DAY 1: Living Wide Open
Living Wide Open | Pastor Dave Hess
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving!” (Psalm 100:4)
Being thankful is no small thing. It increases our awareness of the presence of God. More important than what we’re going through, our highest priority is the One we’re looking to. Thanksgiving presses us through His gates into His presence—empowering us to “be thankful in every circumstance!” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Grateful people live wide open. Cherishing every encounter we’ve ever had with the Lord, we live in readiness for the more He has in store for us! Gratitude creates an atmosphere for us to be deeply influenced by Him. Paul said it this way: “Be thankful, which allows the word of Christ to come alive in you!” (Colossians 3:15-16 paraphrase). Wide open, we welcome His activity within us!
Valuing every revelation He’s ever shown us, grateful people are hungry for even more. Thanksgiving says, “Give us (today) our daily bread!” In effect, “We long for every way You’ll reveal Yourself to us today, just as You’ve faithfully done in the past!” Jesus said that “we live, by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). Grateful people value what He’s said, ever longing to hear what He’s saying next!
Let’s enter this new day with thanksgiving, wide open to all He has prepared for you. Ask the Father to remind you of a specific word He’s spoken to you in the past. Thank Him for the way His words impacted your life. Then, gratefully express your desire for His fresh revelation of today’s “daily bread.”
Father, I thank You for the many ways You invite me and embrace me in Your presence. I thank you for the things You will show me and the ways You will flow through me to the people around me today! So, I “adventurously greet You with, What’s next Papa!’” (Romans 8:15 MSG).
