There is power in thanksgiving. Thanksgiving
is an uncommon virtue, and as such, it generates uncommon results. The bible
talks about 10 leapers who were healed by Jesus Christ, and it was recorded
that only 1 of them came back to give thanks. A whole lot of people commonize
God’s blessings in their lives; they rather concentrate on the blessings on
other people’s lives. We most times forget that there is no other blessing
greater than the free gift of life. If we were to pay a million naira (in Nigerian currency) for each day we
spend on the surface of the earth, how many of us will be able to afford it?
Yet, we wake up every day and neglect the obvious blessing (gift of life) that
we have freely received even in our sinful and undeserving nature.
When we commonize the blessings that
are showered on us by God, they will be withdrawn from us and given to someone
else who knows the value of and appreciates what we have but took for granted
(study Matthew 25:14-29).
Definition
Of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is an act, and can be defined as the
acknowledgement of what we have or have received. When we acknowledge a thing, it means we admit, recognize or accept the
thing. As Christians, Thanksgiving
is the acknowledgement of God’s work in our lives. It doesn’t matter if our
blessings are big or small, old or new; they are worth giving thanks for,
because we do not merit anything good due to our sinful nature, but for God’s
grace in our lives. When we give thanks for the little things we have or for a
little gift we receive, we are paving the way for something bigger.
If we do not know what we should be
thankful for, we should be thankful for things we have already received in the
past. There are times we need to reminisce when we were helpless and hopeless
but somehow we manage to survive - that is the handiwork of God in our life.
Psalms 40:5, Ephesians 1:3 tells us to never forget to give thanks to God for
the numerous things He has done.
Truth is that we sometimes fail to
give thanks to God because we are always focusing and expecting material
blessing at all times. Not all blessings can be seen; blessings like joy, peace
of the mind, hope, loving spouse(s), loving and God-fearing children, happy home etc cannot be seen. It takes the spirit of God in us to
be able to discern these things and appreciate them. “What does it profit a man to gain the entire world and loose his soul?
- Mark 8:36”.
You might not be where you ought to
be, or may not have what you ought to have but truth is that you are better
than you used to be. You might not have what you desire yet, but God have given
you what you deserve in respect to your spiritual maturity. Psalms 130:3 says “if God keep records of our sins, who could
escape being condemned?” Simply thank God for where you are, what you have
and believe that He will direct your steps to your place of destiny.
God is so good that no adjective
recorded in the English dictionary can be used to qualify His awesomeness. He
does not need your money, fleet of cars, or your material belongings. In fact,
He gave you everything you have so those things don’t move Him. All God wants
is your simple, but unbiased act of THANKSGIVING.
Your thanksgiving should not be based on current situation of things
around you; it shouldn’t be influenced by what you currently see, your
background or financial stability. It should be FAITH-BASED. Your thanksgiving
should be wholehearted, it should come from deep down your soul, it must be
sincere and it should not contain an atom of worry.
God’s goodness is not subjected to
things that are happening externally around you. He is the “I AM THAT I AM”. If you are jobless or
not, He is the “I AM THAT I AM”. If
you are sick or not, He is the “I AM
THAT I AM”. If you are promoted at work or not, He is the “I AM THAT I AM”. If you are barren or
not, He is the “I AM THAT I AM”. If
you attend church services/programmes or not, He is the “I AM THAT I AM”. If you give Him thanks or not, He remains the “I AM THAT I AM”. There is absolutely
nothing that happens around you that will change who He is. So, instead of
giving conditions before you will serve or thank Him, its best you learn to
thank Him in times of plenty and nothing, in moments of high and low, in days
of lack and want, just give Him thanks that will provoke His hands to work for
your good.
Forms
Of Thanksgiving
There are basically two forms of thanksgiving, they are;
- Thanksgiving Before Results: In this case, we give thanks to God for past blessings, looking back at what the Lord has done and praising Him in that effect and also thanking Him in advance for the results you seek. This form of thanksgiving should be based on Faith not on what you see presently.
- Thanksgiving After Results: This form of thanksgiving is done in appreciation for answers to prayers. (Psalm 103 & Luke 17: 15-16)
Benefits
Of Thanksgiving
- It builds and deepens existing relationship with God.
- It is a form of prayer.
- It serves as appreciation in anticipation.
