THE BIGGEST ACT OF FAITH! by Elaine Davenport February, 2014

Your greatest act of faith is Thanking God no matter what anyone says.  The “world” can’t really do that until maybe a series of events take place in their favor and sometimes somebody to walk by and say:  “Wow, God really loves you…(or)You sure are Blessed!”  And then the light bulb goes off….it’s like Jesus said:  “Blessed are those who have not seen…yet they believe.”  To Thank a God you have never seen…is a big leap of faith…the rest is a piece of cake!   To Thank Him before something happens…yeah!   That’s huge!!!

I want to talk about the day God “peeped” my hold card…or in English…the day He revealed to me that He truly knew my greatest weakness.  I was praying and I strongly began to know afterwards that I should open up a GIVING THANKS blog.  Ugh…you’re kidding me God?  Right?   No answer…but the strong conviction didn’t go away.  So I began to write and sure enough…I had a hard time.  I was raised not to show  emotion so of course even though I am very polite…I have had trouble saying:  “Thank you,” but the good news is that God has helped me.  You may not feel this but as I have come to know how much love He has for me…I have been changing…and as a result Thanksgiving and other emotions have taken me on a journey that has stirred up frozen emotions and I am thankful to God for doing this for me.

Psalm 28:7
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 69:30
30 I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 95:2
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

Psalm 100:4 (#5 of 20 Bible Verses About Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks)
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Psalm 106:1
1 Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 118:28
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.

Psalm 147:7
7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp.

Mark 6:41-43
41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.

1 Corinthians 1:4 (#10 of 20 Bible Verses About Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks)
4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:57
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:14
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

2 Corinthians 4:14-16
14…because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day

2 Corinthians 9:10-11
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Ephesians 5:19-21 (#15 of 20 Bible Verses About Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks)
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Philippians 1:3
3 I thank my God every time I remember you.

Philippians 4:6
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Colossians 3:17
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

1 Thessalonians 1:2
2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 (#20 of 20 Bible Verses About Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks)
3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.