Thanksgiving is like digging a foundation for the future; the depth of gratitude and thanksgiving sets the limit for the weight of glory that can be sustained in the future. This is therefore a time to dig a deep foundation of thanksgiving. The wise will make it concrete with a written list of everything worthy of thanksgiving and wave it before God.
It is not enough to give thanks in your heart fleetingly, could you actually make an effort to write down all you can remember of God’s goodness? God speaks and keeps records. You should keep records too and use those records in your communion with God.
As we reflect on this principle of thanksgiving, remember that the Bible begins with “In the beginning God … ” Yes there may have been challenges on your way this year and obstacles that hindered your joy but you are still here. Now if you want to access the future you must think of God. In the beginning, God – Satan was not an issue, sickness was not there, failure and defeat were not relevant. In the beginning, it was God and His original purpose for man “Have dominion … be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth”.
Every new beginning must start with God, and begin with, God is to thank God. We are to always approach the throne of grace with thanksgiving, this is God’s protocol. His mercy has not allowed us to receive the recompense for our shortcomings yet His grace bestows on us more than we deserve and more than we could ever ask or imagine. When you think of God’s forgiveness and the power of the blood of the cross, you cannot but be grateful for all God has done.
Paul in his letter to Philemon says, “That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus”. He seems to imply that the exercise of faith for the future is only as effectual as our sense of gratitude. Thanksgiving is God’s instruction and it has a purpose in God’s plan for your life. Thanksgiving is so important that God says in the second chapter of Malachi “If you will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart” Ignorance of the will and purposes of God may be costly.
Thanksgiving is the beginning of our alignment with heaven; every revelation of heaven is a joyful celebration in praise and worship of Him who sits on the throne. As we celebrate God’s faithfulness with heartfelt thanksgiving, it realigns heaven and earth in our life through the Holy Spirit who ‘sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts. Thanksgiving is the will of God and our obedience simply enlarges our capacity for more of God.
When we cooperate with God’s will through thanksgiving, it causes us to move from conformity to transformation. We are no more conformed to the natural way of thinking, we access the supernatural and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. This transformation is our goal, to be Christlike. Jesus gave thanks to God before multiplying the fish and loaves and glorified God at the tomb of Lazarus. He demonstrated an eternal principle for us to emulate – the key to multiplication and restoration. It is only as we are renewed and transformed by obedience to His will that we come into the alignment Jesus referred to in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven … “
Thanksgiving begins a process that leads us to transformation, a spiritual positioning wherein God’s will we can be at the right place at the right time doing the right thing. This is what it means to have heaven on earth in your life. It all begins with thanksgiving.
PRAYER: Psalm 69:30; 95:2 149:1-9 Lord give me a new song of thanksgiving, provoke my heart with gratitude. Let the sound of heaven invade my atmosphere to empower me for my future. It takes a new song to break old cycles, break every recurring cycle of defeat in my life and birth in me new songs to usher me into greater victory and brighter light in Jesus name.
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