Christian Writers Circle

The Grace of Thanksgiving
by Judy Hitson

2 Cor. 4:15 NLT All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

The phrase, “All of this” caused my curiosity to read the previous verses in 2 Cor. 4 to understand the benefits we have in regards to God’s grace and offer thanksgiving to Him. This chapter refers to the treasure we have in our hearts through Jesus Christ to live a new life in a new way.

My first thought on the grace of thanksgiving is God’s grace and mercy to save sinners as He did for me. My heart is filled with thanksgiving for so great a salvation.

As the Bible says, though my sins were as scarlet, He made me whiter than snow (See Is.1:18; Ps. 51:7).

Recalling a dramatic conversion in my own life, I identify with a parallel to Lazarus when Jesus raised him from the dead. Lazarus was bound in grave clothes. Jesus said, “Loose him and let him go,” John 11:44.

I also think of the grace of thanksgiving for God’s blessings of deliverance and healing. Getting rid of doubts and unbelief to walk in newness of life was a challenge to depend on God’s power and not myself.

Praise and thanksgiving for things only God can do in and through me as I spend time in prayer, in the Bible through Bible studies, mentors, preachers and teachers.

How thankful I am to learn we have the mind of Christ, 1 Cor. 2:16, to think His thoughts in exchange of my thoughts, (see Is. 55:8-9; Phil. 4:8)

I am thankful for God’s healing and provisions in my life and the lives of my family.

As we read in our key verse, 2 Cor. 4:15b, I see grace is spreading through many that causes thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Closing Prayer: Ephesians 5:20 NKJV giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Exhortation: 1 Peter 1: 14-15 NLT So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.