"Do you want to enlarge your capacity to receive from Me?" The Lord asked Brother Keith that question some time ago, and His instructions were this, "Cultivate a lifestyle of thanksgiving."
What is a lifestyle of thanksgiving? What does that look like?
I can tell you right now, there are too many Christians, myself included, who walk around complaining about what isn't going right, instead of being thankful for what is.
You see, too many times, we paint the picture that a Christian's life is going to be easy. It's going to all "pie in the sky". Well, no, that's not Biblical at all. The Christian's life isn't going to be easy, but you can win every time. The Bible tells us that, "Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4).
So, as a Christian, we are supposed to be overcomers. More than conquerors. That's how we are supposed to live our lives.
But what about when things aren't working out just like you thought? Maybe you thought you were supposed to get a particular job, paying a certain amount, and you didn't get it. Maybe you know that the Bible says you are the healed of the Lord's, but you are fighting off some symptoms, and you have been for some time.
Is that the time to get down, and beat yourself up, and say, "This faith stuff just isn't working..." No! This is the time to rejoice! Be thankful!
Now, you may be saying to yourself, "How can you rejoice and be thankful at a time like this?" It's very simple. You make a choice. You say, "I'm going to be thankful, no matter what."
Why is that important? Well, the Bible tells, "Now thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ." (2 Corinthians 2:14).
What does that word always mean? I looked it up for you. It means, "Every time; on every occasion; without exception, all the time; continuously; uninterr-uptedly, forever, in any event; at any time".
It seems to me like God didn't leave any room for His Word not to work.
If that's the case, we ought to be giving thanks to God, because He is always causing us to triumph!
Furthermore, in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the Bible tells us, "in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Notice, He didn't say that everything was His will-remember, we live in a fallen world, that sin has corrupted-but He did say that no matter what, we are supposed to give thanks!That means there is always a reason, a chance to thank God. If you're still taking in breath, that's a reason to thank God. If you have one arm that's hurting, thank God the other one doesn't. If you're knee is bothering you, thank God you're feet aren't!
You see, when you focus on the negative, you begin to close yourself off. You shut down your heart, and your ability to receive anything.
Think about it for a second. When you are focused on the negative, and what's going wrong in your life, how likely are you to receive someone correcting you, or trying to help you? Not very.
You see, that's a trick of the enemy. If he can keep us looking to the negative, and saying, "Look how bad it is, I don't know how any good can come of this," we will always live in the negative.
Look at the 17 chapter of Jeremiah with me. Starting in verse 5,
5 Thus says the Lord:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is in the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree
planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by
the river.
And will not fear (see) when heat
comes.
But its leaf will be free,
And will not be anxious in the
Year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding
fruit.
So, what is God trying to tell us here? Well, first off, if you aren't thankful, you aren't trusting God. There are no two ways about it. We read earlier that God always causes us to triumph. So, if I was trusting Him, I would be thankful, because I know I would be winning every time.
So, the unthankful person is like the cursed man. Even when good things come his way, he doesn't see it! He inhabits the parched places in the wilderness. Do you see now why Brother Keith said that unthankfulness makes you dumb? If you aren't thankful, you'll be in the wrong place, and even if something good were to happen to you, you wouldn't even see it or recognize it as such.
But, let's go ahead and be like the BLESSED man here. He's like a tree, planted by the waters, always yielding fruit. In fact, He is so close to the life source (the river, which represents God), that even when the drought (heat) comes, he doesn't fear it, or even see it! He doesn't stop producing in the year of drought!
The thankful man is not moved by what he sees. The thankful man is not moved by what he hears. The thankful man is not moved by situations here on the earth. The thankful man is moved by one thing, and one thing alone, and that is the Word of God!
He is staying positive, and staying thankful. No matter what comes his way, He has something to thank God for. Even if all he's got left is the fact that he's still taking in oxygen, that's something, and he is going to be thankful for it.
