Sam Crabtree - Practicing Thankfulness

Thank you for downloading this Crossway book.

Sign up for the Crossway Newsletter for updates on special offers, new resources, and exciting global ministry initiatives:

Crossway Newsletter

Or, if you prefer, we would love to connect with you online:

After more than fifty years living as a quadriplegic, I can definitely say that godly gratitude is the key to contentment. Its why I am so excited about Sam Crabtrees Practicing Thankfulness . This remarkable work provides thorough biblical support as to how God-focused gratitude alters a Christians orientation to himself, to others, and ultimately to the Lord himself. The pages are filled with practical guidelines to help a believer seize every life situation as a powerful opportunity to cultivate a glad and thankful heart. I give Practicing Thankfulness a double thumbs-up!

Joni Eareckson Tada, Founder and CEO, Joni and Friends International Disability Center; author, Joni ; A Place of Healing ; and When God Weeps

Christians have much to be thankful formore than we could possibly imagine. But knowing we should be thankful isnt the same thing as living a life marked by thankfulness and gratitude. Sam Crabtree provides a helpful and essential book that reminds Christians of what we have received in Christ and in the gospel as well as practical steps to cultivate a thankful heart. We should be thankful for this book.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

As I read Practicing Thankfulness , I was freshly inspired by the beauty, necessity, and power of a grateful lifestyle and found myself thinking, Every believer needs to read this book. Not long ago, my precious husband, Robert, and I were plunged into turbulent waters as he was faced with two back-to-back cancer diagnoses (during a pandemic). Through it all, even in the midst of the most difficult days, gratitude has been a life preserver for our hearts, has transformed our perspective, and has infused us with unexplainable peace and joy. This terrific book will show you how thankfulness can do the same for you.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author; Founder, Revive Our Hearts and True Woman

What a spiritually refreshing book this is! Reasoning from dozens of passages of Scripture, and showing substantial theological insight, Sam Crabtree explains blessing after blessing that come from a heart filled with continual thanksgiving, even in hardship. This is the best treatment of thanksgiving I have ever read. Highly recommended!

Wayne Grudem, Distinguished Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary

With theological precision and pastoral wisdom, Sam Crabtree helps us understand why it matters that our hearts are overflowing with thankfulness to God and how we can cultivate this godly grace in our lives. For many of us, this will be the most important book we read this year.

Bob Lepine, Cohost, FamilyLife Today ; Teaching Pastor, Redeemer Community Church, Little Rock, Arkansas

In the midst of uncertain days we take comfort in the certainty of Christs love for us. We have so much to be thankful for! Many of us are asking along with the psalmist: What shall I render to the L ord for all his benefits to me? The answer to this question is authoritatively inscribed in Psalm 116 and beautifully illustrated here in Practicing Thankfulness . Powerful and practical, this book is an invitation to come and see and enjoy what the Lord has done, lifting up the cup of salvation in response.

Gloria Furman, author, Alive in Him and Labor with Hope

An attitude of gratitude is always in season. And I want to be around anyone who reminds me of this. Sam Crabtree is that guy. In this book, he has given us a well-crafted, engaging, thoughtful, and, most importantly, biblical look into thanksgiving (not the holiday, but the Christian virtue and lifestyle). He reminds us that God is great, and so we worship him. God is good, and so we give thanks. Amen! Not many books are solely designed to encourage thankfulness. This is one, and thus deserves your attention and a place on your bookshelf. But before you put it there, read it. It will remind you of the importance of giving thanks to God for everything, beginning with this book.

Anthony J. Carter, Lead Pastor, East Point Church, East Point, Georgia

Giving thanks is not theoretical for Sam Crabtree. He knows it. He lives it. And now hes studied it and labored to put one of his lifes works into these pages for you to enjoy. Those of us who have long known Sam and labored with him in pastoral ministry have seen the message of this book in action. And now we get to go behind the curtain and see more of what makes Sam such an example of Christian gratitude. Neither he nor his fellow pastors will pretend that hes a perfect example, but in a day in which so many seem to be sinking deeper and deeper into cynicism and ingratitude, Sam is a genuine model and gifted teacher of giving thanks.

David Mathis, Senior Teacher and Executive Editor, desiringGod.org; Pastor, Cities Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota; author, Habits of Grace

I thank God for Sam Crabtree. He is a wise and jovial brother who practices what he preaches in this book: he gives thanks in all circumstances. (Dont miss the last chaptera creative list of one hundred practical ways to be thankful.)

Andy Naselli, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and New Testament, Bethlehem College & Seminary; Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

Practicing
Thankfulness

Practicing
Thankfulness

Cultivating a
Grateful Heart in
All Circumstances

Sam Crabtree

Practicing Thankfulness: Cultivating a Grateful Heart in All Circumstances

Copyright 2021 by Sam Crabtree

Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

Cover Design: Spencer Fuller, Faceout Studios

First printing 2021

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www .zondervan .com . The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-6931-9
ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-6933-3
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-6932-6
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-6933-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data