Thanksgiving

THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING.

Today, I want to share with you about the importance of Thanksgiving. Not only is it right for you to glorify God, but essential for His manifestation in your life. 

THANKFULNESS opens doors to more blessing. 

Psalm 100 starts by saying: “Enter into His gates with THANKSGIVING (TOWDAH), and into His courts with PRAISE (TEHILLAH). Be thankful to (YADAH) Him, and BLESS (BARAK) His Name.” 

*Praise v Thanksgiving. PRAISE has to do with God’s His character, declaring the EXCELLENCY OF HIS NAME, whereas THANKSGIVING is to do with His ACTS and DEEDS - what He has done and will do for us.

*2 KINDS OF THANKSGIVING:

1. Based on the Manifestation.

2. Based on His Promise.

1. If a father gives his son a birthday present or if you do something special for a friend- it is fitting to give thanks. This is simple politeness. Ingratitude is ugly. What if you did it and they took it for granted? You would be less likely to do it again! When appreciation is shown, you want to give more. 

When we give thanks for what God has done for us, instead of complaining about what we lack, we open the door for more. 

2. If a son asks for a bicycle and his Dad says: ‘OK, son - I'll get you one.’ If he has faith in his father, he will say ‘thanks’ based on the promise even before he sees it, based upon the character of the one who made the promise. This kind of thanks is a Higher level of faith, and it pleases God more than ordinary thanksgiving- it is the sacrifice of thanksgiving. The son knows that if he has his father's word, it is as good as done, so he gives thanks on the basis of the promise. Likewise when God gives us His promise, when we believe we receive it, we will start to give thanks before we even see it. If he says: “I will wait until I see it before I give thanks”, that would show that he has no confidence or faith in his father's word. 

1.Lets look at the basic first (basic) kind of thanksgiving. 

Have you thanked God properly for all He has already done for you or are you so focused on what you have not got that you have not even been polite/grateful.Count your blessings one by one - see what the Lord has done! WE CAN THANK GOD FOR SO MUCH! We should get specific by counting our blessings one by one. We've all received grace - faith starts by thanking God for what He's done and then our heart opens to receive more. 

It's the first step toward God. When we start being specific more and more things come to mind (to thank God for) and we enter a new way of thinking. 

For example, THANK GOD:

1. For salvation - My name is written in heaven! 

2. God chose to love me and has a plan and purpose for my life. I'm special to Him. 

3. For creation - He made me and provided all I need 

4. Jesus went through with the cross. 

For the Blood by which I'm cleansed, healed etc

5. For my gifts and abilities (Colossians 1:12) 

6. For every kindness from others - this comes from God

7. For daily wisdom, strength, health, opportunities. 

8. For TODAY.

9. For the Bible and those who gave their lives to have it translated, for books and CDs.

10. For being born this century, with mod cons. 

11. born in a free country- where I could hear the gospel

12. For eternity in heaven, forgiveness, healing, guidance, security in Christ.

13. For family, friends, and, church 

14. Opportunities to serve God, for my work. 

For the ability to get up in the morning.

15. For my body and health, for all the parts that work well! (legs to walk, eyes to see etc). 

‘But I have a blocked nose’ - thank God you have a nose. 

‘My knee hurts’ - thank God you have a knee and that the other one is good!

16. For God's life in me, changing me to be like Jesus 

17. For financial provision

18. For JESUS- my Lord, Saviour, Healer! 

*Let's be thankful and practice thanking God all the time.

The 10 Lepers, Luke 17:11-19: 

“Now it happened as He 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. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well (WHOLE)." 

When 10 LEPERS were healed by Jesus only 1 of them turned back, glorified God, and gave Jesus thanks. Only this one was made whole. 

What about the other 9?: 

One said: “I was getting better anyway?”. 

The 2nd said: “I deserved it - had it coming” 

The 3rd: “He just told me to go - it was my faith”. 

The 4th gave the glory to the priest. 

The 5th: “I'll probably get worse soon anyway” 

The 6th: “I don't have time to go back to Jesus”. 

The 7th: “It was about time God healed me” 

The 8th: “It was a spontaneous remission”. 

The 9th: “He'll want my money”. 

This story teaches the importance of gratitude. 

Their faith had received some grace (cleansing), but only the thankful one opened the door to more grace (wholeness). Ingratitude blocks blessings. BE THANKFUL for WHAT YOU HAVE and GOD will INCREASE (MULTIPLY) COMPLETE it. When God begins to work His answer, thank God for it and this will allow His power to flow to do more. The ingratitude of the 9 stopped the Grace of God from completing their miracle. They settled for second best.

