I’m so thankful for the Spiritual Blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus.   

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Ephesians 1:3 NIV

After spending the last two months in his letters, I woke up on Thanksgiving morning prompted by God’s Spirit to take some time to reflect on spiritual gratitude through the eyes of the Apostle Paul… what I have to be thankful for “in Christ.”

I began this simple exercise in gratitude by recalling some familiar verses in the Pauline epistles, but then quickly found myself leafing through each letter, scanning for spiritual blessings. I began at 6:30 in the morning leafing through Romans, and finally finished with Philemon around 10:30, four hours later. 

Sonlife’s resource, 33 Things That Happen at the Moment of Salvation, is only the beginning of mining the depths of all that is ours in Christ Jesus. The list I compiled Thanksgiving morning is not exhaustive, I’m sure, but it filled my heart with awe in worship for the one in whom I’ve found blessings beyond comprehension.

The list I compiled Thanksgiving morning is too long to share in a single blog, so I’ve decided to split it up and share it with you to reflect on between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the perfect season to worship our Savior for all the spiritual blessings that are ours in Him. Enjoy this first installment of Spiritual Blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus!

1. Thank you Father for the power of the gospel to save me through Christ! 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

Romans 1:16 NIV

2. Thank you Father for demonstrating your love for me through Christ’s death. 

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8 NIV

3. Thank you Father that in Christ I have been saved by grace. 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—”

Ephesians 2:8 NIV

4. Thank you Father that in Christ I live with no fear of facing condemnation. 

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”

Romans 8:1 NIV

5. Thank you Father that in Christ I have been justified freely by your grace. 

“and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:24 NIV

6. Thank you Father that I have been given righteousness in Christ. 

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Romans 3:22a NIV

7. Thank you Father that in Christ I now have peace with God. 

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Romans 5:1 NIV

8. Thank you Father that in Christ I have access to your grace. 

“through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:2 NIV

9. Thank you Father that in Christ my suffering is not without purpose. 

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.”

Romans 5:3 NIV

10. Thank you Father that the hope I’ve found in Christ does not disappoint. 

“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Romans 5:5 NLT

11. Thank you Father that in Christ I’ve been saved from your wrath. 

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”

Romans 5:9 NIV

12. Thank you Father that in Christ I am no longer your enemy. 

“For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

Romans 5:10 NIV

13. Thank you Father that in Christ I may live a new life. 

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Romans 6:4 NIV

14. Thank you Father that I have been united with Christ. 

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

Romans 6:5 NIV

15. Thank you Father that in Christ my old self was crucified. 

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—”

Romans 6:6 NIV

16. Thank you Father in Christ I’ve been set free from sin. 

“because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”

Romans 6:7 NIV

17. Thank you Father that I have the promise of living with Christ. 

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

Romans 6:8 NIV

18. Thank you Father that in Christ I have the gift of eternal life. 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23 NIV

19. Thank you Father that in Christ I have been delivered from slavery to my sinful nature. 

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Romans 7:25a NIV

20. Thank you Father that in Christ I have been given life by your Spirit who now lives in me. 

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

Romans 8:11 NIV

21. Thank you Father that in Christ the Spirit I have received will lead me. 

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”

Romans 8:14 NIV

22. Thank you Father that in Christ your Spirit confirms for me that I am your child. 

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

Romans 8:16 NIV

23. Thank you Father that in Christ I am your heir. 

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Romans 8:17 NIV

24. Thank you Father that in Christ your Spirit has been given to me to help me in my weakness. 

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

Romans 8:26 NIV

25. Thank you Father that in Christ you are at work in all things for my good. 

“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.”

Romans 8:28 NIV

26. Thank you Father that your desire is to conform me to the image of your Son. 

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Romans 8:29 NIV

27. Thank you Father that in Christ you are for me!

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Romans 8:31 NIV

28. Thank you Father that in Christ you will graciously give me all things. 

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Romans 8:32 NIV

29. Thank you Father that in Christ I am more than a conqueror. 

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Romans 8:37 NIV

This blog is part 1 of a 5 part series on Gratitude.

This blogpost originally appeared on Sonlife.com.

In our North American context, we as Christians have three major holidays we celebrate: Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Jesus grew up in a Jewish family where they annually celebrated the three “Pilgrimage Festivals.”

