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Hear the Word of the Lord: “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  Paul understood the power of thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is a command of God for every Christian.  It is an expression of humility and joy at the reception of the goodness of God manifested in the bestowal of His grace.  God’s grace is a windfall for every person who experiences it.  The goodness of God is overwhelming.  God’s grace saves us (Eph. 2:8-9) and it sustains us (II Cor. 9:8).
Since God’s grace is given to us on a daily basis, we should be thankful for everything we receive from Him.  This means a daily renewal of thanksgiving.
The Power of Thanksgiving To Transform Us (Its Humbling Effect)
When someone from whom you have no right to expect anything, gives you everything, it is a humbling experience.  God’s lovingkindness is like that.  It is grace.  God is its source.  God is infinite in His goodness.  When we taste of the heavenly gift (Heb. 6:4), the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, we are humbled.  The gift of God’s Son (John 3:16) is the unspeakable gift (II Cor. 9:15).  The gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is priceless!  Truly, the windows of heaven are opened to us.  Our salvation through Jesus, opens the door to every spiritual gift (Eph. 1:3).  All spiritual blessings are in Christ.  God withholds nothing.  He gives us everything.  Then, if we put the kingdom of God and His righteousness first in our lives, all of the temporal blessings are given to us (Matthew 6:33).  God saves us.  Then, He sustains us.  Both acts of God are humbling.  We know we are not worthy.  Yet, God enriches us with every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).
The Power of Thanksgiving To Connect Us To God (Its Reconciling Effect)
The goodness of God pulls us in God’s direction.  The goodness of God leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4-6).  He loved us first, then, if we respond to His love as we should, we love Him back (I John 4:19).  He manifests His long-suffering toward us (II Pet. 3:9).  He reveals His grace to us (Titus 2:11-12).  The impenitent despise the goodness of God.  The impenitent are also unbelievers.  Unbelievers harden their hearts against God.  But, at the same time, they act in such a way as to contradict their own best interests.  This is self-defeating.  It also denies God’s goodness.  The good and honest heart responds positively to God’s love and to His grace.  The human soul needs God’s saving power.  The human heart needs God’s grace.  Gratitude to God makes us look up to God from whence cometh our salvation.  We connect with God when we obey the commandments He has given to us through His Son in the New Testament–the Law of Christ (Rom. 8:1-2).  We can enter into covenant relationship with God by recognizing His goodness toward us and humbling ourselves in His sight.   Through thanksgiving we complete the circle of fellowship with God.  We recognize His goodness and receive it with meekness.
The Power of Thanksgiving To Change Our Perspective (Its Optimistic Effect)
Are you weary?  Are you heavy hearted?  Are you inundated by the evil that surrounds us?  Take heart, focus on God’s goodness.  Put on “God’s goodness” glasses and it will change your perspective.  Start by observing God’s blessings in your life.  Count your many blessings.  Name them one by one:  daily bread, shelter, clothing, answered prayers, material means, the good done to you by others, natural resources: sun, earth, rain, and the air we breathe, redemption, salvation, and justification to name a few.  We are truly rich toward God (II Cor. 8:9).  Do you describe yourself as rich?  Put on “God’s goodness” glasses and you will see just how blessed you really are.
The Power of Thanksgiving To Increase Contentment (Its Peacemaking Effect)
Covetousness is a robber.  It robs of inner peace.  It robs God of His rightful place in our hearts (Col. 3:5).  The insatiable appetites of the flesh war against the soul (I Pet. 2:11).  This struggle within us is resolved only when we can slay covetousness and replace it with contentment.  Godliness with contentment is great gain! (I Tim. 6:6).  Contentment is being satisfied with God’s sufficiency for our lives.  God’s sufficiency is His grace.  Our lives do not consist of the abundance of the things that we possess (Luke 12:15).  We need to be able to say, “It is enough.”  Only then, will we have peace.
The Power of Thanksgiving To Deepen Relationships (Its Unifying Effect)
Gratitude helps us recognize the value of others to us.  Gratitude cements relationships with others.  We recognize their value to us.  We need each other.  In I Cor. 12:14, Paul emphasizes that the body of Christ is comprised of many members.  Each of these members has a function.  But, it does not function just for itself.  It functions for the benefit of the whole body.  Our giftedness is a blessing to the whole body and is not to be a source of envy within the body of Christ. We are spiritual united in Christ when we are baptized into Christ (I Cor. 12:13).  We are spiritually united to each other.  Gratitude recognizes this fellowship and helps form a bond that keeps us united.  This interdependency in the body of Christ makes us stronger and more productive.
