Daily Devotional

-November 23, 2020-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-Enter Into God’s Presence With Thanksgiving And Praise-

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; For His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”

(Psalm 100:4-5).

Psalm 100 is a rich and beautiful psalm. It is titled, “A Psalm of Thanksgiving.” Its author is unknown; One day we will find out when we get to heaven who wrote it. Today’s text is so challenging and encouraging.

I know that I don’t thank the Lord as much as He deserves. As human beings, we tend to have offer more petitions than praises and thanksgivings. It isn’t wrong to pray for others and for ourselves, in fact it is very good, but we shouldn’t forget to thank the Lord, praise Him, and worship Him. The Lord’s Prayer begins with, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed by Your name” (Matthew 6:9).

There is a legend about two angels who were sent to earth to gather up the prayers of men. One was to fill his basket with the petitions of mankind. The other was to gather their prayers of thanksgiving. Sometime later they went back to the Father’s house. One had a basket heaped high, and running over, with the innumerable petitions of men. The other returned with a sad and heavy heart, for his basket was almost empty. The thanks of men were heard but rarely on earth, even though the angel had searched diligently.” Which basket are you filling up today? Both baskets should be filled to overflowing.

The Psalmist says, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” When Jesus healed and cleansed the ten lepers and sent them to show themselves the priests, only one, a Samaritan returned to give Him thanks. Luke 17:15 says, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down at his feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked the question in Luke 17:17-18, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

We were strangers, foreigners, Gentiles, sinners, separated from God, without God and without hope in this world. He saved us and made us His children, forgiving our sins and giving us eternal life. Should we not thank and praise Him every day, falling down before Him in worship? We have so much to be thankful for. We don’t want to show up in His courts with no thanksgivings and praises!

Have a blessed day of thanksgiving, praise, and worship. May our baskets be full, for He is worthy. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean