November 27, 2023

Simple Objective: Learn to spread the happiness of your gratitude by expressing it to the Lord and to others.

Make it Personal: Share a specific blessing in your life that made your heart happy and joyful.

I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. Psalm 9:1-2 (KJV)

Have you ever thought about how when we are thankful that our hearts tend to move to a state of happiness? Thankful hearts exuberate joy! Let’s look at some examples.

First, look at Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2. After she had prayed for a long time for a son and was blessed with Samuel, Hannah prayed a wonderful prayer of thanksgiving. The first thing she says in her prayer is that her heart “rejoiceth”. Hannah had a happy thankful heart.

Look at Mary, the mother of Jesus, and what she said to her cousin Elizabeth in Luke 1:47. When Mary went to tell Elizabeth the news that she would be bearing the Christ-child, she said that “my spirit hath rejoiced in God”. Mary had a happy thankful heart.

Next, in 2 Samuel 22, David was so thankful for the Lord helping him conquer his enemies that he gave a 51-verse song to the Lord. David had a happy thankful heart.

These people didn’t keep their joyful thanksgiving silent. They expressed it either to the Lord or to people.

There are several ways we can express our joy over our blessings. We can pray. We can tell those close to us. We can tell strangers about our blessings. We can put it into song like David. We can journal about it. On top of that we can express our joy over our blessings by how we live.

Not only can expressing our joy be part of our praise to God and bless others, but when we grab hold of blessings and rejoice over them, it helps us as well. It moves us into a better place emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. Finding joy in our blessings can lift our outlook on life.

So, how do you express your thankful joyful heart?

Copyright ©2023 Julia Bettencourt

Thankful Hearts are Happy Hearts (Thanks Lesson 4)

Find more in this series on the Simple Lessons with Simple Objectives Page.

See more on the Simplified Ministry Index.

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