*The Second kind (higher) kind of Thanksgiving:

When we don't see the answer yet, our flesh does not feel like thanking God. But He has given us His Word and we thank Him based on His faithfulness. This is called the sacrifice of thanksgiving or praise, because to make it our flesh has to die. It’s easy to thank God when we see the answer (healing), but if you just have the promise, it’s a sacrifice. God is pleased by this faith. 

TOWDAH means to extend hands in faith, adoration and THANKSGIVING. This time the hands are raised in a receiving posture, reaching out in trust and surrender as we look up to God acknowledging Him as our Source. Thanksgiving starts with what God has done for us, but goes on to thank God for what He will do (a confession of faith). We are thanking Him for giving His Word (promise) and on that basis we thank Him for the answer before the manifestation. This is 'the sacrifice of thanksgiving' based on God's promises and character and so is also a PRAISE to God. 

Hebrew 13:15: "let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips confessing (giving thanks) to His Name." We should praise God even when we do not feel like it. It is a sacrifice. We must say to our flesh- 'You may not feel like it, but just do it.' 

Towdah is in a causative form and what it brings about is described in Psalm 50:23: “Whoever offers praise (lit: makes a sacrifice of thanksgiving) glorifies Me (My Character); and to him who orders his conduct aright (establishes a WAY) I will show (manifest) the Salvation of God" 

Literal translation: “Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving (TOWDAH) glorifies Me; and He establishes a High-Way by which I will show (manifest) the salvation of God (the promise).” 

The sacrifice of thanksgiving prepares a way (a highway in the spirit) for the glory of God to be revealed.

*In PRAYER, we believe we receive the promise.

*In THANKSGIVING, we confess (unto manifestation) 

(Romans 10:8,9).

Our Prayer must be mixed with Thanksgiving:

Philippians 4:6,7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything 

by prayer and supplication, WITH THANGSGIVING, 

let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” 

If you are just praying without thanking something is wrong - it is unbalanced and you will not enjoy the peace of God. 

Thanksgiving makes a way where there is no way!

*1. Red Sea Crossing - They had promise of deliverance. They said: ‘God do something. Show Your power, fulfil Your promise!’

God said: ‘You do something. Lift up the Rod (Name)!’ The waters parted, highway was created through which came their salvation.

*2. Jericho: They received the promise, meditating for 7 days. When they shouted the shout of praise, then the walls came down. They created a spiritual highway through which the angels and Power of God moved to destroy the opposing walls. Its easy to shout after the walls come down, but God wants us to make the sacrifice of praise BEFORE they fall down.

In every case God moved and manifested His promise only after they made the sacrifice of praise based on God's covenant faithfulness, not before. This created the conditions for God to move. Their faith was vital, expressed in thanking God for what He was doing and what He will do. This created the way for God's power/salvation to be revealed.

3. In Acts 16 Paul and Silas were in chains. At midnight, as they thanked and praised God, they opened up a highway in the spirit through which God moved in an earthquake, and they were set free.

Answers are received in the spirit, and brought forth by praise.

*Psalm 67:5-7: “May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.”

*JEHOSHAPHAT (2Chronicles 20)

v1,2 They were outnumbered

v3,4 They seek the LORD, to ask help from the LORD; 

v5-13 They prayed and claimed God's covenant of protection.

v14-17 A prophet gave them a specific promise: "Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. 

You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you." 

v21 And when he had consulted with the people, 

he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: "Praise (give thanks to-TOWDAH) the LORD (the sacrifice of praise), for His mercy (covenant faithfulness, lovingkindness) endures forever." 

Noticed as they thanked God for His promise, based on His faithfulness, the problem seemed as big as ever. The choir marched forward in faith believing God's promise and giving thanks for it - unarmed. 

v22 “Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. 

in confusion and mistrust they killed each other and Israel did not have to fight even as God promised.”

PRAISE RELEASED THE POWER! 

Only as they thanked God for His promise (not before) was the way created for God to move and manifest His salvation!

You might think when God gave the promise they could just sit their tent and have a cup of tea waiting for God to do it. But no, God wanted them to believe His Word and act on their faith and go out against the problem with a sacrifice of praise. 

You may be facing a hard situation:

1. Pray, ask His help, and receive His promise - He promises to go with you, and give you His wisdom, power and victory. 

2. Now add thanksgiving to your prayers! 

Go out against the problem saying; “I give thanks 

to the Lord for His faithfulness endures forever. Thank you Lord for going with me and giving me the victory. Thank you for being faithful to Your promise and bringing your Word to pass.”

3. Then you will create a Highway through which God's power will flow and God's Salvation (answer) will be manifest. That's the power of thanksgiving- it creates a faith highway in the spirit for God's power to flow and manifest His promises to you. ‘That’s why we are told: “IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS.”

1Thessalonians 5:18: “in everything GIVE THANKS; for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”