Thanksgiving-the Highest Form of Expression

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. G. K. Chesterton

Intentional awareness of our countless blessings will always provide fuel for a wildfire of gratitude in our soul! A fitting starting point in our quest for gratitude is to take special note of the Jesus experiences of each day. They will become kindling for that wildfire of thanksgiving. These awesome experiences continually stoke the embers of past experience into the blaze of present blessings and grandeur in Him!

Jesus did not just solve our problems by waving a magic wand from afar. He entered into the middle of the conflict, stepped into the domain of contradiction, entered our hell, faced death itself and from there He conquered. If this doesn’t warm your heart and evoke gratitude, it’s not likely anything will! As we consciously meditate each day upon the wonder and grandeur of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus our hearts will remain ‘strangely warmed’.

Then, as we live from that place of gratitude, we also become enraptured by the moment by moment revelation of Father that Jesus brings. The masses of the world will never be converted by a second rate Christian version of itself. And neither will you or I! They will however, flock to places that give them what nothing else can; a life that won’t leave them fatherless and thus thankless.

This perspective of shared Father Intimacy with Jesus gives rise to the following startling revelation. You're never too late. You can't outrun grace and mercy doesn't care what you've done wrong. So prodigals come home and find that God's goodness and his affection for you in the brutal realities of this age is how you plumb the depths of gratitude. This reality will always evoke untold gratitude!

Isn’t it strange? We understand how storms are created. We map solar systems and transplant hearts.  We measure the depths of the ocean and send signals to distant planets.  We’re learning how it all works!  This causes a knowing that is disjointed from wonder! And for some, the loss of mystery has led to the loss of majesty and authentic gratitude!  The more we know, the less we believe in the majesty of mystery and the more thankless we tend to become.
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17, NIV

Your gratitude will become happiness doubled by wonder! Ron Ross