🎵 Now Thank We All Our God 🙏 Week 48 – 2024

Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
through all our lfe be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us, 
to keep us in his grace, 
and guide us when perplexed, 
and free us from all ills
of this world in the next.

All praise and thanks to God 
the Father now be given, 
the Son and Spirit blest, 
who reign in highest heaven 
the one eternal God, 
whom heaven and earth adore; 
for thus it was, is now, 
and shall be evermore.

John Newton, ca. 1779

Gratitude is a state of mind that can transform our lives. By choosing to focus on the positive, even in tough situations, we can develop a more resilient and optimistic approach to life’s challenges. This mindset doesn’t guarantee a worry-free life, but it does help us approach challenges with a more optimistic outlook.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

[18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

This hymn’s message and the devotional below are beautiful reminders of why we must be grateful to God: it should be about who God is, what He created, creates, and will continue to do so. Our gratitude should not just be about what He does for us. May we thank Him always – our creator, refuge, and redeemer. The one true God of love, mercy, and kindness 🙏❤️

I pray the devotional below sourced from Hymns Volume 1, Daily Grace Co blesses you as it did for me.

Martin Rinkart was the only ordained  clergyman in the town of Eilenburg, Germany, during the Thirty Years’ War. Being a walled city, the city was overcrowded with refugees and filled with  disease. The bloodshed was devastating, and his wife also died during this time. Despite all he had been through and the lack of thankfulness on the part of the  people he had helped, Martin did not let that prevent him from recognizing all of God’s blessings.

What are you facing right  now that  seems bleak? What responsibilities have you been laden with that are thankless? What efforts are you putting forth behind  the scenes that leave you weary and wondering if it is all worth it? Consider the ten lepers who came to Jesus for  healing. Only one of them returned to express his appreciation to the Lord – a Samaritan. “Then Jesus said, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Didn’t  any return to give glory to God except  this foreigner?” (Luke 17:17-18).

We, too, were once outsiders, enemies of the cross of Christ. But because of Jesus, we have been brought near. While this leper  undoubtedly had lost his job, his social  status, and possibly even his family, he chose to bypass the things that looked grim around him. He chose to focus on his healing and praise Jesus for it. We, too, can look around us and see poverty, loss, and tragedy; or, we can choose to see what Christ did for us. His forgiveness makes this life worth living. No matter  how things look around us, there is always cause to praise Him.

Study by Cara Cobble Trantham, Daily Grace Co

To God be the glory always 🙏