Have You Got Thankfulness?

Have You Got Thankfulness?                                                    Kelly Durant  11-26-17

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ

2. Thankfulness, most usually expressed by appreciation, is such a complicated quality! Do you want to know who appreciates you, who is thankful for you? How can you find out? You can do one of 2 things either die or win the lottery! When you die everyone shows up to cry and say nice words that they should have said when you were alive! They say words like, one time he (or she) gave me some groceries when I didn’t have any, or they listened and prayed for me when I needed it. 

The hard lesson, as human beings is, we only learn to appreciate people (or things) when we no longer have them! You don’t know what you got ‘til it gone!  Why do we have to wait until we don’t have it to be thankful?

What about winning the lottery? Instant millionaires have to move into a gated community so forgotten old bad friends and family cannot keep harassing them.

Imagine right now being in constant danger, losing your security, getting phone calls all day long, and you have to move into a gated community. Imagine that all of your family, friends, and coworkers after harassing you stop talking you and are then alone. That is what happens when people win the lottery!

Have you read the articles about this? Did you know that everyone who wins usually loses most all of their friends and family? It works like this: Joe won 3 million dollars and he decides to give $2,000 to his barber, $5,000 to his long time buddy, and $100,000 to his son that is losing his house to foreclosure, but gives $50,000 to his daughter that has more money. Do you see what is going to happen? Everyone complains about the other one getting more, everyone hates each other and fights, and no one gets thankful as you had hoped! Material things interfere with thankfulness! To be thankful never compare yourself with others! Both the rich or poor can live happy if God is happy with them!

3. How many of you have ever been around the spoiled children of rich families? Have you observed how they waste things and that they always want more and more and are never happy with what they get?  

Prosperity often provokes an out-of-control consumerism and this also produces unthankfulness! People, and God as well, get angry with the unthankful people who are not humble! God’s hates the prideful, the arrogant, and the ones who think He is not necessary!

Remember how God told Mary she would have a child out of wedlock by the Holy Spirit and what did she do? Did she stress and go crazy and worry? No! She wrote a song of praise to God. Luke 1:48-56. She was perfect in God’s eyes for her wonderful attitude!

4. Also, at Christmas we observe people’s different reactions to gifts. After 24 years of giving away toys we have seen a few thousand reactions! Some people get happy and even cry and are very thankful, while others look at what is in the bag with an attitude and say, “Is that all there is?” I waited an hour here for this?! They actually get mad?!

But here is something you and I and God as well all get mad about, and that is unthankful people! People who don’t appreciate what you do for them or give them!

Unthankful, ungodly, carnal, people treat people the way some kids treat toys. They grab them, use them for fun a short time, and then throw them away! Unthankful people are like demons who are an insult to God, unthankful to God for providing life as they don’t give thanks for anything. Satan, who also has the name the “Destroyer”, is always getting all he can for his selfish motives and then throwing it away to burn, and that is what unthankful people do! He uses fools to bring division and destruction and then throws them away to hell! Unthankful people are doing what Satan does and that is use & abuse people with no inkling of appreciation and thankfulness for their loyalty and sacrifices! May God free us from the curse of unthankfulness.

5. So how do we become thankful people and please God and others? Express it with words and deeds, and attitudes! Pray to be humble! Start praising God more! Take the attitude that you are blessed and you can be happy despite temporary conditions.

Hebrews 13:¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

We must learn to appreciate. Thankfulness has a lot to do with being a good steward and returning thanks. Jesus preached a lot of this matter! Remember the 10 lepers in Luke 17! Only one came back to say thanks out of the ten.  

6. Have you ever seen a father give a car to a son and then he drives it around reckless, and doesn’t even maintain it and even crashes it?  While other thankful sons value the gift with their life and wash it almost every week and maintain it as new?

Now, in the case of the lottery winner, God is sort of the same as Joe, to some He will give out great rewards in heaven for those who responded well to his commands according to how they served Him here on earth but others will not get very much because they did not do what was expected in obedience to Jesus to deserve it.

