Thanking God
Thanksgiving
It’s time to express yours
God told the people of Israel to bring their fellowship offerings personally (Leviticus 7:28-30), with their own hands. They were to take time and effort to express thanks to God. You are the only person who can express your thankfulness to God and to others. Do you rely on the one leading the prayer to thank God and to others who have helped and blessed you.
Developing an attitude of thankfulness
(Nm 11:4-6) Dissatisfaction comes when our attention shifts from what we have to what we don’t have. The people of Israel didn’t seem to notice what God was doing for them – setting them free, making them a nation, giving them a new land – because they were so wrapped up in what God wasn’t doing for them. They could think of nothing but the delicious Egyptian food they had left behind. Somehow they forgot that the brutal whip of Egyptian slavery was the cost of eating that food. Before we judge the Israelites too harshly, it’s helpful to think about what occupies our attention most of the time. Are we grateful for what God has given us, or are we always thinking about what we would like to have? We should not allow our unfilled desires to cause us to forget God’s gifts of life, food, health, and friends.
(Nm 31:48-50) After carefully accounting for all their men, the officers discovered that not one soldier had been lost in battle. At once they thanked God. After going through tough times, we should be quick to thank God for delivering us and protecting us from severe loss.
Should be a Continuous part of Life.
(1 Chr 16;4) Certain Levites were appointed to give continual praise and thanks to god. Praise and thanksgiving should be a regular part of our routine, not reserved only for celebration. Praise God continually and you will find that you won’t take his blessings for granted.
(Ps 92;1-2) During the Thanksgiving holiday, we focus on our blessings and express our gratitude to God for them. But thanks should be on our lips every day. We can never say thank you enough to parents, friends, leaders and especially to God. When thanksgiving becomes an integral part of your life, you will become more positive, gracious, loving, and humble.
Elements of Thanksgiving.
(1 Chr 16:7-36) Four elements of true thanksgiving are found in this song(psalm): (1) remembering what God has done, (2) telling others about it, (3) showing God’s glory to others, and (4) offering gifts of self, time, and resources. If you are truly thankful, your life will show it.
In all areas of life.
(Ps 138:1-3) Thanksgiving should be an integral part of our praise to God. This theme is woven throughout the psalms. As we praise and thank God for material and spiritual blessings, we should also thank Him answered prayer. Remember when you asked God for protection, strength, comfort, patience, love, or other special needs, and He supplied them? Beware of taking God’s provision and answered prayer for granted.
Thank those who helped you.
(Acts 3:7-10) In his excitement the formerly crippled man began to jump and walk around. He also praised God! And then others were also awed by God’s power. Don’t forget to thank people who help you, but also remember to praise God for His care and protection.
About the Spiritual Gifts of others.
(Rom 12:6-8) Look at this list of gifts and imagine the kinds of people who would have each gift. Prophets are often bold and articulate, Servers (those in ministry) are faithful and loyal. Teachers are clear thinkers. Encouragers know how to motivate others. Givers are generous and trusting. Leaders are good organizers and managers. Those who show mercy are caring people who are happy to give their time to others. It should be difficult for one person to employ these gifts. An assertive prophet would not usually make a good counselor, and a generous giver might be a leader. Where you identify your own gifts 9and this list is far from complete, ask how you can use them to build God’s family. At the same time realize that your gifts can’t do the work of the church all alone. Be thankful for people whose gifts are completely different from yours. Let your strengths balance their weaknesses, and be grateful that their abilities make up for your deficiencies. Together you can build Christ’s church.
For God’s available strength.
(Eph 5:20) When you feel down, you may find it difficult to give thanks. Take heart – in all things God works for our good if we love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Thank God, not for your problems, but for the strength He is building in you through the difficult experiences of your life. You can be sure that God’s perfect love will see you through.
For those who bring you Joy.
(1 Thes 3:9-10) it brings great joy to a Christian to see another person come to faith in Christ and mature in that faith. Paul experienced this joy countless times. He thanked God for those who have come to know Christ and for their strong faith. He also prayed for their continued growth. If there are new Christians who have brought you joy, thank God for them and support them as they continue to grow in the faith.
How to give thanks in everything.
(1 Thes 5;18) Paul was not teaching that we should thank God for everything that happens to us, but in everything. Evil does not come from God, so we should not thank him for it. But when evil strikes we can still be thankful for God’s presence and for the good that He will accomplish through the distress.
Thankfulness
It is impossible to praise or thank God too much. As it is written, He inhabits the praises of His people. Sometimes your adoration is a spontaneous overflow of Joy, in response to shared love or rich blessings. At other times your praise is more disciplined and measured – an act of your will. He loves both equally in both types of praise. Thankfulness also is a royal road to draw near to Him.
When you thank Him for the many things He provides you; affirm that He is your lover God, from whom all blessings flow. When adversity strikes and you thank Him anyway, your trust in His being as being in charge is a show-piece in the invisible realms. Fill up the spare moments of your life with praise and thanksgiving. This joyous discipline will help you live in the Shared Love of His presence.
When you bring Him prayer requests, lay out your concerns before Him. Then thank Him for the answers that He has set into motion long before you can discern results. When your requests come to mind again, continuer to thank Him for the answers that are on the way. If you keep on stating your concerns to Him, you will live in a state of concern. When you thank Him for how He is answering your prayers, your mind set becomes much more positive. Thankful prayers keep your focus on your Shared Love.
Thankful Heart
Come to Him with shared love so that you can benefit from Sharing Love. This is a day He made. He wants you to rejoice today, refusing to worry about tomorrow. Search for all that He has prepared for you, anticipating abundant blessings and accepting challenges as they come. He can weave miracles into the most mundane day if you keep your focus on Him.