“According to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for the Sabbaths, the New Moons and the three annual festivals-  the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.“

2 Chronicles 8:13

What can we learn from these festivals about having hearts of gratitude?

FIRST PILGRIMAGE FESTIVAL: PASACH (PASSOVER)

As Christ-followers, we typically associate Passover with Easter. Passover, or Pasach, also known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread, was to be an annual celebration of God’s deliverance for His people from Egypt. On that first Passover, Jews were instructed by God through Moses to slaughter an unblemished lamb and to cover their doorposts with its blood. Then, God would “pass over” their homes as the firstborn males were killed throughout Egypt. It was this final plague that led Pharoah to free the Israelites. God’s provision led to their deliverance. 

In remembrance of their deliverance, the Israelites were instructed to celebrate the Passover annually, much like an independence day, commemorating it with the eating of roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs.

As a devoted Jew, Jesus would have traveled to Jerusalem with His family year after year to celebrate Passover and the other pilgrimage festivals. We see Jesus in Jerusalem for Passover as a twelve year old, and then also shortly after His baptism at the beginning of His ministry and for Passion Week at the end of His ministry. At some point, Jesus knew that He was the Lamb of God, sent by the Father to take away the sins of the world. It’s wholly appropriate, then, for us to associate the celebration of Passover with Easter and the gratitude that should overwhelm our hearts for our Savior and His sacrifice on the cross.

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!‘”

John 1:29

SECOND PILGRIMAGE FESTIVAL: SHAVUOT (PENTECOST)

While Christians worldwide focus on the Day of Pentecost as the time where the Holy Spirit came to dwell within believers and the day the church was born, the Feast of Pentecost has a very specific and significant purpose for Jews. Shavuot, also called the Feast of Weeks,  comes seven weeks after Passover. Each of these days and weeks between Passover and Pentecost were purposefully numbered and counted. The Feast of Weeks was a time to celebrate the Spring grain harvest. It was a time to be grateful for God’s provision.

More than just God’s general provision though, Pentecost was originally established as a time where Jews were to remember and celebrate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The counting of days and weeks between Passover and Pentecost was meant to be a reminder of the great anticipation of God’s giving of Torah to His people.

As a Jew, Jesus was raised to be grateful for God’s Word. God’s Word was to be treasured. They were to build their lives upon the truth of God’s Word. More than just being grateful for wheat that would provide earthly bread, they were to be grateful for the giving of God’s Word, the spiritual bread they were to feast upon.

An interesting thought… the name Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’ birth, means “House of Bread.” Jesus, the Word made flesh, the Living Word of God, was born in the House of Bread. In some ways, our celebration of Christmas and God’s provision of His Son as our Emmanuel is similar to the purpose of the Jewish celebration of Pentecost. At Christmas, we are to be grateful for God’s provision of the Word made flesh.

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us: We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.“

John 1:14

THIRD PILGRIMAGE FESTIVAL: SUKKOT (TABERNACLES)

The third major festival in Jesus’ day was Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Shelters, the Feast of Booths, or the Festival of Ingathering. Sukkot occurs on the 15th day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, sometime between late September and late October. This time of year marks the end of harvest season, and it’s still celebrated in Israel today where the Jewish people set up a tent or shelter outside their home and live in it for seven days. The festival culminates with a great feast.

What was and is the purpose of living in the shelters for this festival? The Feast of Tabernacles is a time to remember God’s provision for the people of Israel while they wandered in the wilderness, homeless and living in tents, as they journeyed to the Promised Land. In this way, the Feast of Tabernacles functioned similar to our Thanksgiving. The Jews were to express gratitude for God’s provision through the current harvest they were enjoying, as well as His provision throughout their history. It was a sacred festival of gratitude for what God had done for them and what God continued to do for them as their Father and Provider.

“Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in temporary shelters for seven days: all native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters. So your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” 

Leviticus 23:41-43

So, what can we learn from these three “Pilgrimage Festivals” about how Jesus practiced gratitude?

Jesus learned to be grateful for the Father’s deliverance.
Jesus learned to be grateful for the Father’s presence.
Jesus learned to be grateful for the Father’s faithfulness.

How will you practice rhythms of gratitude like Jesus?

This blogpost originally appeared on Sonlife.com.