You
only become grateful when you habitually practice gratitude, appreciation,
gratefulness and thankfulness unto God who bestows all pleasant things unto us
in this life and thereafter. A heart become grateful when it experiences the
significance of the Love of Christ and the original blessedness that God gave
all men as seen in the life of Adam and Eve [Genesis 1:28-29]. To be grateful
means to show or feel an appreciation for kindness, benefits, something done or
received. You cannot be hopeful about the future without being thankful for the
good done to you either physical, spiritual or material. God shows Himself
strong and lives in a humble and grateful heart.
To
be grateful is when God does what is pleasing to your mind or satisfying to
your soul and you show and offer words of appreciation. Just like the acquisition
of most Christian qualities, gratitude is a progressive expression of the
goodness that God bestows to us, it is not static and there must be increase in
the level that we appreciate the goodness of God. However we do know that
ungratefulness permeates the hearts of many believers in this season as many
look at what has not been done instead of being thankful for many of what has
been done.
“People
will be self-centered lovers of themselves and obsessed with money. They will
boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mock all
that is right. They will ignore their own families. They will be ungrateful and
ungodly” 2 Tim. 3:2 TPT
Cultivating
a grateful heart is not always an easy task, it is a little easier to cultivate
when all is good but harder when you are facing the down side of life. But the
word of God commands us to thank God at all times knowing that even the light
afflictions that we do suffer, will eventually work out an eternal weight of
glory.
“For
our light affliction, which is but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory” 2 Cor. 4:17
Gratitude
is a fierce weapon against the antics of Satan which when continually applied
will give us victory over the hopelessness that Satan want to barrage our mind
with. We must continue to look at Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
despite all odds knowing that God will eventually make all things to work
together for our good. He is well able! Ephesians 3:20
“The
faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness,
His mercies begin afresh every morning” Lam. 3:22-24 TPT
The
faithful and steadfast love of God guarantees His blessedness, so we must continue
to praise him despite passing through the valley.
“Oh
give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures
forever!” 1 Chronicles 16:34
We
are admonished to always be thankful to God for everything.
“And
do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the
Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Ephesians 5:18-20
Other
Thanksgiving scriptures
Eph.
5:4; Job 1:21; Psalms 34:1; Isa. 63:7; Acts 5:41; 1 Cor. 1:4; Phil. 1:3, Phil.
4:6; Coll. 1:11-12, Coll. 3:17; 1 Thess. 3:9, 1 Thess. 5:18; 2 Thess. 1:3, 2
Thess. 2:13
“Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” James
1:17
Everything
good in your life comes from God (James 1:17). We will grow closer to God when
we understand this truth and build our lives around it. We will also be less
weary when walking under the shadow of the death knowing that as we thank God,
soon the good side of the Lord will show up.
We
must cultivate or developing habits that will help us become more thankful. The
true son that knows how to thank God will collect other pending blessings.
Remember
this song
“When
I think of the goodness of Jesus, and all He has done for me, my very soul
shall soul hallelujah. Praise God for saving me!”
“And
it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of
Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met
him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up
their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw
them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to
pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw
that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And
fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a
Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but
where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God,
save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole” Luke
17:11-19
The
Samaritan who came back to Jesus to give thanks was not only healed of leprosy
like the nine that did not come back to thank Jesus, everything that was wrong with
him was made whole and he was offered eternity and salvation. Ingratitude often
come from pride, hanging around ungrateful people [1 Cor. 15:33], and because
of circumstances for example it is hard to be grateful when the bills are
piling up and creditors pursuing us.
“It
came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound
to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their
voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good;
for his mercy endures forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud,
even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to
minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house
of God” 2 Chron. 5:14
Regularly
practice giving thanks and God’s Presence and blessings shall be evident around
you. We should make a habit of expressing gratitude or appreciation to God who
saved and delivered us from darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His
dear Son Jesus! Inner peace is developed when you quit complaining! Remember “I
complained and my spirit is over whelmed” [Psalms 77:3].
