THE KEY AND POWER OF THANKSGIVING

 

Bible Text: Luke 17:12-19

There are two lessons we can learn from the reference text:

 

1.  Thanksgiving is an uncommon virtue. The Bible says there were 10 lepers and only one (10%) came back to say "Thank you”. Only 10% of people naturally give thanks. And what Jesus was trying to say was if at His time only one leper (10%) had a grateful heart, what will happen when He has left the Earth? One of the works of the devil in the last days to deny man of his testimony is to make man ungrateful to God (2 Timothy 3:1-2). 

2.  Uncommon virtue generates uncommon results. A lot of people don't appreciate God’s blessing in their lives. A lot of people commonize God’s blessings in their lives. Every time, they are looking at the blessings of God upon another man’s life and they fail to look at the blessings of God upon their own life. God will give you the virtue of a grateful heart in the Mighty Name of Jesus. In the reference text, only one leper came back to give thanks; he had uncommon virtue and he got uncommon results. This month you will have uncommon results in the Mighty Name of Jesus. It doesn't matter how little your blessings are, don't commonize your blessings. If you commonize your blessings, it will be taken from you and given to the man who appreciates his own blessings (Matthew 25:29).

 

What is Thanksgiving?    

1.  Thanksgiving is acknowledging the God behind your blessing, the God behind any good thing in your life (gift of life, joy, peace). To acknowledge means to admit, to recognise, to accept, to reply – to reply God that He is behind the blessings in your life, e.g you can talk, your legs and hands can move, God is behind it. It doesn't matter whether your blessings are small or big, God is behind it (James 1:17, John 3:27). 

2.  Thanksgiving means glorification. The God you do not glory in, will not glorify you because glory is reciprocal. Whatever you give to God is what you get in return. God is not looking for money, silver or gold. Give God thanks. Acknowledge He is the One behind your existence. 

3.  Thanksgiving is recounting the past acts of God. There are times we need to look back in order not to forget the benefit of the LORD by going down memory lane (Psalm 103:1-8). Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the LORD has done. The Psalmist focus in Psalm 103 was first on spiritual things, not material things. One of the reasons man doesn’t have gratitude in his heart is because man’s focus is on material things. What a tragedy to gain the entire world and lose your soul. 

4.  Thanksgiving is provoked when we make a comparison between where we are now and where we used to be. You might not be where you want to be but you are not where you used to be. You might not have what you desire but God has not given you what you deserve. The Bible says in Psalm 130:3 "if the LORD regards iniquity, who will stand?" There are several times you have fallen into error and God did not allow you to be punished, His mercy stood for you. God is good. God’s goodness is not a subject of any thing that happened externally. If you are promoted or not, God is good. If you have a testimony or not, God is still "I AM". If you are angry and leave the Church, God is still "I AM", if you come back to Church tomorrow, God is "I AM". It is for your own good to give God praise. 

5.  Thanksgiving is appreciation in anticipation. Tomorrow will be well. The Bible says in Matthew 6:34, Isaiah 3:10, "...say it to the righteous, tomorrow shall be well." If you know God is not a man to lie, you need to thank God for a better tomorrow (Haggai 2:9, Proverbs 4:18). You are yet to see the best and your best is yet to come in the Mighty Name of Jesus Mighty.

 

There are two levels of Thanksgiving;

1.  Thanksgiving after a testimony (Luke 17:15-16, Psalm 103). You look at what the LORD has done and praise Him. 

2.  Thanksgiving before the testimony. This kind of thanksgiving is provoked by what is written. If it is written, you can consider it as done. It is faith in action. You haven't seen anything yet but you believe it will come to pass. In John 6:6, Jesus knew what to do and He had key of thanksgiving.

 

Glorify God with your little and it will multiply. It is not enough that you don't have enough, what you don't have is enough gratitude. When you have enough gratitude, your seed will multiply. In John 11, the situation was hopeless (Lazarus had been dead for four days) but no situation is hopeless with a Thanksgiver, no door can be shut against Thanksgiving. If there is a door that has been shut, Thanksgiving will open it. Thanksgiving will bring to life every situation that is dead in your life in the Mighty Name of Jesus.

 

This kind of thanksgiving connects you to the supernatural. You leave the physical and begin to operate in the supernatural. How can someone be giving thanks when a man had been dead for four days? But Jesus had the key of Thanksgiving (John 11:41-42). While in prison, Paul and Silas praised God and they opened the doors with Thanksgiving (they applied the key of Thanksgiving by praising God). Abraham's faith was provoked by what was written; he didn't look at his body or think of his age. Instead, he believed what was written (Romans 4:17-21). He glorified God and he had Isaac. If you are going through any situation now, don't worry about anything, don't despair, apply the key of Thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).

 

Benefits of Thanksgiving

1.  Multiplication (Jeremiah 30:18-19): Appreciate what you have. Move the dots of your life with gratitude. Everyone who is grateful increases in bounds. As we give thanks this month, God will multiply the City of David in the Mighty Name of Jesus. 

2.  Thanksgiving reverses adversity: Adversity in life is normal, even in the life of a child of God (Psalm 34:19). Thanksgiving brings peace into your heart because you are acknowledging God. Peace brings vision and ideas. 

3.  Thanksgiving brings perfection and perfection brings completeness. Anything you see in your life today is just the beginning, God has the ability to bring it to perfection (Philippians 1:6). If you see any sign of the goodness of God in your life, begin to rejoice because it can only be better.

 

Thanksgiving is an uncommon virtue. The Bible says enter His gates with thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4-5). The Bible. Also says that except a man is born-again, he can't enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3-5). There is a relationship between Thanksgiving and salvation. Why? Because it is out of the treasures and gratitude of your heart that you give thanks. 

 

Without Christ in your life, you can't apply this key of Thanksgiving. If the Psalmist in Psalm 24:7-10 didn't have the keys, he couldn't have opened the everlasting doors. There are everlasting doors that has hindered you and you can't enter except the King of Glory is in you. Neither can you have the key of Thanksgiving if you don't know the Him as your LORD and personal Saviour (John 3:3-5). The King of glory is waiting for you, surrender your life to Him today and acknowledge Him as your Maker so you can have the key and power of Thanksgiving.