Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
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;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Psalm 100:1-5

God tells us that having a mindset of thankfulness is important, but society today likes to tell us differently. Our culture says, “You deserve a new car or that awesome vacation.” But in reality, we all deserved hell until we were saved by grace. You are not entitled to any of these good things, but have a good Father who wants to bless you!

See, thankfulness is a prerequisite for happiness. The longer you are unthankful, the longer you will be unhappy because thankfulness creates a shift in our mind, attitude, and behavior. When you feel entitled to what you have, it will never feel like enough – you cannot be satisfied without a thankful heart.

James 1:17 says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. Your Heavenly Father does not give bad or hurtful gifts to His children. Pain, fear, sickness, and brokenness come only from the devil, so stand in victory against those things with an attitude of thankfulness. You can be thankful in
all circumstances without being thankful for the circumstances.

We see many times in the gospels that as Jesus was about to perform a miracle, He would first pray and thank God for His goodness and faithfulness. As He demonstrated, thankfulness is the doorway to the supernatural. When you recognize what God has done in the past, your faith grows for what He will do in your present. Turn your heart toward the Father who has given you every good gift, and tell Him what you are thankful for today!