Good morning thankful ones!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (AMP) says,

• In every situation [no matter what the circumstances], BE THANKFUL and continually GIVE THANKS to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

It’s ALWAYS the will of God for you to BE THANKFUL!  If you’re in a very difficult situation and you don’t know what’s to do, just start GIVING GOD THANKS ~ this is the will of God for you.  Find something you CANBE THANKFUL for, even if it’s, “LORD, YOU ARE GOOD AND ALL IS WELL.”

We can’t give thanks for bad things happening, but we do THANK HIM for delivering and protecting us and showing us His goodness.

BEING THANKFUL is so important. Let’s take a look at the importance of PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING from the Old Testament, even under the law.  Turn with me to Malachi 2:1-2,

• And now, O priests, this commandment is for you.  If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, to GIVE GLORY TO MY NAME, says the LORD of hosts, I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings.  Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart (to give glory and thanks for My Name).

Thank God we are not under the law any longer, but we can see from this above Scripture how important BEING THANKFUL is to the LORD.

Let us turn to John 6:11 for an example of JESUS HIMSELF BEING THANKFUL to the Father,

• And Jesus took the loaves and when He had GIVEN THANKS, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, AS MUCH AS THEY WANTED.

Look at God’s exceeding abundance! Verses 12-13 go on to say,

• So when the disciples were FILLED, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost.”  Therefore they gathered them up and filled TWELVE BASKETS with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

This is OVERVLOW!  Just like King David said in Psalm 23:5,

• My cup runneth over.

The baskets were crammed full and they ended up with more than they started with.  Look at the power of PRAISE and BEING THANKFUL!

Finally, in Luke 17:12-19, we read about the 10 lepers.  To recap for the sake of space, these ten men who were lepers cried out to Jesus and said, “Master, have mercy on us!”  Then Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests and AS THEY WENT, they were cleansed.  Then ONE of them, when he saw he was healed, RETURNED (turned back) and GLORIFIED GOD, and fell down on his face at Jesus’ feet and GIVING HIM THANKS, was made WHOLE.

This means, all of his body parts were restored and there was nothing missing, nothing broken. This is what the word, “WHOLE” means in the Greek language.  This ONE man, who came back and GAVE JESUS THANKS, was made perfectly WHOLE.

As a matter of fact, Jesus said to this ONE man in verse 19, 

• …Your faith has made you whole.

This man’s faith was expressed in His THANKSGIVING.  When we, as believers, are GRATEFUL, powerful supernatural forces from heaven are unleashed that cause things to work for us the way they should.

Being thankful,

Lisa Gordon

Assistant Pastor

Jesus City Church