We
all have only two choices either to be moody and grumble or be joyful and
elated in spirit. Thankful people gauge blessings by things other than money.
Imagine two people, one is very rich and has kidney issues and need dialysis
once a week but the other person is averagely poor but has very sound health,
obviously that poor but in good health person that is whining and complaining
does not understand what the goodness of God is.
“Do
all things without murmurings and disputing: That ye may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and
perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” Phil. 2:14-15
Thankfulness rather than constant complaining,
grouchy and murmuring should be our default position and we move from
complaining to praising God even when the future seem bleak.
When
you see something good in your life, thank God for it. Do not compare yourself
or present predicament to others, you don’t know what they have gone through in
life before they got to that wealthy place! We all complain occasionally, but we
must practice responding to your own complaining by finding things to be
thankful for. This helps to rewire your brain to be as skilled at recognizing
the goodness of God in your life. God is forever good and His mercy endures
forever.
“And
when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and
his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed
them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp” Numbers 11:1
Express
gratitude regardless of the situation. Paul tells the Thessalonians to give
thanks in all circumstances because it is the will of God [1 Thess. 5:18]. Why?
We never see the full picture. We cannot look at every situation and clearly
understand why it’s happening. We can only know God is at work in these
situations and working them out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
“We
all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God
will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and
timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test
is an opportunity to trust him more, for along with every trial God has
provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously” 1
Cor. 10:13 TPT
Regardless
of what is happening, we can thank God for his presence knowing that He
delivered us, He is delivering us, and He will yet deliver us from the
afflictions of tomorrow. He is redeeming the situation and sustaining us
through it. On our own, we focus on the current situation. We must rise above
the situation when we purposefully look for what God is doing in the middle of
it. Joy always replaces sorrow and sadness when we begin to thank God, whose
goodness and mercy endures forever!
“Perhaps
it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we
once enjoyed or those we enjoy now” A.W. Tozer
Praise
God when all is well. Praise God when it seem like all is not well. Praise God
for unrealized blessings! You may believe this is obvious, but it is important
that we praise and thank God. We must be conditioned and believe that life will
go well for us because of the God factor; He promised that He will never leave
us nor forsake us. When life runs smoothly, we don’t tend to see this as God’s
gift to us. We don’t see how He protects, leads, direct, deliver, save, bless,
guard and guide us along the way to green pastures and still waters. Trials of
life are temporary, even in it, we must give God thanks and be assured that
there will b e a turnaround! Our God is well able!
Learn
to sit down like David before the Lord [1 Chron. 17:2-18] and chronicle God’s
faithful actions; do it often intentionally and use the words from your lips to
narrate the faithfulness and the goodness of our God.
Learn
to see how bad experiences can produce good outcomes. Often you will be able to
see how those bad experiences helped you gather strength and momentum for
future blessings in your life. Regardless of that, learning to see past trials
through eternity’s perspective enables us to be more thankful during times of
struggle in the future.
“My
brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing
this, that the trying of your faith work patience. But let patience have
her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” James
1:2-4
Make
gratitude a part of your interactions with other people. Gratitude should
impact both our relationship with God and our relationships with other people.
“To
appreciate means to raise in value. That’s not only true of things, it’s true
of people. When you appreciate somebody, you literally raise their value. We
ought to appreciate people because it increases their self-worth” Rick Warren
Make
it a regular practice to say thank you to people in your life. Often, the
people we express gratitude with the least in our lives are those that are
closest to us like spouse, parents or children.
Lean
into the strength gratitude provides. I know many people who have been through
extremely tough situations. I have noticed those who are the most grateful and
have learned to see God’s work regularly show the most persistence when going
through hard times of life.