We must learn from the old adage that you, “Don’t look at a gift horse in the mouth”.  It is true, we should never compare who gets what, the giver has that discretionary authority! When someone gives something, or no matter what others get from God, always be thankful! Maybe it is a test! Next time you may get more or you may get nothing! Remember the parable of the talents in Matt. 25? “To whom much is given, much is required!”

7. Jesus preached a lot on the subject of being thankful and in keeping your donations to God and others in order! How you treat money and things will often reflects on how you treat the work of God and the people around you, either with great care or indifference. Thankful people show care and appreciation over all things, especially the things of God! They support missions, the church and the needy.

As God’s children we are commanded to be thankful for everything no matter what! Philippians 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

This year, like every year, is one in which some people got a lot, and others only got a little, but with a little or a lot we just need to be thankful to God and others who helped and not compare the years before. We must not compare amongst ourselves! Just be thankful for all things, and if you are not so happy that your mate, family, or friend’s gifts to you, if you did not get you what you wanted, cry out to God and ask Him for a grateful heart and for forgiveness for being so ungrateful! We do get tested, if we are faithful and grateful for a little, then we can be proven to be ready for much more in the future!

8. We expect the people of the world, the greedy or even the immature Christians, to not be thankful, but ask yourself how thankful am I for people and things? Unthankful people do not even need to say a word, they reveal with their eyes and body language when they are not happy. How embarrassing to not show gratitude when no one really owes anyone anything! What we owe to another is love, according to the scripture in Romans 13:8.

Christmas time and gifts are comparable to a test in school, some fail and others pass. Those that are thankful appreciate the smallest things, and even are thankful just for kind words of encouragement which bring joy, however, the greedy are never satisfied with anything. This world can supply enough for the needy, but never enough for the greedy!

Don’t you think gift giving provokes a lot of reaction and reflection on how Jesus was God’s gift of love too? He was born as a nobody, amidst the animals to give us peace with God and eternal life, which are 2 things that material things and money can never buy, peace with God and eternal life! Some people react with tears of joy while others are cold, indifferent, and unappreciative! They think that if he cannot be of any material use to get them something they want, then why should one care about Jesus? Thankful people do not complain: they appreciate and they love back!

9. I am thankful to each of you no matter if you give me a gift, a card! Just words of “God bless you!”, or “Merry Christmas”, is enough. I am thankful to you!

So what is thankfulness? Thankfulness is an attitude that goes against our human nature! You and I will always have to fight against ourselves to keep it alive! It is a general quality for everything, you either have it or you don’t. What does the word of God say about it? That we should have it present in everything we do!

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. In poor South America I learned to be thankful for many things that most Americans take for granted! (like disposable diapers, good razors, etc.)

10. And finally, Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  All the time we need to have a, “Thank you Jesus!” on our lips, always thanks for the good and even the trials. Correct others when they whine.

God commands us always to give thanks for everything! If this was a good year for toys or for income or whether it was bad, no matter how good or bad, God commands us to give thanks! But as Christians some have a problem with this! Our human nature wants to complain when it is not as good as what it use to be. We get comfortable with the blessings, but when we are the most comfortable is when we should be concerned about our spiritual state in danger!

God is not as interested in our prosperity and comfort as He is in our spiritual maturity and holiness! If God could get us to be closer to Him by supplying less, then maybe that is why He sometimes lets us get less. Water is usually abundant, but if you are in the dessert you learn to appreciate every drop! We must learn to value and appreciate all things! 

We get mad at unthankful people and God does too! Especially those who are unthankful for His precious Son, Jesus who painfully gave His all! And there are people who would rather get chocolates for Christmas than a Bible or book to teach them more about God’s word!

Gifts have different values but Jesus comes before all of them! He is the best gift ever!

Where do you stand today? Are you thankful even though there may be hard times? Can you say with me, “Thank you Jesus!” and really be thankful in your heart that for Christmas just having Jesus is really enough! If you did not get all of what you wanted, from family, friends, or the church, then come and pray and ask God to forgive you to change you and give you a thankful heart! In everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you and me!