rests in his mother’s arms. We find contentment in the love of Christ Jesus. Then, we express gratitude that comes from resting in the works of Christ on our behalf. We let a sense of thankfulness wash over us and we steep in it, we let the love of Christ compel us to serve Him with all our heart, and we become ambassadors of Christ and carry His message of reconciliation to the world.
This is good news that should fill our hearts with thanksgiving! Maybe you’re struggling with being grateful today. Maybe you don’t feel grateful. Know that your feelings don’t have anything to do with the reality of a relationship with Christ. If you’ve trusted Christ, you’re no longer an enemy; you’re not a stranger to Him. There is a new perspective to live by; there is a new covenant, a new body, a new church. Think about it…all of creation has been made new! In the vastness of this creation, all that we can see and all we can’t imagine exists; you’ve been made right with Him and you have the privilege of sharing the Gospel with others. That’s a mind blowing thought! The Creator of all, the One who spoke everything into existence, takes notice of you. He knows every detail of your life; the number of hairs on your head. God gave His one and only Son as a ransom for you! Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
Read Psalm 131 and rest in Christ with a heart filled with thanksgiving.
“My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.”
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.