The Seed of Thanksgiving

 STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David 

The Seed of Thanksgiving

Thursday, 3 October

 

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

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: 2 Timothy 3:1-4 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

 

MORE LESSON: John 11:41-42 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

 

One of the signs of the end time enumerated in today's text is being unthankful. This end time spirit has crept into the lives of many and has rendered some people ungrateful in many areas of life to their detriment. No matter how blessed you are, if you don't consciously remind yourself of the need to be thankful, the spirit of this age may catch up with you. If the devil succeeds in keeping a man down with complaints about things that have not happened for him or that are not happening around him, the spirit of ingratitude will possess him so badly.

A look at the children of Israel in their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land shows clearly that they were a people full of complaints. The spirit of complaints is anti- thanksgiving and as such should be resisted vehemently by every wise hearted Christian. Everything written in the Scripture is for our example and learning; as such a great lesson to be learnt from the Israelites’ journey to Canaan is that God hates complaints. Rather than complain, we should have faith in God and put our trust in His ability and faithfulness, regardless of our present circumstance.

One other thing that can hinder thanksgiving is the spirit of competition and comparison. The quest for more is not wrong in itself, but the inability to balance such quest can lead to covetousness. A covetous man will not know the way of thanksgiving and as such happiness may elude him. Jesus warns that we should beware of covetousness (Luke 12:15). The wisdom needed to heed the caution is to understand that the life of a man does not consist in the abundance of what he possesses.

There is a prescription that the Bible gives us to deal with ingratitude in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. It may be an impossible task to give thanks for everything, but we must muster strength to give thanks in everything. This prescription is important as a way to combat the end time spirit of ingratitude. Also, thanksgiving should not be cultivated as a yearly practice as most people think, but must be cultivated as a regular practice. The more regular thanksgiving is the better our lives become.

 

Prayer/Action

* Declare that you shall not be overtaken by the spirit of complaints, but will learn to give thanks always.

 * Declare that no matter the situation, you choose thanksgiving always.

 * Declare that as you give thanks your life and situations will improve.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: It is written, "If God be for me who can be against us?" With God on my side, October is walk-over, in the powerful name of Jesus.