Thanksgiving keeps your heart open and receptive, more able to hear from God. It is a vital part of life for us, if we want to live in THE BLESSING.
What is a lifestyle of thanksgiving? What does that look like?
I can tell you right now, there are too many Christians, myself included, who walk around complaining about what isn't going right, instead of being thankful for what is.
You see, too many times, we paint the picture that a Christian's life is going to be easy. It's going to all "pie in the sky". Well, no, that's not Biblical at all. The Christian's life isn't going to be easy, but you can win every time. The Bible tells us that, "Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4).
So, as a Christian, we are supposed to be overcomers. More than conquerors. That's how we are supposed to live our lives.
But what about when things aren't working out just like you thought? Maybe you thought you were supposed to get a particular job, paying a certain amount, and you didn't get it. Maybe you know that the Bible says you are the healed of the Lord's, but you are fighting off some symptoms, and you have been for some time.
Is that the time to get down, and beat yourself up, and say, "This faith stuff just isn't working..." No! This is the time to rejoice! Be thankful!
Now, you may be saying to yourself, "How can you rejoice and be thankful at a time like this?" It's very simple. You make a choice. You say, "I'm going to be thankful, no matter what."
Why is that important? Well, the Bible tells, "Now thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ." (2 Corinthians 2:14).
What does that word always mean? I looked it up for you. It means, "Every time; on every occasion; without exception, all the time; continuously; uninterr-uptedly, forever, in any event; at any time".
It seems to me like God didn't leave any room for His Word not to work.
If that's the case, we ought to be giving thanks to God, because He is always causing us to triumph!
Furthermore, in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the Bible tells us, "in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Notice, He didn't say that everything was His will-remember, we live in a fallen world, that sin has corrupted-but He did say that no matter what, we are supposed to give thanks!That means there is always a reason, a chance to thank God. If you're still taking in breath, that's a reason to thank God. If you have one arm that's hurting, thank God the other one doesn't. If you're knee is bothering you, thank God you're feet aren't!
You see, when you focus on the negative, you begin to close yourself off. You shut down your heart, and your ability to receive anything.
Think about it for a second. When you are focused on the negative, and what's going wrong in your life, how likely are you to receive someone correcting you, or trying to help you? Not very.
You see, that's a trick of the enemy. If he can keep us looking to the negative, and saying, "Look how bad it is, I don't know how any good can come of this," we will always live in the negative.
Look at the 17 chapter of Jeremiah with me. Starting in verse 5,
5 Thus says the Lord:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is in the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree
planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by
the river.
And will not fear (see) when heat
comes.
But its leaf will be free,
And will not be anxious in the
Year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding
fruit.
So, what is God trying to tell us here? Well, first off, if you aren't thankful, you aren't trusting God. There are no two ways about it. We read earlier that God always causes us to triumph. So, if I was trusting Him, I would be thankful, because I know I would be winning every time.
So, the unthankful person is like the cursed man. Even when good things come his way, he doesn't see it! He inhabits the parched places in the wilderness. Do you see now why Brother Keith said that unthankfulness makes you dumb? If you aren't thankful, you'll be in the wrong place, and even if something good were to happen to you, you wouldn't even see it or recognize it as such.
But, let's go ahead and be like the BLESSED man here. He's like a tree, planted by the waters, always yielding fruit. In fact, He is so close to the life source (the river, which represents God), that even when the drought (heat) comes, he doesn't fear it, or even see it! He doesn't stop producing in the year of drought!
The thankful man is not moved by what he sees. The thankful man is not moved by what he hears. The thankful man is not moved by situations here on the earth. The thankful man is moved by one thing, and one thing alone, and that is the Word of God!
He is staying positive, and staying thankful. No matter what comes his way, He has something to thank God for. Even if all he's got left is the fact that he's still taking in oxygen, that's something, and he is going to be thankful for it.
Thanksgiving keeps your heart open and receptive, more able to hear from God. It is a vital part of life for us, if we want to live in THE BLESSING.
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