Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. ^{1 Thessalonians 5:16-18}

We rejoice because of what we know to be true about God and his plan for us. We rejoice because everything is under his control, and he causes all things to work together for our good ^{Read Romans 8:28} We rejoice because by his grace we have been saved from condemnation and made heirs to his kingdom. We rejoice for blessings we do not deserve and penalties we will not pay.

We are grateful for all these things! No matter our circumstance, we give thanks to God because our salvation is eternal, while the trials of this life are temporal. We are grateful for the ridiculous volume of blessings that have been showered down upon us.  We are grateful that we were drawn to believe. We are grateful because every good thing in our life has come from him.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ^{James 1:17}

A hallmark of the godly person is joy and gratitude! Being joyfully grateful is a wonderful and effective witness to the love of God and clear evidence of a transformed life.