Thanks Living: Was His Custom

So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: “King Darius, live forever! All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Daniel 6:4-10

As was his custom since early days. 

Just as he always had.

He continued to do what he always did.

Often we wait until we get into trouble before we start praying. Daniel knew the importance of the prayer even when there was no trouble. Creating habits and practicing praise and thanksgiving to God in the good times, will insure us of praising and thanking God in the "bad times".  Our situation should not change our praise and thanksgiving! We are not praising and thanking God for "stuff", rather because of Who He is! Our situation does not change Who God is! 

As was his custom, he always had, always did. 

Thanks Living is about creating a habit of thanking God for Who He is and all that He provides. Thanks Living is to be a habit — no matter the situation! In order to insure that Thanks Living is a habit, it must be practiced on a daily (and even multiple times daily). 

As was his custom—I want Thanks Living to be what I always did, so that I can always do it in the future! 

And It Starts Today

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 96. Here is what I learned.

Sing to the Lord, bless (affectionately praise) His name; show forth His salvation from day to day. Psalm 96:2 (AMB)

Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Psalm 96:2 (NLT)

Sing to the Lord! Praise his name! Day after day announce that the Lord saves his people. Psalm 96:2 (GW)

Day-to-Day 

Adj.

1. of or belonging to or occurring every day; "daily routine"; "a daily paper"

Synonyms: everyday, regular, usual, routine, accustomed, customary, habitual, constantly.

Habitual: means made a norm or custom or habit or fixed practice.

Customary: means in accordance with convention or custom.

Usual: means commonly or normally encountered, experienced, or observed.

Habitual. Customary. Usual.

Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex. Norman Vincent Peale 

I am to make it a fixed practice, a daily custom, a normal experience to proclaim the good news of God’s saving grace. Proclaiming, talking about God is to be an automatic reflex. But, why is talking about God’s amazing saving grace so hard? It is the most precious wonderful gift, yet I am hesitant to discuss it. 

Habitual. Customary. Usual. It doesn’t happen all at once. It’s “day-to-day”.  I need to create a habit of proclaiming God’s amazing grace to those around me—and it starts today. Then, when tomorrow comes, I’ll make it a point to do it again. Day-to-day. It’s not yesterday, then next week. It’s the “here and now”. Today. 

To create a positive day, I need to create a habit of sharing God’s amazing saving grace with those around me, and it starts today.