Thanks, The Door of Blessing

This is such a vital message. It is a crucial element of every Christian life! How do we open the door of blessing with giving thanks?

I’ve written in past posts, that there are many of us that are being tempted to dilute our lives with anger and hatred. Voices are beckoning us away from our Shepherd to gain our attention and focus on circumstance and situation. Whether it’s politics, fear tactics, or sometimes both, these voices are screaming, “HEY, look at me!” And it’s one thing to refuse to listen to another’s voice but quite another to combat its distraction with the power of thanks. Today I want to continue writing on the amazing power of giving thanks, we saw in Joseph’s life, which opens our door of blessing.

Power of Giving Thanks

It is impossible to walk in this world and not encounter hurtful and painful circumstances and situations. Christ Himself even experienced troubling difficulties in His life. We all walk on a planet that is less than perfect and being on this globe will cause us pain. But I have a huge revelation about how to break through to make all situations beneficial: THANKS!

Giving thanks for bad and painful circumstances sounds odd. “Why in the world would I be grateful for things that appear to be detrimental or hurtful?” Because every circumstance contains blessing for the child of God. If I give thanks, which honors God, it’s impossible for me to not be blessed by His hands. All the things that He allows will bless me because He is blessing. The key, though, is thanks. Gratitude and giving thanks opens the door to my receiving His blessing in all of my circumstances. Conversely, ingratitude prevents me from receiving the benefits assigned to me from all my situations. Ingratitude shuts the door on God’s gift of blessing.

Scripture says, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:18). The reason God wants us to thank Him for everything is because this is the way to access His abundant Life. The abundant Life is where everything becomes our blessing and we receive this through thanks. God is not sadistic saying, “Thank ME for everything, especially those things that hurt you, muah ha ha ha!” Rather He is saying, “Thank ME for everything because I want everything to bless you.”

The Art of Thanks and Gratitude

There’s an art to being grateful, and the lack of it is the end of life. Romans One tells us there is a downward spiral of degradation for any who fail to be grateful. This entropy leads to every kind of immorality and mental illness, something we’re seeing as prevalent in our society today.

A while back I wrote a series of posts about entitlement. I stated that entitlement is a deadly pandemic. Today I’m seeing the answer to this pervasive disease is gratitude. Gratitude seems to be the antidote for the deadly poison of entitlement.

Honoring God as God and giving thanks seems to be the answer. For what, you might ask? Here is the list found in Romans 1.

List of the Consequences of Ingratitude

Being filled with all unrighteousness, Pride, Greed, Malice, Sexual immorality, Homosexual Acts, Envy, Covetousness, Rivalry, Treachery, Haughtiness, Strife, Deceit, being Evil-minded, Disrespectful of parents, Faithless, Murderous, Spiteful, spreading Gossip, being Insolent/Reviling, Boastful, Senseless, Heartless, Ruthless, Violent, Backbiting, Inventors of evil things, Undiscerning, Untrustworthy, Unloving, Unforgiving, Unmerciful, Haters of God.

WOW, a high a price to pay for the privilege of being able to withhold gratitude. I can’t say I haven’t danced all over this list in the past when I refused to honor our God as God and resisted being grateful. The repercussions of being ungrateful to God are great. While the design of this life is that we would be blessed regardless of the circumstance, thanks is the door to receiving the blessings God wishes to give. Imagine if everything blessed you just because you were willing to thank God, giving Him honor as God.

If you haven’t read the booklet God’s Sovereignty by Martha Kilpatrick, or listened to her CD series The Healing Power of Giving Thanks, I think you would be enriched and encouraged by them. I’ll even offer you 25% off if you don’t have them yet. The power of thanks is so much more than simply mouthing words; it’s the experience of His abundant life and the peace we so long-fully desire. Use Coupon Code: THANKS at checkout at LivingChristianBooks.com to get your discount.