Be Grateful

"I give You thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing Your praise; I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your Name for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your Name and Your Word."
~Psalm 138:1-2

The word 'grateful' is often translated as a feeling about something but the biblical meaning of 'gratefulness' and 'thankfulness' goes far beyond a feeling. It is actually translated in the New Testament as "giving praise." The word in the Greek is "eukharistos"
with its root being the word "Kharis," which means "Grace" particularly, "the Grace of God." It is much more than just saying "thank you" to someone for something that they have done.

Gratefulness is not about thanking God for anything that we have, it is thanking God for the privilege of knowing Him as Lord and Savior. Gratefulness is an attitude not a feeling. Gratefulness is how we wake up in the morning, to begin our day knowing that we are alive simply because of the Grace of God. Gratefulness is not just a feeling but rather, the absolute knowledge of Who Christ is, what He did on the Cross, and what He is doing in our lives. Gratefulness is having the attitude that no matter what goes on in life, God is in absolute control. So as we go about our day, in the back of our mind, praise continues for God, toward God, and about God, simply because He is God. Gratefulness is our weapon against the world. Gratefulness, coming from our heart, develops into our minds and produces praise and glory to Jesus Christ.

Once we understand 'Eukharistos' as being the fullness of God's Grace in Jesus Christ poured out on our lives, we begin to get a gleaning of who God is. This is knowledge that gives us power in Christ. This is transforming power. This is the kind of power that builds our faith to a point where we are absolutely convinced when we say to the mountain, "move", it will actually move. This is the power that gives us the ability to move past failures, and pain, hurt and hard feelings, hatred and all of those other horrible things that life teaches us. When we understand the absolute grace of God, it translates us into an absolutely grateful person, living out our gratefulness in the lives of others.

So begin each day in 'Eukharistos', in the absolute gratefulness of who God is, for what God has done, and continues to do in our lives each and every moment. Begin your day in gratefulness and watch your life transform.