Count Your Blessings and Share God's Joy

            Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  As we begin this Thanksgiving week, let’s examine our hearts to make sure they are filled with joyful thanks.

            Thanks and joy go together like a cup & saucer, peanut butter & jelly, like bacon and eggs! But which comes first…the joy or the thankful attitude? Are we thankful because we’re joyful….or are we joyful because we’re thankful?

            I believe genuine joy comes from having a thankful heart. 

• Being appreciative for the things that we have, instead concentrating on what we don’t have.

•  Being satisfied and content with the blessings that are ours, instead of being jealous of what someone else has.

         I think Paul might have put it this way: “Jealously and envy breed discontent. Being joyful and thankful is heaven-sent.” (Joyce’s quote!)

           Let’s take a lesson from Paul. He begins his letter to the Philippians with thanks.  Though he wrote this letter from prison,  listen to his joyful words, “I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy……”

             Could you pray with joy if you were in a prison cell?  Paul could, because he realized that he had what was important…a relationship with Christ.  Is Jesus that important to you?  So important so that you can look beyond your circumstances and remain thankful…regardless?! 

            Like Paul, let’s have a thankful heart and pray with JOY.

Start this Thanksgiving week by counting your blessings and sharing God’s joy.