Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks

When was the last time that we took some time to be truly thankful, to thank God for our present situation? Our present circumstance? I am talking about seriously from our heart to be thankful to God for our present circumstances?

Luke 17:11-19

Luke 17:11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee.

Luke 17:12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him;

Luke 17:13 and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

Luke 17:14 When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.

Luke 17:15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,

Luke 17:16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.

Luke 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?

Luke 17:18 “Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

It is easy to be thankful to God when everything is going right, but even then we forget. There is a real importance of being thankful for our present circumstances. Paul said that he knew how to be content when he had everything, and when he had nothing. And it comes from the reality of understanding who God is towards you. We need to learn to be thankful for everything.

It says in… 1Th. 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

People will come to me once in a while and say, “ I don’t know what the will of God for my life is”. It doesn’t bother me or anything like that, because I believe that God does not want to reveal everything to us all at once… because he wants us to trust his leadership, and to grow by trusting him when we don’t always know what is going to happen. But some people will come and say that to me, and I will tell them, ok well lets start with what we do know. Right here the will of God for your life is to give thanks in all things. Lets start with that.

It is important that we learn to be thankful and not complain. Our lives must become a symphony of gratitude and thanksgiving. And that reality of the situation is that being thankful is a choice. Sadness is a choice, and we have the ability to choose, and control our moods. We can’t afford to be downhearted and sad. To stay in that. To allow self pity in our lives. Feeling sorry for yourself will keep you in that same state.

We have the power to choose how we are going to live. When we wake up in the morning are we going to allow circumstances to determine how we feel or are we going to allow who God is determine how we feel. We get to choose who we want to serve. God or circumstances. If you don’t control your mood, someone else is going to do it for you. And we are coming to a point where we cannot afford to have our circumstances dictate how we feel. Whenever I am talking to someone and they say to me I am having a bad day, it is completely based on circumstances in their lives. How we feel needs to be based not on circumstances but on who God is.

Here is what is good… Your greatest battle can also be your greatest victory… so be thankful for even the hardships.

Being thankful in all things

I began to think why would God want us to be thankful if there are bad things going on in our lives. Its not like God wants us to be in pain… to be hurt… he doesn’t. He cares about us. More than you could ever care for anyone… I want you to think of the person that you care about most in this world. Jesus cares way more about you then you do about them. So we need to understand that everything that Jesus does in our lives is to HELP us. He wants us to stand before him at the end of our lives with no regrets. So why does he want us to be thankful in the midst of bad situations, well lets look at a story in Acts…

Acts 16:16 ¶ Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.

Acts 16:17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

Acts 16:18 And this she did for many days. ¶ But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.

So here Paul is, on his way to prayer, like many of you might do and there is a certain little girl who is following them around speaking truth about who they are… what I find interesting about this story is that it says that Paul was greatly annoyed. I remember one time my mom telling me that when you are bothered sometimes and you don’t know why a lot of the times it is because there is a spiritual power that is behind what is going on. Which is what is going on here in this case. (now that doesn’t mean that whenever someone is annoyed with someone it means that that other person has a demon… of course not, but sometimes there is a spiritual influence that is trying to torment, like in this situation)

Lets continue to read…

Acts 16:19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

Acts 16:20 ¶ And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city;

Acts 16:21 and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.”

Acts 16:22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.

Acts 16:23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.

Acts 16:24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Acts 16:25 ¶ But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Acts 16:26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Acts 16:27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.

Acts 16:28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

Acts 16:29 ¶ Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.

Acts 16:30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Acts 16:31 ¶ So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 16:32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

Acts 16:33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.

Acts 16:34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

First of all… what an beautiful story…

Here Paul is, in a very bad spot, they were just beating very badly, I am sure that is wasn’t pleasant. Probably one of the worst punishments you could get and live through, yet in the midst of that pain and terrible circumstances, in the lowest part of this dungeon, here they are praising God! They were not affected by their circumstances. Paul could have sat there and said “God you have forsaken us”, but they just praised him in the midst of it. And as they praised him in the midst of their circumstances, Boom, God breaks the doors down and breaks their chains from their hands and feet. It was as if God couldn’t help himself. Their praise unto him in the midst of such hardship was so beautiful that he had to do something. Here is what I want us to understand. When we are thankful in the midst of our situation it pulls us out of it!

But I want to continue you too look at this story…Here is what really speaks to me… The Guard.

Here God does a great miracle… causes an earthquake, breaks their chains, but it wasn’t his plan for Paul and Silas to walk out of that prison that night… in fact, I believe the very reason why they were there was because of that guard. Here this man was about to kill himself that night… he would have went straight to hell, but instead God snatched him from the fire and brought him and his family to himself!

