Thankful, Day Forty-One

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

and His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100, NKJV

I'm forty days into this exercise, and I continue to be thankful. In fact, my gratitude increases with each passing day. Since starting my 100 days of thanks, I have experienced a change in my attitude toward life and toward God. I've experienced many great and wonderful blessings. I have experienced a personal spiritual breakthrough, and received some pretty incredible answers to my fervent prayers. And for those things, I am so very thankful!

And today I want to give thanks for some simple things.

I'm thankful for my friends, both old and new, who have come into my life at this juncture, and I'm thankful for their many wonderful contributions to my life. I have spent today with some incredible men and women of God, all of us seeking to be better Christians, better servants, better ministers, and better friends. I am forging some great relationships, and look forward to what those friendships will yield in days ahead.

I'm thankful for I'm thankful for the joy of the Lord, which has given me great strength in dark days of the past and provided the necessary hope to make it through until the sun could shine again. Even at times where I have wanted to throw in the towel, to give up in the race, it was the joy of the Lord that kept me going. Even when I didn't feel it, I still kept living it. I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart, and it's down in my heart to stay!

And I'm thankful for something else, too. You know who you are, and you know why.