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.
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!
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