The Power Of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2021

Romans 1:21 (NLT) “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.”

Being unthankful is the cornerstone, the launching point, for every corrupting influence.
Grumbling sustains offences.
Philippians 2:14 “Do all things without complaining and disputing”

1 Corinthians 10:10-11 “And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”
Make this a way of life.

Cicero who lived in Rome between 106 – 43 BC said that, “gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others”.

What you appreciate, appreciates! What you don’t appreciate … depreciates!
Appreciate:— to be grateful or thankful for. OR to raise or increase in value.
Spouse – Job – Pastor – Kids

Psalm 100:4-5 “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”

Psalm 69:30 “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”

Ephesians 5:19 “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.”

Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Thanks (eucharistia):–gratitude; expressions of grateful language to God as an act of worship, thankfulness, giving of thanks, thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving (towdah):– to express visible thanks or adoration to God by extending the hands to God in reverence, coupled with offering a sacrifice of praise to God through audible confessions of thanks.

Sonja Lyubomirsky Professor of Psychology at the University of California Author of “The How of Happiness,” a book of strategies backed by scientific research that can be used to increase happiness.

“One characteristic of the happiest people is that they are comfortable expressing gratitude for all they have.” Sonja Lyubomirsky
Dr. Robert Emmons (Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier) “I soon discovered that gratitude is a deeper, more complex phenomenon that plays a critical role in human happiness. Gratitude is literally one of the few things that can measurably change peoples’ lives. We have discovered that a person who experiences gratitude is able to cope more effectively with everyday stress, may show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress, and may recover more quickly from illness and benefit from greater physical health”

Dr. Robert Emmons “A practice of gratitude raises your ‘happiness set-point’ so you can remain at a higher level of happiness regardless of outside circumstances.”

Dan Baker — (What Happy People Know) “During active appreciation, the threatening messages from your amygdala [fear center of the brain] and the anxious instincts of your brainstem are cut off, suddenly and surely, from access to your brain’s neocortex, where they can fester, replicate themselves, and turn your stream of thoughts into a cold river of dread. It is a fact of neurology that the brain cannot be in a state of appreciation and a state of fear at the same time. The two states may alternate, but are mutually exclusive.”

Daniel 6
“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”

4 Thanksgiving Observations
1. Thanksgiving Is Expressive
Giving – Thanks Daniel made a public expression No expression is a heart problem.
Luke 6:45 “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

2. Thanksgiving Engages His Presence
vs10“gave thanks before his God”
Psalm 95:2 “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Psalm 92:1 “It is good to give thanks to the Lord,…”
You are not alone!!!

3. Thanksgiving Fosters Resilience
vs10 “…as was his custom since early days.”
Psalm 75:1“We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.”

4. Thanksgiving Wins The Day
vs.26 “And His dominion shall endure to the end.”
Psalm 50:23 “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation (victory) of God!”

“Salvation” (yeh’-shah):— deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare, prosperity, victory

Psalm 136:1 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download