- It increases God’s blessings in our lives (Jeremiah 30: 18-19).
- It reverses adversity (Psalms 34:19)
- It brings perfection, and perfection brings completeness (Philippians 1:6).
- It keeps us far from bitterness, arrogance and discouragements.
- It protects us from believing our lives are defined by what we have presently and where we presently are.
- It reminds us constantly that we need God.
- There is lightness of the heart when you give a wholehearted thanksgiving to God.
Bible
Scriptures You Can Study For Thanksgiving.
Below are some thanksgiving bible
verses to help you focus on the power of thanksgiving;
2 Chronicles 5:13 – “the trumpeters and musicians joined in
unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals
and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord
and sang: “He is good, His love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord
was filled with the cloud…”
2 Corinthians 4:15-16 –
“these
sufferings of ours are for your benefits. And the more of you who are won to
Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more
the Lord is glorified.”
Jeremiah 30:19 – “from them
will come songs of thanksgiving and praise. And the voices of those who dance
and celebrate. And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished in
number. I will also honour them and they will not be insignificant.” (AMP)
Psalm 9:1 – “I will give
thanks and praise the Lord, with all my heart; I will tell aloud all Your wonders
and marvelous deeds.” (AMP)
Philippians 4: 6 – “Do not be
anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and
situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your
[specific] requests known to God.” (AMP)
Psalm 107: 8-9 – “[8] Let
them give thanks to the Lord for His loving kindness, and for His wonderful
acts to the children of men [9] for He satisfies the parched throat, and fills
the hungry appetite with what is good.” (AMP)
Psalm 95: 2-3 – “[2] Let us
come before His presence with a song of thanksgiving [3] for the Lord is a
great God and a great King above all gods…” (AMP)
Ephesians 1: 15-16 – “[15] For
this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love
for all God’s people, [16] I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering
you in my prayers;…” (AMP)
1 Timothy 4: 4-5 – “[4] foe
everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is
received with gratitude; [5] for it is sanctified {set apart, dedicated to God}
by means of the word of God and prayer”. (AMP)
1 Chronicles 16:34 – “O give
thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His loving kindness endures forever.” (AMP)
Psalm 28:7 – “The Lord is
my strength and my {impenetrable} shield; My heart trusts {with unwavering
confidence} in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and
with my song I shall thank Him and praise Him.” (AMP)
Psalm 100:4 – “Enter His
gates with a song of thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Be thankful to
Him, bless and praise His name.” (AMP)
1 Thessalonians 5:18 –
“In
every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually
give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (AMP)
James 1:17 – “Every good
thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father
of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no
variation [no rising or setting] or shadow [for He is perfect and never
changes].” (AMP)
Psalm 136:26 – “Give thanks
to the God of heaven, for His loving kindness {graciousness, mercy, compassion}
endures forever.” (AMP)
2 Corinthians 9:15 – thank therefore be unto God for His
unspeakable gifts. (GNV)
Conclusion
Train your hearts and minds to be
thankful always for everything that happens around us, be it good or otherwise
for God’s plans for us are better than we can ever imagine. NB: we
are not thanking Him for bad things that happen to us, we are thanking Him for
His sustenance through them, His unending grace and mercy. It is
in our best interest to always be reminded that everything we have is a gift
from God (James 1:17). Without thanksgiving, we become arrogant and begin to
think and believe that we have achieved everything we have and are on our own,
by our own strength.
When we live a life of thanksgiving,
our hearts stay connected to the Giver. When we learn to give thanks for those
things we often take for granted our perspective of life changes. We can hurt
and still be grateful, when we do not “feel
like it”; we can still have a heart filled with thanksgiving. We should
learn to constantly give a “Sacrifice of Praise – Hebrews 13:15”.
Prayer
Point:
Lord Jesus, I thank You for the gift of life, thank You for Your
incredible power and work in my life, thank You for Your goodness and for Your
blessings over me. I also thank you for Your great love and care for me. I
humbly ask that You forgive me for times when I don’t thank you enough and when
I commonize Your blessings in my life. I pray that you open my eyes to
constantly see Your great love for me. Teach me to be joyful always and to give
You thanks in all circumstances. I ask these through Christ, who died to save me from the power of sins and death.
Amen.
