DO WE LIVE IN THANKFULNESS?

DO WE LIVE IN THANKFULNESS?

 

The Letter to the Ephesisans 5:20 says that we should always give thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In James 4:7 we read that we should resist the devil and he will flee from us. I cannot thank God for what the devil is doing. The mistake that we might be doing is that we get so involved in his doings that we forget all the good things that God has done to us. I do believe that God sometimes allows the bad things to happen to see how we handle the situation. God will never give you sicknesses, promote too early death or give you an accident. Maybe we live in sin or unforgiveness? What do we do when the poisonous arrows come against us? I have noticed that if I give my attention to all of what the devil is doing and become depressed and in  despair the devil will continue to attack me in these areas. If I instead resist the devil and turn to God and ask Him for solutions, the devil will stop attacking me in these areas. He will flee even faster if I keep my peace and joy in the Lord.

There is always something to thank the Lord for even during difficult times.

I believe that thankfulness depends on how much we trust the Lord. Do we believe that God is only good, and He is for us and not against us? Do we believe that there is a problem too big for Him? If we trust in Him, we can keep calm knowing that we are not alone during difficult times. We have one helping us in the best way.

          We can therefore thank Him under any kind of circumstances.

I constantly meet people in sorrow for all the things they are lacking, all the things they wish they had, but do not have. It might be small things, but also big things. The longing for these things might become overwhelming. They think about it all the time. Some even wake up at night in sorrow. Just think if they never will have them. Some are trying to find a solution by making wrong choices. If a woman wants a husband and she hasn’t found a believer, she might take any kind of a husband. Others are longing for love, and they enter wrong sexual relationships. Some start to drink too much alcohol or drugs to diminish the pain. These things are detrimental solutions. Others are trying to get money in an illegal way. That will often lead to a dangerous spiral because one will always have more.

    Come back and focus on what you have and not what you do not have.

How often do we thank the Lord for what He did for us when He died on the Cross and rose again? He was suffering in a way we cannot understand. He took all of the sins for all the people in the whole world. He carried our sicknesses and He won a victory over the devil. Why? To give every human being a chance to have eternal life and to live a life without being sick. He has also given us a chance to win victory over the devil because Jesus has already conquered him. I know that we sin and we can also become sick, but the power of the Cross is always there for us for deliverance and healing. This we can thank Him for daily and maybe more than once a day.

The apostle Paul starts his letter by saying that he gives thanks to God for his brothers and sisters in Christ. How often do we thank God for our sisters and brothers? If we would do that, we would love them instead of gossiping about them.

Jesus once healed 10 people with leprosy, but only one came back and thanked Him for the healing. I have been healed several times and so have my children. How often do I thank Him or how often do I thank for rescuing me from accidents? Pain and the things I lack are often crying louder than the things God has done for me. Shall we agree and do something about that?

I believe that thankfulness and joy belong together. If I am thankful, it is easier to be happy. When I was in India, I heard more joy and laughter from the houses of the poor than from the rich. That created a question-mark in me. What makes a person happy? Obviously not money.

A preacher said a few days ago that if one wanted to keep the healing received after being prayed for, live in thankfulness. He said that the anointing is in thankfulness. If one goes around saying that it doesn’t function and maybe one isn’t healed, one can talk curses over oneself.

Mark 11:24 writes that we should thank for the healing before we see it and then we would get it.

I once sang a song about counting my blessings, counting them one by one. Maybe you know the song as well. I want to thank Him for all my blessings instead of forgetting them.

THANK JESUS FOR EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE AND DO FOR US AND ALL THE PROMISES HE HAS GIVEN TO US!

Mother Else