THE BENEFITS OF SHOWING GRATITUDE TO GOD!

Today we are going to look at “THE BENEFITS OF SHOWING GRATITUDE TO GOD!  

At this time of the year, families traditionally gather to celebrate and thank God for all His blessings. They gather to express their gratitude to God for His many blessings.

 

What is gratitude? Gratitude is a natural expression of thanks in response to blessings, protection, or love received.

Why give thanks to God? We give thanks to the Lord because it is a command of God.

Psalm 42:4 says, “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me…”

When I remember which things? When I remember all the wonderful things the LORD has done for me. It is one thing to BE thankful unto God. It is another thing to GIVE God thanks.

1 Samuel 12:24 says, “Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you.”

Psalm 116:12 says, “What shall I render unto the LORD for all His benefits [blessings] toward me?”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Ephesians 5:20 says, “Giving thanks always FOR all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Beloved, there is a need to come back at the end of the year to give quality thanks to the Lord, to appreciate Him for His benefits to you and your family.

 

What are the benefits of showing gratitude or giving thanks to God? (1) Showing gratitude to God will bring WHOLENESS to your life (Lk. 17:11-19). (2) Appreciation will bring you to your next level: Showing gratitude to God will release the miracle you need in your life: Thanksgiving is the key to releasing the miracle you need in your life.

1. WHOLENESS: Thanksgiving will bring wholeness to your life. Consider the story of the ten lepers.

In Luke 17:11-19 the Bible says, “Now it happened that as He (Jesus) went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that AS THEY WENT, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, GIVING HIM THANKS (THANKSGIVING). And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the other nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you WHOLE.”  

There are four main points to look at here:

a) Have mercy on us. These lepers knew that they did not merit to be healed because healing is the children’s bread. They knew that it was only on the basis of mercy that Jesus could heal them. They were not Born Again. That was why they asked for mercy instead of healing.

 

b) Go show yourself to the priest. And as they went, as they obeyed the instruction that they were given. Whenever you ask God for a miracle, He will give you an instruction, which if you obey you will automatically receive your miracle. Before you even finish obeying the instruction your miracle will already be there. So as they did what Jesus instructed them to do, they were cleansed of their leprosy.

 

c) One of them, with a loud voice, glorified God. In verse 15, the Bible records that it was only one person out of the ten that came to give thanks to God for the blessing he received – having been healed of leprosy. Leprosy is a very bad skin disease.

Only one out of the ten that were blessed of the Lord found the reason to return to show appreciation to the Lord. When you count your blessings for this year alone, you’ll see that you have every reason to return like the faithful leper to give thanks to God because He has truly done great and mighty things for you this year. There is a saying that when you appreciate somebody for the good he did to you in the past, he is encouraged to do you a greater good.

 

d) Your faith has made you WHOLE. Your thanksgiving is a sign of your faith in God. The man healed of leprosy, seeing that he had been healed of his leprosy, thought it wise to go back and give God thanks.

As he came Jesus said, “Wait a minute, ten men were healed, ten men received blessings from Me, where are the other nine? Are you the only one that came to appreciate Me for what I did for you? Because of your sense of gratitude, stand up, and go home! Your faith has made you WHOLE.”

Immediately, the destroyed parts of the man’s body grew afresh. He got new fingers. He got new toes. He got new ear blades.

Ten lepers were cleansed but only one of them was made whole because he came back to show appreciation to the Lord. This wholesomeness came to be because he demonstrated his faith by coming back to say, “Thank You,” to God. This singular attitude showed that he was healed because he believed.

When you receive blessings from God and you don’t come back to give Him thanks, it shows that you don’t even believe that it was God that did you that favour.

 

In Luke 17:19 Jesus said to him, "Get up. Go on your way. Your faith has (1) healed and (2) saved you." From this verse we can see that the only one that came to express gratitude to God received double for his trouble – he was (1) healed and (2) saved. The other nine that did not come to give God thanks for the blessing received did not receive the second blessing – salvation. So if you want a double portion of God’ blessings for your trouble, you have to thank Him for the blessings you have already received. The leper was (1) healed and (2) saved. The other nine were only healed. They were not saved.

Beloved, only fools are ungrateful. God expects you and I to be grateful like that leper for all He has done for us.

2. Thanksgiving is the key that releases the miracle you need in your life. Appreciation takes you to your next level. Do you need a miracle in your marriage? Do you need a breakthrough in any area of your life? Then try thanksgiving. For instance:

 

a) Thanksgiving will bring the miracle of multiplication to your life (Jn. 6:1-13).

 

b) Thanksgiving will raise someone from the dead. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead with thanksgiving (Jn. 11:41-43). Thanksgiving will cause the dry bones in your life to live again (Ezek 37).

 

C) Jonah was swallowed by a fish because he disobeyed God. In the womb of the fish Jonah sacrificially gave God thanks and promised to obey Him this time around. Immediately the Lord commanded the fish to vomit out Jonah in Nineveh.

 

Jonah 2:9-10 says, “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. 10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.”

 

Be thankful to God and bless His name! Has the Lord blessed you in any special way – promotion in your office, financial breakthrough, answers to your prayers? Has He spared you from going to hospital? The Scriptures command us to sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare the great works of God with rejoicing” (Ps. 107:22).

 

Just lift your hand and voices and thank God for the many many blessings you have received from Him this year.

Watch out for the new edition of Good news from the Pulpit!

• Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)                       10.12.2017

Promise of God: Psalm 63:5 says, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise the LORD with joyful lips.”