Thanks — Give Thanks to God
We all have many things for which to be thankful. Some of them are trivial and some are crucial to existence. Some are gifts from family or from thoughtful friends. We have many reasons to be thankful. I am thankful for the things I often take for granted such as sight, sound, taste, hearing, and feeling. It is easy to complain about noise, or something tasting or feeling bad. I am thankful that I can know the difference.
I specifically want to give thanks to God.
God is not like man or any god that has been fashioned out of wood, stone, or metal. When Ezekiel saw the God of all glory, language could not adequately describe everything. When we listen to his description of God’s glory, we realize that no one is like the almighty God. Ezekiel began by describing four living creatures that are around the throne of God. Once we get past the appearance of those colossal cherubim, Ezekiel beheld God sitting on a throne.
Ezekiel 1:26 NIV84 Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.
Ezekiel 1:27 NIV84 I saw that from what appeared to be His waist up He looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down He looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded Him.
Ezekiel 1:28 NIV84 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around Him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
I am thankful that God is incomprehensible because: God is not limited as we are.
Almighty God has unlimited power, wisdom, and glory. His knowledge, wisdom, and understanding is infinite. He is high above whatever we imagine Him to be. He is boundless in His greatness, person, and love. We cannot see beyond the ends of His creation.
God is incomprehensible.
Yet, God has revealed Himself in such a way that we may know and experience His power, love, and glory.
I am thankful that God is self-existent.
John 5:26 AMP For even as the Father has life in Himself and is self-existent, so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself and be self-existent.
The Lord God is not the creation of thoughtful men. He has no beginning or ending. God existed before the beginning of time and before the creation.
God is self-existent.
Ultimately, we have to confess that everything was made by Someone. Yet, God who created all things was created by no one. Since God is self-existent, we can rely on Him for life, health, and strength. We can trust and believe because God is self-existent and is not dependent on the circumstances or situations that we face in life. He is greater than your trouble, trial or perplexity. We do not fear the loss of all things because we have a Rock, Defense, and Strong Tower in the time of our troubles.
I am thankful that God is self-sufficient.
Psalm 121:1–2 NKJV I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:3–4 NKJV He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121:5–6 NKJV The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.
Psalm 121:7–8 NKJV The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
It is impossible to understand God’s all-sufficiency. The Lord our God does not need or lack anything. He is the source and sustainer of all life. God does not change and He holds His position by the strength of His own power. Nothing is above Him or beyond Him. No one can promote Him or degrade Him. God cannot be helped and needs no assistance.
If we were blind so that we could not see the sun, that would not keep the sun from shinning. If everyone was an atheist, God would still be God. God needs no defenders.
Since God is self-sufficient, I know that He can supply all my need by His own riches in glory through Christ Jesus.
I am thankful that God is eternal.
Psalm 90:2 NKJV Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
It is difficult to understand everlasting. We look at the eternal mountains and hills, but God created the mountains and hills. We can imagine a million years from now, but the eternal God has no boundaries. We cannot put marks of time on God’s existence. He is the uncreated, eternal God. He never began to exist and is not affected by the changes of time.
I am thankful that God is eternal because I need help in my moment of time.
God knows my beginning and my ending. I don’t have the answers for the perplexities of things that are coming, but I can trust the Lord my God Who does not change.
I am thankful that God is infinite.
Psalm 139:7–8 NKJV Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
Think about this! His power, knowledge and wisdom are unlimited. We are different from God. Our knowledge grows exponentially, but God has remained constant. He cannot increase above infinite. Since God is infinite in all of His ways, He is measureless, limitless, and boundless.
Since God is infinite, we turn to Him from our limited supply and knowledge and find that He has limitless supply, help, grace, mercy and love.
When we don’t have strength, wisdom or resources, God is able to help us.
I am thankful that God is immutable.
God never changes.
James 1:17 NKJV Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Hebrews 13:8 NKJV Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
He has never deviated from what He has been. God can never have more mercy, grace, or love. He cannot get better or worse. He cannot improve or deteriorate and become weak.
Since God never changes, we have strong hope and faith.
His promise remains true and whatever God has said, He will do.
I am thankful that God is omniscient.
God’s knowledge is validated and confirmed by His vast creation. Think about the knowledge and wisdom that was necessary to create and sustain all things.
Hebrews 4:13 NKJV And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Our God possesses perfect knowledge of the past, present, and the future. He has never learned or forgotten. God has no teacher. He instantly and effortlessly knows all His creations and all things perfectly. He knows the beginning and the end of all things.
Since God is self-existent and self-contained, He knows what no creature can ever know.
He knows our frame and remembers we are dust. Since He knows our personal pain and affliction, He is able to personally and compassionately help us. God knows and cares as no one else can.
In Luke 12:27 Jesus said, “Do not fear and be worried about what you shall eat, drink or have an anxious mind. Your Father knows what you need.”
I am thankful that God is omnipotent.
God is able to do whatever is consistent with His own character and being.
Revelation 19:6 NKJV And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!”
There is only one Almighty God. Daily we face the weakness of our flesh. Even if we are confronted with the enemy’s power, we are sustained by the Omnipotence of God. God possesses an incomprehensible potency of power. The Psalmist said: “All Power belongs to God.” As a result of His power, we can say: “Nothing is too hard for the Lord.”
I am thankful that God is omnipresent.
God is everywhere present with His whole being, power, and knowledge at all times. In Psalm 139, David questioned the unfettered presence of God and concluded that God is everywhere. He is close to everything and next to everyone. God is here in all of His being, infinite wisdom and power. God is present and He is over and under all things. He cannot to be excluded. He is wholly beneath and wholly above. He is always near us, and present in all of the world.
We should continue in our thankfulness for God.
God is faithful, good and just. He is gracious, merciful and kind. He is holy, righteous, and sovereign. God is love.
Psalm 63:1 NLT O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:3–4 NLT Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
Psalm 75:1 NLT We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds.
