Thanksgiving is an attitude. Everyday, you decide to be thankful. Jesus said love one another - all the time - not when you feel like it or when they love you. Love is a choice, not a feeling. You can’t base relationships, commitments or decisions on how you feel. Relationships based on emotion are unstable. Commitment has to be more lasting. Commitment is also a decision.

Thankfulness and gratefulness are daily decisions. They cannot be based on what we see or feel at the time. They have to be based in faith. God says that He works all things together for good for those that love Him. Despite what we see or feel, God is always working. What releases God’s work in our lives is the thankfulness, faith and belief in our hearts. Everyday, we need to express our thankfulness to God with words and actions. Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is thank God. We thank God not only for what we see but also - and most importantly - for what we don’t see. This both demonstrates and exercises our faith.

Thanksgiving is a lifestyle. We need to carry thanksgiving with us every day. We need to rise above our circumstances to see things as God sees them - look from a higher perspective. King David praised God amidst incredible circumstances. Paul rejoiced in prison because he was able to spread God’s word even while in chains. We can’t let the things we see trap us into a negative attitude. Negativity affects our vision. Without vision, there is no movement. Thanksgiving is about believing that God is in control.

Lift up your eyes and see what God sees. God is working for us when we give thanks.