Thanksgiving
is a superpower. It enables us to see past our experiences and embrace how God is
moving. Not only are thankful people able to draw strength from gratitude, but
they’re also able to empower others with their perspective as well. Their
thanksgiving is a testimony of God’s goodness and enables others to develop
faith in the ability of God to save, bless, heal, deliver, empower and sustain
His Children
“Though
the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the
olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and
there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy
in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17-18
Habakkuk’s
perspective in this scripture tells us to show gratitude even if we don’t have
what we want or need. We need to prioritize what God is doing in a situation
over our own wants and needs. We can learn from Habakkuk to rejoice even during
troubling times.
Our
ultimate source of thanksgiving should come from what God has revealed about
himself in the Word and in the person of Jesus Christ
His
love: John 3:16
“God
bestows His blessings without discrimination. The followers of Jesus are
children of God, and they should manifest the family likeness by doing good to
all, even to those who deserve the opposite.” F.F. Bruce
His
patience
“Quite
honestly, most people are quick to “write someone off.” But our God is a God of
the second chance. Learn from One who is patient with you, and you’ll learn to
be patient with others.” Woodrow Kroll
His
salvation
“Since
no man is excluded from calling upon God the gate of salvation is open to all.
There is nothing else to hinder us from entering, but our own unbelief.” John
Calvin
His
wisdom
“Wisdom
is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal,
together with the surest means of attaining it. Wisdom is, in fact, the
practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in its fulness only in
God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariable wise.” J. I. Packer.
Thank God for giving us wisdom for without it, we cannot excel.
His
mercy
Lamentations
3:22-24
“The
mercy of God is an all-embracing mercy and it breaks down the barriers that man
erects.” Allstair Begg
God
is ever good and great!
“Everything
about God is great, vast, and incomparable. He never forgets, never fails,
never falters, and never forfeits His word.” Arthur W. Pink
“O
give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endures forever. Let
the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the
enemy” Psalms 107:1-2
We
must be ever grateful for God is ever mindful of us and always looking for ways
for all things to work together for our good
“Bless
the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the
LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all thine
iniquities; who heal all thy diseases; Who redeems your life from
destruction; who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies; Who
satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the
eagle's” Psalms 103:1-5
It
may not always be easy to give thanks especially when you are in the valley,
but this is the very thing we must do in order to see God’s will accomplished
in our lives. An attitude of thanksgiving accepts and embrace God’s will but
discontent dries up the soul. Be like Jesus and obey God and embrace hardship
without complain [Phil. 2:5-8] and you will also enjoy time of lifting like he
did.
“I
will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name
of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all
his people” Psalms 116:17-18
Let
us prepare to give our thanksgiving unto God and sow according to the blessings
that God has given to us over such a difficult season of life. Look back and
see how God sustained you, family, children, health, provision and ever
abounding grace and give Him thanks for His mercies that endures forever more.
“By
him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is,
the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” Heb. 13:15
Let
us stand to our feet or kneel down and give Him thanks by lifting up holy hands
and blessing God with our mouth for his mercies that endures forever!
WAYS
TO DEVELOP A GRATITUDE FILLED HEART
1.
Let gratitude
become consistent and habitual. It helps to rewire your brain to be proficient
the goodness of God in your life and often downplay the bad or those things
that seem far-fetched or yet to be done.
2.
Express
gratitude regardless of the situation knowing that the Almighty God is well
able to turn things around in a jiffy [2 Chron. 20]
3.
Learn to
praise God very well when the going is good, do not take it for granted that it
is God’s obligation to do things for you or meet you at the point of need.
4.
Learn to see
how bad experiences can produce good outcomes. Joseph went through afflictions
for several years but he eventually became ruler in Egypt according to the
promises of God. Know that your situation is subject to change. You may not see
the full picture yet but soon, you will see the goodness of God in the land of
the living
5.
6.
Lean on the
strength gratitude provides. You disarm Satan from barraging your mind and
empower both God and other people to do much more when you are grateful for
good done to you.
joseshizkiah@gmail.com
www.uliministry.org
+234 802 321 9298
