In this sermon, Basilia Schling emphasizes the importance of thanking God for His love and the blessings He has bestowed upon us. She highlights how often we ignore or only half-heartedly love God, causing Him grief. Schling reminds us that God is a Father of love who has planned every beautiful aspect of the world for our enjoyment. She urges listeners to make a new start by expressing gratitude to God for both pleasant and unpleasant things, as this will draw us closer to His heart and bring Him happiness. Ultimately, a thankful heart has no room for sadness and despair, and thankfulness and praise can lead to a closer relationship with our heavenly Father.

God lives and works today. He created this world out of love for us, His children, so that we would rejoice in it and love Him in return. Yet how many of us take time to thank Him for His love? Today's meditation by Basilia Schling tells what a difference this can make to God and to our own happiness. How We Grieve God's Heart How we grieve God's heart because we don't love Him, because we ignore Him or love Him only half-heartedly. God is a Father of love. He has planned every lovely thing for us, the sunshine, the trees, meadows, mountains, and lakes. Yes, all the beauty of the earth and the sky. And He waits, like any earthly father, to see if His children find pleasure in what He has done for them, if they thank Him, and if their love for Him grows greater. But our heavenly Father, who created us and loves us with such an unspeakable love, waits in vain. From whom does He ever receive thanks and praise? The birds sing their songs of praise, the flowers bloom to His glory. But we, His children, who are also His creation, remain silent. Even we who call ourselves Christians give little praise to Him. However, if we would begin to thank God for everything that He does for us, for the roof over our heads, our daily bread, or just because He continually brings us new joys, we would become happier and even be drawn closer to Him. Why? Because a thankful heart has no room for sadness and despair. Thankfulness and praise draw us closer to our heavenly Father. But our ungratefulness only hurts Him. How often we're ashamed when we've been so ungrateful to our parents, who've loved us so dearly, and who've sacrificed so much for us. We see how our ungratefulness has hurt them, and are usually quickly sorry for this. Shouldn't we be then ashamed and brokenhearted because of our ingratitude towards our heavenly Father? How we sadden His heart because we so seldom show Him our love and thankfulness for His sacrificial love. Let's make a new start today. Let's thank God, the Father, for all things, great and small, pleasant or even unpleasant. Then we shall be drawn close to His heart. We shall bring Him happiness, and in return, He'll make us happier than we ever could imagine. This program by Basilia Schlink has come to you from the Little Land of Canaan. If you would like a free leaflet by the same author, please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099. That's God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099. God bless you.