2019 is almost ending. I cannot imagine what everyone has been through, good or bad, but we all have made it here. Nothing but the grace (unmerited favor) of God. According to the Bible verses above, God’s will; His expectation is that we will give thanks as we enter into fellowship with Him irrespective of how things have turned out. A thankful heart opens the door for breakthroughs and testimonies.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

• Thank God for the free gift of salvation

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

• Thank God for Jesus, taking your place on the cross.

1 Corinthians 1:4 “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.”

• Thank God for the grace upon your life. This grace cannot be overemphasized. We have made it to this day ONLY because of the grace, not by anything about us.

Psalm 7:17 “I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.”

• Thank God for the righteousness in Christ. If left for our righteousness we will never get into His presence but thanks be to God who made a way for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Psalm 106:1 “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”

1 Chronicles 16:34 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”

• Thank God for His love. How can anyone ever give an explanation of how and why God loves us so much. There are no words that one can be used to express how much God loves us.  His love endures (love that is realizable, trustworthy, not brought, priceless) forever even though we do not really merit it.

2 Corinthians 9: 7 “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

• You know who God is to you and what He has done in your life. Expressing your gratitude is personal. No one should define how you should thank God.

Psalm 9:1-2 “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

• Can anyone even be able to count what God has done in the month of November? How much more the entire year?

Colossians 3:14 “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

• Thank Him for peace amidst the chaos you may have gone through.

Psalm 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.”

• Thank Him for strength. Every day you are able to get out of bed and function because God has not failed.

Daniel 2:23 “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter.”

• Thank God for Wisdom to deal with life events.

Daniel 6:10 “When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.”

• Thank God even for when the enemy was launching his attacks, God was still on your side.

Habakkuk 3:17 “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls.”

• Have you been in that place where you were not able to provide a meal to your family or pay a bill? You have made it.

Exodus 14:25 “He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. "Let us flee from the Israelites," said the Egyptians, "for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!"

 Joshua 23:3 “and you have seen everything that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, because it was the LORD your God who fought for you.”

• Thank the Lord for fighting your battles

Psalm 50:15 “and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called upon the LORD and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.”

• Thank God for delivering you out of trouble.

Jeremiah 30:17 “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!”

• Thank God for healing

Prayer line information: T-Mobile & Metro PCS users, please dial 206-451-6010 then enter conference number 605-475-3235# and access code 1053495#. For other users, dial 605-475-3235# directly and then access code 1053495#.

Ennette Heaggans