Thankfulness

Psalm 100 - A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

1Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2Worship the Lordwith gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

3Know that the Lordis God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

5For the Lordis good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Recently, I was told that as a spiritual warrior, I had many weapons at my disposal, but what I lacked was thankfulness.  When I heard this, it gave me pause.  Did I not praise God? Of course I did, even in the hardest of times, when there seemed nothing to praise Him about, I found something - if nothing else the gift of salvation.  Thankfulness?  Please.  I am thankful!!!

Or, am I????  I was talking to a friend last night and this came out of my mouth, "There is a difference between praise and thanksgiving.  Look at the Psalm, I will enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise."  What. Just. Happened.  I who a week before was all "Sure, I've got this. Thankfulness? Check." just showed that in fact, even though my mind did not know the difference, my spirit sure did.

Thankfulness vs. Praise.  The definition of praise is -  the act of expressing approval or admiration; the offering of grateful homage  in words or song; an act of worship.  The definition of thankfulness is -  feeling or expressing gratitude.

Praise is outward focused.  I praise God because He is awesome, inspiring, faithful, loving, and generous.  Thankfulness is is a little of both.  I am looking inward and thanking God for what He has done in my life and telling Him so.   We can praise God all day long and yet miss the thankful part.    Thanking Him is essential, because what you are really saying is, "Even though I don't understand, and even though I can't see what is going on and where you are taking me, I am thankful that you ARE doing it."  

Thankfully yours,

Marie