Gratitude is Spiritual Warfare

By: Lauren Thomas 

Gratitude is spiritual warfare. 

This November, I made a brown paper tree skeleton. Throughout the month I and my children wrote gratitudes on leaves of different shapes cut from colored paper. It was a fun visual exercise in gratitude, for as the gratitude increased, the tree and background became more and more beautiful, filled with shapes and colors. That gratitude was contagious, for whenever a guest entered our home, my children asked them to “do a leaf” and add a gratitude to the tree. There was so much excitement about giving thanks!

Gratitude is spiritual warfare because it is obedience.

 

Scripture actually tells us that giving thanks in all circumstances is God’s will for us!

 

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

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

 

Gratitude is spiritual warfare because it resists the devil.

 

One morning, I came downstairs to notice a leaf was torn on our gratitude tree. I felt in my spirit that I needed to pray. My daughter immediately found some tape and repaired it. That week, I had written on one leaf “my mixer and working appliances.” But the night of the torn leaf, our furnace started having issues. With the weather forecasting overnight lows in the 20’s and 30’s F, I saw two options before me: despair or thanksgiving. I chose thanksgiving and trust. In just a matter of hours, a friend from church was able to temporarily fix our furnace!

 

Gratitude is obedience to God. The enemy of our souls doesn’t like obedience. He will try to get us distracted and off track. But when we resist him – and gratitude is one way of resisting him – he will flee from us.

 

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7 NIV

 

Your gratitude is spiritual warfare. It is obedience. It is resistance against evil. And it protects your heart from the discontentment, materialism, and greed that our culture celebrates. Gratitude is countercultural, Biblical, and powerful.

 

Today, how can you wage spiritual battle by giving thanks?

 

Reflection:

Does gratitude come easily for you? Why or why not?

How can you express gratitude to God today in thanksgiving?

What happens when you express gratitude toward another person?

Keep an Attitude of Gratitude on Thanksgiving

By: Jenifer Metzger

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him and bless His name.

Psalm 100:4

Tomorrow we gather together with loved ones to enjoy fellowship and feast. There will be love and laughter. Deep conversations and reminiscing. Football games and parades. Delicious food and desserts. We will have so much to be thankful for.

There will also be messes to clean up, empty chairs where loved ones once sat, and possibly even tension from a strained relationship. So how can we navigate the holiday and keep an attitude of gratitude even during the messes and pain?

Keep your eyes firmly fixed on God. Even though the holiday brings so much busyness, be purposeful to start your day with Jesus. Open your Bible and enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Don't let your day fully start until you've spent time with the Father.

Pause throughout the day to give thanks. When you look over and see Grandma sitting in her chair watching the little ones play, whisper thanks to God for her. When you see the guys head outside for a game of catch, give thanks for fun and physical ability to play. When the kids are playing and get a little loud, thank the Lord for youth and laughter. When you sit down to enjoy your meal, give thanks for God's provisions. And when you see the sink full of dishes, thank God for the loved ones you were blessed to share a table with.

Remember the good times. I lost three of my grandparents right around the holidays, my grandfather even moved to heaven on Christmas morning. So the holidays can be difficult and that sense of loss is always there. When those waves of grief come -whether from the loss of a loved one, broken relationship, loss of a job, or loss of a dream- remember the good times. Remember the laughter and love. Remember the blessing.

Be kind. It's no surprise that we don't always see eye to eye with everyone. Sometimes it's political. Sometimes it's in how we raise our children. Sometimes it's with a loved one who isn't a believer. Whatever your situation is, show kindness. Don't let differences cause discord. Be kind. Show love. And when necessary, gently agree to disagree and change the topic.

While the holidays are busy and can sometimes bring a degree of stress, they are also a special time to spend with those we love. Keep your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, give thanks for all the things big and small, and you'll have an attitude of gratitude.

Discussion:
1. What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?
2. How do you navigate difficult moments of the holiday?

Names of God Series: Being Loved by Our Abba Father

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Liane Metzler

"For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father!'” 

~Romans 8:15

We come next in our series on the names of God to a most tender and intimate of names - "Abba", which is translated "Father" and has a closer connotation to our American term Daddy, denoting God as being our loving, tender, involved, and intimate Father.

We see proof of this in a later portion of Romans 8, as well. Verses 35-39 declare,

"Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

Because of you
we are being put to death all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Our God's love and tenderness towards us is immense, deep, and incredibly compassionate. Consider, for example, these additional passages:

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him." ~Psalm 103:13

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" ~Matthew 23:37

Our God views us as His dearly beloved children and Himself as our Daddy, our Abba Father. 

