This week our brothers and sisters in America are celebrating Thanksgiving, although our country does not have this day at the same time and in the same fashion it is important for us to learn from our brethren. Have you sat down to ponder and count the many ways God has been so good to you this year?
As individual Christians many times we find ourselves in the midst of challenges, problems and needs, and in such situations we usually forget to count the blessings we already have.
Like all normal human beings we begin complaining, sometimes begging God, but really do we use such times to thank God for what he has done.
Have you thought about the air you breathe, that you have not paid a single penny to breath.
Have you imagined the roads on which you travel every day and there are numerous accidents yet God has kept you alive up to today.
Have you thought about the fact that despite of the tough economic challenges you are eating, you have a shelter and when you look at your income it is a lot less than your expenditure, it means that God is your provision.
When you start looking at all that, before we ask God for all of our current needs, it requires us to stop and say thank you Lord.
THE ORIGIN OF THANKSGIVING CELEBRATIONS
The Thanksgiving celebration has its origin, from the Jewish feast of Tabernacles or Booth. It celebrated the first gathering of the fruit and grain harvests and also God’s provision for his people during their wilderness journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. This was to be a reminder of the Lord’s care and protection (cf. Ps. 27:5) during their wilderness wanderings (vv. 32–43) and his promise to protect them in the future, especially concerning their harvests (Deut. 16:15)
Today as Christians we need to do what the Israelites did.
I feel that we should celebrate:
· God’s provision,
· God’s protection
· God’s presence
· God’s salvation.
· We should thank God for our families,
· We should thank God for the nation we were born into and
· We should thank God for his family the Church where we belong.
HOW DO WE THANK GOD?
1. We thank God by giving praises and worship to Him.
• Psalm 107:1 “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (NIV)
• Psalm 145:7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. (NIV)
2. We should thank God by giving testimonies so that people may know
what God has done for us.
· Revelation 12:11, “11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. ”
3. By giving thanksgiving offerings to God’s house.
· Proverbs 3:9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
What are the results of a thankful heart?
· The Bible says God dwells in the praises of His people. Whenever we praise and thank our God He brings His glory, He fills us with His joy and the joy gives us strength.
· When we give testimonies. It helps us to trust him for our challenges. Revelation talks about testimony as a spiritual weapon; God uses it to give us victory over the devil. It releases God’s hand to work on our behalf. But also testimonies help other people to learn about God’s goodness His desire to work in their lives.
· Thanksgiving creates in us a positive attitude. God gives us the encouragement that He will walk with us even in the current journey we have.
· A thankful heart is a heart that protects us from stress and depression.
So my friends I want to encourage you to thank God for who He is and for what He has done and for what He is about to do in our lives.
He deserves it, so let us give it to Him.
Happy thanks giving to our friends in America and Happy thanks giving to every one of you God’s children.
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