DAILY VIDEO DEVOTIONAL
When I was in Egypt I saw God move in a mighty manner. Tens of thousands of people prayed to receive Christ into their lives. Hundreds of churches were touched by a spirit of revival that was the result of 800 pastors and leaders who gathered for a conference on spiritual awakening. The Holy Spirit fell on that group of leaders in a wonderful way. There was brokenness and repentance.
I returned to the United States with a spirit of thanksgiving and a heart full of gratitude for all that God did. My heart continues to cry out, “Great is thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. All I have needed, Thy hand has provided. Great is Thy faithfulness!”
As I returned to my own country and began to praise God for all He has done in these past few weeks, God began to speak to my heart. “My son,” He seemed to say, “you have a grateful heart now because of the great things I have done. But I want you to have a grateful heart all the time.” I realized that I don’t need to wait for something extraordinary to happen in order to praise Him and give Him thanks. I need to praise Him all the time.
Paul, the great apostle, wrote, “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thes. 5:18 NIV). Our prayers of thanksgiving aren’t just to be when He has done great things. They’re to be at all times, in all situations. We thank Him when the sun is shining and when the dark clouds seem to overwhelm us. We thank Him when things are going well and when it’s difficult. We praise Him for who He is and thank Him for His goodness in all things.
The psalmist said, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalms 100:4, 5 NIV). There’s something very special when we come into the presence of God with a heart of praise and thanksgiving. He inhabits our praises. He fills a grateful heart with His love and goodness.
A grateful heart is one that recognizes who God is and what He has done. A grateful heart is one exercising faith. It’s looking to God as the Source and Sustainer of everything in our lives. It’s seeing Him for who He is and believing He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).
The bottom line of a grateful heart is that it recognizes that the very nature of God is one of goodness. He’s perfect in His goodness. Even when “bad things” seem to be happening to us, He remains faithful and His goodness isn’t hidden. He’s still there. And He loves us. When we understand that, we will humbly bow before Him and worship Him. Worship flows from a grateful heart.
Psalm : Chapter 100
1) Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2) Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3) Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his[a]; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4) Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5) For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Book of the Month
Sammy Tippit told his fiancée, “I can’t promise we’ll be rich, but life won’t be boring.”
Sammy had no idea what an understatement that would become. Beginning in the bars of Baton Rouge and the nightclubs of Chicago, Tippit has shared the news of life-changing faith in Christ all over the world – including in the middle of a revolution in Romania, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and war in Burundi and the Congo.
Sammy’s lifelong adventure has come at a great price. He’s been cursed, threatened, arrested, deported, and blacklisted. He’s also been personally broken, ravaged with illness, and devastated by grief.
Yet he continues to preach to in stadiums, in open fields, and via satellite technology to hundreds of thousands around the globe. For all other books…
About Sammy Tippit Ministries
STM has been providing inspiration and help around the world for nearly 50 years. Sammy Tippit, founder and president, is a world renowned counselor, teacher and evangelist with experience serving and helping people in over 80 countries. Sammy provides materials that help people tackle a broad array of social, societal, psychological and spiritual issues. He is particularly passionate about making materials accessible to other countries around the world. Sammy is married to Debara “Tex” Tippit, and they have two children and five grandchildren.
Sammy Tippit Ministries is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.
Contact: info@sammytippit.org
All Rights Reserved