I hope that each of you had a blessed Thanksgiving. As we enter into the Advent season, here is a devotion that helps us understand how a grateful heart leads to the various aspects of Advent, beginning with peace:

IN WORD No one likes to be taken for granted. That applies at all times to all people, but it especially applies to those who have made enormous sacrifices for others. So imagine how God feels when His people are restless in their hearts over their annoyances of the day or the mundane details of their lives. If peace is absent, a spirit of gratitude is lacking. And if a spirit of gratitude is lacking, so is an awareness of God’s mercies. Understanding results in thankfulness, and thankfulness results in peace and rest.

A disturbed heart has ignored the goodness of God. God’s desire for His children is for them to have peace in their hearts and fellowship with His Spirit. His mercies are to lead to sweet fellowship with the One from whom all mercy flows. He is not being egotistical when He commands us to be grateful; rather, He is calling us into His embrace for a time of intimate rest.

The One who fashioned our hearts knows full well that when we are preoccupied with the troubles of life, we have magnified our troubles to be larger than He is. And He wants to set things right. He is larger than they are, and a heart that knows that can be at peace. It can rest in Him and give thanks. It can see life as it really is. It’s amazing that the self-sufficient God of the universe seeks love and gratitude from us, but it’s true. Over and over again, the Bible pleads with us to love Him alone, serve Him alone, fellowship with Him above all others, seek His will above all others, and find our rest in Him. It calls our unsettled hearts to finally settle into His love.

IN DEED Peace in your heart is God’s plan for you. Fear, worry, and discontent are not. One of the goals of the new creation, among many others, is to secure a calm, confident heart in you. Christ’s command to let His peace rule within is one of the most enjoyable commands He has given. Don’t disappoint Him—or shortchange yourself—by missing out on its benefits. “Every furrow in the book of Psalms is sown with the seeds of thanksgiving.” —Jeremy Taylor (in “God With Us” by Chris Tiegreen)

Do you have peace in your heart? If not, perhaps it is because your gratefulness for all God has blessed you with comes up a bit short.

Take time this week to read the book of Habakkuk. It may seem a bit strange to learn about gratitude from a prophetic book, but this is what Habakkuk learned. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you through from chapter 1’s judgment to seeing God’s steadfast love and grace in chapters 2 -3 and Habakkuk’s response in chapter 3. If you can echo Habakkuk’s conclusion found in the last three verses of the book, it will be a sign that you have developed a mature faith in God, one that is governed not by circumstances, but in trusting God alone. May God’s peace rule in your hearts as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth into this world. Have a blessed week! - from Singapore, Pastor Sam