God allowed Paul and Silas to be put into prison so that this one man and his family could be saved!

Beloved, we do not know why God allows things in our lives, but we know who God is, and that should be enough… If that was Paul’s time to go, God would have been waiting for him on the other side with great joy, but as he praised, the power of God was released into that situation, and it didn’t cause his freedom, but it brought freedom to the guard and his family! We need to understand that God allowed them to go through all that trouble to help that one man and his family.

Thanksgiving brings restoration

“he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes”

Lets look at this story from another angle… the very man that was keeping Paul and Silas in that place was the very one that they were there to bring to Jesus. And this same man was the one who would bring healing to that situation. After he got saved he washed their wounds.Here is the point. When we are thankful in the midst of problems it pulls us out of it, and it will bring restoration to that situation. Paul was just loving God. And as he was praising God in the midst of his circumstances it brought freedom to him and to the person who hurt him. Everything that God does is Good. So when we trust him and give him thanks despite our situation it makes a way to bring restoration.

Thanksgiving Brings multiplication

Lets read from 2 Corinthians 9…

2Cor. 9:6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

2Cor. 9:7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2Cor. 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

I am sure many of you have read this passage or heard this passage in a Sunday morning offering message. It is talking about the law of sowing and reaping, speaking of God’s desire for each of us to have an abundance in everything. Now it is not talking about your abundance being dependant on how much you give, it is talking about out of what heart it is done in. Now the law of sowing and reaping still takes place regardless of the heart in which it is done, but when you begin to be thankful to God in your current state, it brings multiplication to that situation.

Lets continue to read from 2 Corinthians 9…

2Cor. 9:10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;

2Cor. 9:11 you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.

2Cor. 9:12 For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.

When you sow, it is going to supply all your needs, but as you are thankful to God for your present situation, multiplication will begin to take place on what you have sown. I am not negating the law of sowing and reaping. That happens no matter what type of attitude you have. But the law of multiplication takes place through thanksgiving. When you are in thanksgiving it sets up a chain reaction. It is multiplied by thanksgivings to God. As believers, what we need to understand is that thanksgiving and multiplication are directly related. The law of multiplication comes in when we are thankful for our present circumstance. I think it is talking about being cheerful as you give, because that is important, but I think it is also talking about as you are giving being thankful for your present circumstance.

Most Christians forget to be thankful. And we wonder why things are not happening or things are not turning around for them. What I am writing about is something that happens in the realm of the spirit when you are thankful. It causes power to be released into that situation through thanksgiving.

If you talk about how everything has gone wrong in your life… you end up wrapping yourself with that, and it begins to take an effect on your life. If you complain and say “I am always sick, or I never have enough” when you do that you are giving power to keep you in that situation. Instead give thanks to God for your situation and he will multiply it. Being continually thankful releases the power.

Lets look at Matthew 15…

Matt. 15:32 ¶ And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

Matt. 15:33 The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

Matt. 15:34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

Matt. 15:35 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;

Matt. 15:36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

Matt. 15:37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.

Matt. 15:38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

This was quite a miracle… I love that Jesus was moved by compassion… you know, a lot of people will tell you to not allow you emotions to effect you, but Jesus here was moved by what he felt… a lot of times God will work through feelings… but that is besides the point… I want to look at what happened in the story…Jesus feeding the masses, and I want to look at the way that he did it…The took the loaves and the fish and he gave……. Thanks.

Being thankful for his present situation caused that food to be multiplied. Being thankful no matter what your circumstances are, will provide a channel of God to change that circumstance!

People think ok,  “God why did this happen to me”… first of all, that reveals our heart towards him. That we relate to God’s love and God’s plan for us based on our circumstances.  I don’t attempt to know what is going on in your life, but there are still people that are worse off than you in this world.  It could be a lot worse. And what we need to understand is that when we are thankful to God in the storm or in the hardship, it pulls us out of it.

Everything is in the response.

It is pretty interesting to me that some people who I see that have it the worst are the most grateful and loving people you will meet.  There was a girl who did my internship a couple of years ago, and during the internship she had cancer, but the thing that always surprised me the most was that she was so joyful, so positive. I think, how can someone who seems to be in a tough spot be so positive and joyful in the midst of it? But here is what is the reality… when we are thankful in hardship in produces lasting joy in your life. The story that comes to mind is that of Job. Here he is, in a real bad spot because he was the most upright man. You know, a lot of people don’t think ever think like that… everyone around him assumed that he had done something bad, that he had sinned against God in some way. But he was being persecuted because he was the most righteous. Now I don’t think that, that is the case for everyone, but I think it reveals our thinking patterns. We can’t base our views of God upon experience in life. Because if we will do that, we will be swayed too and fro, so we need to base it on who God is.