Come to Him with all your needs, knowing that He is in control. Know that if His plan for the world will permit it, He will care for you. Stay in continual communication with Him, so that you can live above your circumstances even while you are in the middle of them.
Bring Him Your Weakness.
And receive His Peace. Accept yourself and your circumstances, just as they are, remembering that He is in charge over everything. Do not wear yourself out with analyzing and planning. Instead, let thankfulness and trust be your guides through this day: they will keep you close to Him. As you live in His Shared Love, His Peace shines upon you. You will cease to notice how weak or strong you feel, because you will be focusing on Him. The best way to get through this day is step by step with Him. Continue this shared love journey, trusting that the path you are following is headed for heaven.
Be still and Thank Him
Thank Him for the conditions that are requiring you to be still. Do not spoil these quiet hours by wishing them away, waiting impatiently to be active again. Some of the greatest works in His Kingdom have been done from sick beds and prison cells. Instead of resenting the limitations of a weakened body, search for His way in the midst of these very circumstances. Limitations can be liberating when your strongest desire is living close to Him.
Quietness and trust enhance your awareness of your Shared Love with you. Do not despise these simple ways of serving Him. Although you feel cut off from the activity of the world, your quiet trust makes a powerful statement in spiritual realms. My Strength and Power show themselves most effective in weakness.
Thankfulness
Trust and thankfulness will get you safely through this day. Trust protects you from worrying and obsessing. Thankfulness keeps you from criticizing and complaining those “sister sins” that so easily entangle you.
Keeping your eyes on Him is the same thing as trusting Him. It is a free choice that you must make thousands of times daily. The more you choose to Trust Him, the easier it becomes. Thought patterns of trust become etched into your brain. Relegate challenges to the low priority they need to be, so that He can be central in your thoughts. Thus you focus on Him, entrusting your concerns into His care.
Be Thankful for the Spirit
Thank Him for the glorious gift of His Spirit. This is like priming the pump of a well. As you bring Him Thanksgiving, regardless of your feelings, His Spirit is able to work more freely within you. This produces more thankfulness and more freedom, until you are overflowing with Gratitude.
He showers blessings on you daily, but sometimes you don’t perceive them. When your mind is stuck on a negative focus, you see neither Him nor His gifts. In faith, thank Him for whatever is preoccupying your mind. This will clear the blockage so that you can find Him.
Thankfulness and thoughts
A thankful mind-set keeps you in touch with Him. He hates it when His children grumble, because it is putting down that He is in charge. Thankfulness is a safeguard against this deadly sin. Furthermore, a grateful attitude becomes a grid through which you view life. Gratitude enables you to see your Sharing Love. Cultivate a thankful heart, for this glorifies Him and fill you with Peace.
Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
Take nothing for granted, not even the rising of the sun. Before Saten tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, thankfulness was as natural as breathing. Satan’s temptation involved pointing Eve to the one thing that was forbidden her. The garden was filled with desirable fruits, but Eve focused on the one fruit she couldn’t have rather than being thankful for the many good things freely available. This negative focus darkened her mind, and then succumbed to temptation.
When you focus on what you don’t have or on situations that displease you, your mind also becomes darkened. You take for granted: life, salvation, sunshine, flowers, and countless other gifts from Him. You look for what is wrong and refuse to enjoy life until that is fixed.”
When you approach Him with thanksgiving, your Shared Love pours into you, transforming you through and through.
Thanksgiving
I am calling you to a life of thankfulness. I want all your moments to be punctuated with thanksgiving. The basis for your gratitude is that I am in charge. I am the Creator and Controller. Of the universe. Heaven and Earth is under My control.
When you criticize or complain, you are acting as if you think you could run the world better than He does. From your limited human perspective, it may look as if He is mismanaging things. But you don’t know what He knows or sees what He sees. If He pulled back the curtain to allow you to see heavenly actions, you would understand much more. However, He has designed you to live by faith, not by sight. He lovingly shields you from knowing the future or seeing into the spirit world. Acknowledge Him being in charge, by giving thanks in all circumstances.
Teaching Thankfulness
Begin by acknowledging that everything – all your possessions and all you are – belong to Him. The dawning of each new day is a gift from Him, not to be taken for granted. The earth is a live with His blessings, giving testimony to your Shared Love. If you slow down your pace of life, you can find Him anywhere.
Some of His most precious children have been laid aside in sick beds or shut away in prisons. Others have voluntarily learned the discipline of spending time alone with Him. The secret of being thankful is learning to see everything from His perspective. His world is your classroom.
When some Basic need is lacking – time, energy, money – consider yourself blessed. Your very lack is an opportunity to latch onto Him in unashamed dependence. When you begin a day with inadequate resources, you must concentrate your efforts on the present moment. This is where you are meant to live – in the present; It is a place where He always awaits you. Awareness of your inadequacy is a rich blessing, training you to rely wholeheartedly on Him.
The truth is that self-sufficiency is a myth perpetuated by pride and temporary success. Health and wealth can disappear instantly, as can life itself. Rejoice in your insufficiency, knowing that His Power is made perfect in weakness.
Thank Him
For the very things that are troubling you. You are on the brink of rebellion, close to shaking your fist in His face. You are tempted to indulge in just a little complaining about His treatment of you. But once you step over that line, waves of rage and self-pity can sweep you away. The best protection against this weakness is thanksgiving. It is impossible to thank Him and curse Him at the same time.
Thanking Him for Challenges will feel awkward and wrong at first. But if you persist, your thankful words, prayed in faith, will eventually make a difference in your heart. Thankfulness awakens you to your Shared Love., which overcomes all your challenges.
He expects one other kind of payment for the Shared Love and benefits He has provided you: TRUST.