“Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Phil. 1:11 NASB)

Someone has said, “A person’s true character is demonstrated by how he behaves when he thinks nobody is looking”.

God is looking! 

“For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17 NASB)

Character of the righteous

“He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.” (Psalm 15:2 NASB)

Character of the wicked

“For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy.” (2 Tim. 3:2-4 NASB)

Put on good character

Colossians 3:12-15 – “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." (Col. 3:12-15 ESV)

“Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jer. 1:9 ESV)

The Holy Spirit will help you remember His Word

Read the Bible and study it regularly. When you need the Words to come at appropriate moments, His Spirit will cause you to remember them.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. “ (John 14:26 ESV)

His Word on your tongue!

““The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.” (2 Sam. 23:2 ESV)

Words will flow like rivers of water!

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38 ESV)

The Word of God is living and active!

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12 ESV)

And it will make you competent for every good work!

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16 ESV)

And your words will become powerful when they are under His control!

“And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (1 Cor. 2:4 ESV)

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8 NIV)

When you trust in the Lord…

“You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.” (Prov. 3:24 NLT)

On the other hand, if you trust in your riches…

“People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night's sleep.” (Eccles. 5:12 NLT)

“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 237:2-3 ESV)

“Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:19 NIV)

That song in your head

Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head and found yourself absentmindedly singing or humming it repeatedly to yourself? I have occasionally, and If it’s something I don’t want to be thinking about, perhaps it’s some secular ditty I learned as a knight club singer years ago, I deliberately switch songs in my head to something I want to be singing about. And yes, you can actually switch songs in your head with a little effort. You can put songs of praise into your head and onto your mental playlist by “programming” them into your mind like you do a computer. Start by finding songs that lift up the Name of the Lord and listen to them repeatedly until you learn them well. Then sing them in your head over and over until they get firmly established. Soon, you will find yourself “making music in your heart to the Lord.”

Sing for Joy to the Lord!

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” (Psalm 95:1 NIV)

Sing His praises!

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.” (Heb. 2:12 NIV)

Sing about His wonderful acts!

“Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.” (Psalm 105:2 NIV)

Sing of His love and justice!

“ I will sing of your love and justice; to you, LORD, I will sing praise.” (Psalm 101:1 NIV)

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.” (Psalms 103:1-5 NASB)

Consider God's benefits and blessings

Someone has said, “Think how happy you would be if you suddenly lost everything you have, but then you got it all back!” Most of the time we take for granted what God has blessed us with. It is good to take some time and count your blessings. That’s what the psalm writer has done in the Bible passage above. He remembers God’s benefits to him and names them one by one; the pardoning of his iniquities, the healing of all his diseases and for redemption from the pit. He also remembers God’s loving kindness and compassion; that He satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like an eagle! He remembers his blessings and so should we! And, of course, we should thank God for them!

Having all that you need!

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:8 NIV)

Like a tree planted by the waters!

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jer. 17:7-8 NIV)

Loving God leads to increase and blessings!

“For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” (Deut. 30:16 NIV)

 “Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” (Eph. 5:20 NASB)

The key  

The key to being thankful for “all things” is understanding and believing that God is going to work all things out for you no matter how they may look. Having lived a few decades helps me to see how things, no matter how disastrous they may have looked at the time, eventually worked out to be blessings in disguise. Therefore, I can thank God ALWAYS, in EVERY kind of circumstance whether negative or positive, knowing with full assurance that its all going to eventually turn out as blessings.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28 NIV)

Therefore ..

“I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.” (Psalm 7:17 NIV)

“And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.” (Philemon 1:6 NLT)

If you have put your trust in Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you have received many good things as a result. Here are some of them.

You are a new creation!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17 ESV)

You are A child of God!

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12 ESV)

You are His workmanship!

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 3:10 ESV)

You are in Christ and without condemnation!

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1 ESV)

You have become the righteousness of God!

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21 ESV)

Your body is the Holy Spirit’s temple!

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.” (2 Cor. 6:19 ESV)

You are God’s friend!

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15 ESV)

Therefore, proclaim His excellencies!

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV)

“The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psalm 19:8 NASB)

What you see is what you think about

Our brains are similar to computers in that they both are programmed by what is fed into them. And, what goes into them affects what comes out of them. The Bible warns not to set anything before your eyes that is worthless, because it affects what you think about and what you think about is what you are!

“I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.” (Psalm 101:3 ESV)

“For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” (Prov. 23:7 NASB)

An enlightened heart

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” (Eph. 1:18 NASB)

your eyes can light up your whole body  

“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.” (Matt. 6:22 NASB)

“’Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matt. 25:40 ESV)

Each morning, I visit a friend who lives in an assisted living facility near where I live. A couple of times, as I went into the building, I saw an elderly woman all dressed up with hat and gloves, sitting at the entryway. As I passed by her, I said hello and told her she looked lovely. She smiled,  thanked me and told me she was waiting for her son who was coming to get her for the day. On the way out, I saw that she was still sitting there waiting. I don’t know the rest of the story, but I felt sad for her. I know there are some who are simply confused. But, I also know that some have become “out of sight, out of mind” and simply are forgotten by their family and friends.

We are to visit widows and orphans

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27 ESV)

We are to plead the widow's cause

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” (Isa. 1:17 ESV)

We should especially remember our relatives 

“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (2 Tim. 5:8 ESV)

 "Each one of them is Jesus in disguise." -  Mother Teresa