This can prove a hold up for those whose earthly fathers have left a lot to be desired, but let me assure you, dear reader, there is no similarity between your Heavenly Father and your earthly one. 

Our God is holy, sinless, abounding in perfect and stedfast love and patience. He is trustworthy, the same yesterday, today, and forever, and One on Whom you can lean no matter what. It is good news that He is your Abba Father - it shows just how very much you are truly loved! Run to your Abba today, friend, and let Him touch your heart with His love and compassion.

Reflection Questions:

1) Is it easy for you to view God as your Abba Father? Why or why not?

2) Is there something you can do to make this easier?

3) How can you allow your heart to be touched and encouraged by this truth today?

Until It Is My Turn

 By: Joanne Viola

A photo and statement seen last week has been prompting some thoughts for days.

The photo showed the bench of a college basketball team. Each player was up on their feet or jumping. They were clapping, yelling, and cheering with all their might. The image was a powerful one. Then came the statement: 

Until it's my turn, I'll keep clapping, cheering, and encouraging others. pic.twitter.com/G0KHh443Cq

— Jamy Bechler (@CoachBechler) November 16, 2025

 

The photo and statement began a conversation between my son, a woman’s college basketball coach) and myself.

It made me realize not only for sports, but in life, we need to change our perspective. “Being on the bench” does not equate with being sidelined, or not good enough. It means we have a different role temporarily. We are to inspire, motivate, encourage, and excite the ones who are in the game.

When those in the game know there are others depending on them, the tendency is not only to work harder, but to stay in the game with determination.

As the days passed, the statement continued to stay in my thoughts. Fixated on the role of the bench, those on the bench became more important in their role.

Investment can be defined as devoting time, abilities, or emotional energy to something in particular.

If you are not invested while on the bench, then when you get put in the game, you won’t be invested either. Feeling invested starts on the bench. It begins inside of you.

“Be that person who roots for others.”
(anonymous)

“Do you see what this means – all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. 
Strip down, start running – and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 
Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. 
Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – 
he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. 
And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. 
When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, 
that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” 
(Hebrews 12:1-2, MSG) 

The writer of Hebrews explains to us that some are on the bench, the sidelines; and some are in the race. Those on the side are cheering for they are the veterans who know how hard it is to keep on going. They know the challenges and hardships they themselves had to overcome.

For those in the race, the writer of Hebrews explains to us very clearly what we are to do –

We are to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Study how He lived.
Keep going over His story for it will infuse us with His strength to keep running.

 

Reflection: 
How do you view yourself – as on the bench or in the race? Wherever you are, what can you currently do to fulfill your purpose?

 

Photo by Katrina Berban on Unsplash

 

 

 

Marked by the Cross

By: Lauren Thomas 

One of my hobbies is thrifting. There is some strategy involved in it. For instance, if you find something you think you like but you’re not sure about, grab it, because if you don’t, someone else might before you make up your mind. Another tried and true tip is to look for designer and high-quality labels. These items usually stand the test of time and trends. They are better made, of higher quality, and would cost much more if bought new. Those are the items to immediately grab and purchase.

 

Why? Because labels are important.

In Ezekiel 9, after God has shown his prophet the abominations and idolatry in the temple, God commands a scribe to mark all those who sigh and groan over the idolatry of Jerusalem. These marked individuals were to be saved from the destruction to come.

 

And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”

Ezekiel 9:4 ESV

 

Don’t you feel curious about what that mark might have looked like?

 

In the Hebrew, it was “taw” which, in the script of Ezekiel’s day would have looked like an “x”. Ancient Christians thought this symbol prefigured the cross! Those marked by the “cross” were “saved” from judgement.

 

Just as labels mark an item of clothing, we are marked. But marked by what? Because the label does matter.

 

Revelation speaks about a mark as well – the mark of the beast. While there is a lot of conjecture about what this means, something to note is that we will all be marked by something. The question is, what mark do we wear?

 

Excuse the silly metaphor, but… Just as thrifters grab items that have certain labels, God rescues those who are labeled by the cross. God saves from destruction those of us marked by the cross.

 

How can we be marked by the cross? By recognizing our need for a Savior; by recognizing that Jesus is the only one who can save us from sin and judgement; and by putting our faith in the salvation he offers to those who believe.

 

May we be people marked by the cross. May we sigh and groan over the evils around us. May we look forward with eager anticipation to our salvation from judgement.

 

Reflection:

Though we do not bear physical marks that show who we belong to, what kind of things might show those around you that you follow Christ? What labels, or marks, your life

How does faith in Christ as Savior mark your life as one to be saved from destruction?