Gratitude is a powerful attitude that benefits us personally and positively affects all of our relationships.  Unleash this power in your own life and see how it affects your relationship with God, molds your own character, and strengthens relationships with others.

The wonder of God should stimulate “inquisitive awe in the pursuit of an understanding of all of the perfections of the excellent majesty of God.”  Pursuing the wonder of God is a certain cure for boredom!  Pursuit of the knowledge of who God is and what God has done is a thrilling quest of the human heart that is certain to bring excitement to the human soul.  This pursuit is a lifetime spiritual endeavor.  Those who undertake it are immediately rewarded intellectually and spiritually.  Keep the wonder!
God’s Justice Defined
God’s justice or righteousness is an intrinsic moral perfection of God.  There are six moral perfections of God:  holiness, justice, jealousy, perfection, truthfulness and goodness (love).  Each of these moral perfections are interrelated.  Consequently, God’s justice is interrelated to His holiness, truthfulness, and perfection.  God’s laws stem from His moral perfections.  Justice is based upon truth.  No truth, no justice.  Objective truth originates in the mind of God and is conveyed through the revelation God has made by the Holy Spirit.  This revelation we call Scripture.  God is and reveals the ultimate standard of righteousness and by this standard all mankind will be judged by Jesus Christ (Acts 17:31).  God’s justice is His righteousness applied to the human soul.
God’s Justice Revealed
Ps. 89:14, “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.”  Justice (God’s intrinsic moral perfection) and judgement (God’s decrees regarding man’s conduct) are inherent in His majesty as King as kings (His sovereignty).  Justice could not exist without truth and one of God’s moral perfections is truthfulness.  In fact, God cannot lie (Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2; Rom. 3:4).  This important truth about God has tremendous implications for our faith.  Faith in God is never a “leap in the dark” as some falsely claim.  Our personal faith is rooted and grounded in the objective truth God’s has revealed in holy Scripture (Rom. 10:17).  God’s justice expresses itself in mercy or in condemnation.  In order for us to be justified, God’s applies His mercy based upon the atoning power of the blood of Jesus Christ.  When Christ’s blood is applied to our life, we are forgiven (Rom. 5:8-9).  If Christ’s blood is not applied to our life, then we remain unforgiven which is the very definition of condemned.  God’s mercy toward us is conditional.  The terms or conditions are stated in His Word which today is given in the New Testament.  God has always dealt with man through a unilateral covenant.  God gives the commandments and human beings must follow them.  Since Jesus’ death on the cross, when the New Testament went into force, God has dealt with us on the terms of the New Covenant or the Law of Christ (Col. 2:14, Eph. 2:13-22; Heb. 9:15).  The words of Jesus Christ will judge us in the last day (John 12:48).
Heb. 1:8, “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.”  A scepter is a standard of rule.  The scepter is a symbol of imperial authority.  God’s reign/rule is eternal.  God’s reign/rule is universal.  God’s reign/rule is inherent in His righteousness.  God has ultimate authority to bind and loose and exercises this authority over all of mankind.
Ps. 19:9, “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.”  The LORD’S decrees are based upon His true ordinances, laws or commandments.  God is righteous altogether.  Truth is that which conforms to reality as God defines reality.  To reject the truth is to accept irrationality.  It is to believe a lie and this would lead to vanity in life.  To reject the truth revealed by God would bring condemnation to our soul through the execution  of God’s justice.
Zephaniah 3:5, “The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.”  The violation of God’s law (no matter what covenant is in force at the time) is the definition of injustice.  The unjust are unrighteous.  The unrighteous know no shame.  They act with impunity because they do not fear God, but they will face God’s justice!
The Application of God’s Justice To Us
Righteousness is the standard of justice that God will use to judge the people of this world.  “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof  he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”  This righteous standard is the very words of Jesus Christ (John 12:48).  When Jesus comes the second time, He will come as the judge of all people. People will be judged according to their deeds (Rom 2:6).  God’s justice is involved in manifesting mercy to those who have known Him and obeyed the gospel of Christ (II Thess. 1:7-9; Rom. 1:16, Rom. 5:8-9).  Justification is based upon the substitutionary sacrifice Jesus made of Himself for the sins of all human beings.  Those who have obtained forgiveness through the blood of Jesus have no fear of the wrath of God.  However, those who reject Jesus and His words, will be condemned by their unbelief and disobedience (Mark 16:16; John 8:24).  They will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (II Thess. 1:7-9).
We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (II Cor. 5:10).  We must all face the justice of God.  Will we face God forgiven or unforgiven?  Only you can answer that question.  Only you can believe and obey the gospel of Christ (Mark 16:16).