Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship!
It seems that it's time to start summing up this topic and prepare for something new in a few weeks. So, I wanted to go back and emphasize once again that the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Believers are supposed to be GRATEFUL people. Following are the summaries of those same ten example scriptures we've looked at before:
1 Corinthians 15:57 - Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14 - Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ.
Ephesians 5:20 - Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:12 - Give thanks to the Father for the inheritance we have received.
Colossians 2:7 - We are to be firmly rooted in Christ, established in our faith and overflowing with thanksgiving.
Colossians 3:17 - In all that we do we are to do it in the name of Jesus giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Colossians 4:2 - We are to devote ourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - It is God's WILL for us who are in Christ that we give thanks for everything.
1 Timothy 4:4 - Everything created by God is good and should be received with thanksgiving.
Hebrews 13:15 - Let us continually give thanks to the name of Jesus.
Now back there in the Old Covenant those infamous Israelites were known for their grumbling and complaining, UN-grateful for their deliverance out of bondage in Egypt, DIS-trustful that God actually had their welfare in His heart, DOUBTFUL that He would see them through to victory in the Promised Land, RESISTANT to His plans and purposes, more led by the flesh than by the Holy Spirit, etc. They angered God to the point that eventually He refused to allow them to enter into His REST (Hebrews 3:11 with Psalm 95:11) and they managed to turn an 11-day trip from Egypt to the Promised Land into a wandering 40-year journey through a profound WILDERNESS. The Israelites of course blamed God for that WILDERNESS when in truth it was their own lack of GRATITUDE that had initiated the circumstances they wound up having to endure for all those years.
The Power of Gratitude
In past articles I've made the point that THANKSGIVING is not just a religious duty to honor our worthy God. No, it's also an important empowerment for the New Testament Believer. We have in the example of the Israelites what the Bible calls "an INSTRUCTION" to teach us what not to do (1 Corinthians 10:11) and we also have available to us a written New Testament full of THANKSGIVING scriptures we tend to gloss over that are actually exhorting us to access the tremendous POWER OF CALVARY that's accessible simply by cultivating a lifestyle of GRATITUDE. To be sure we have to pursue it because the Flesh doesn't want to be GRATEFUL. But we make a decision to cultivate it anyway because even a small amount of study reveals that it's for our own good. And as we're committed and faithful to pursue it, the Word of God and the teaching of it by the Holy Spirit help us grow in gratitude and learn to use it for its designed purposes.
For the New Testament Believer it's simply a matter of FAITH. When you were born again you received a measure of FAITH (Romans 12:3) and it resides there in you not only so you can BELIEVE in your heart that Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead (Romans 10:9) but that you can also be TRANSFORMED from your former worldly mindset to a new Kingdom of God mindset (Romans 12:2). So now by FAITH as a Believer in Christ you can take personal "ownership" of the following Old Testament principle that will change your life on a practical level:
Psalm 50:23 - He who offers a sacrifice of THANKSGIVING, honors Me
1 Samuel 2:30 - Those who honor Me I will honor...
Under the New Covenant God HONORS Believers by teaching us how to connect to His GRACE by FAITH. Keep in mind that the word GRACE simply means God's undeserved FAVOR and EMPOWERMENT. And so in response to pursuing a lifestyle of THANKSGIVING, the POWER of God is REVEALED to us in the form that we need for it to be in to produce VICTORY in life. The GRACE we need is actually already available because of what Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary, but we're largely not able to perceive it or use it until we leave behind our grumbling and complaining and begin to develop a GRATEFUL lifestyle by FAITH. Think about it: GRATITUDE softens our "hearts" (minds) which makes us increasingly able to PERCEIVE (hear, see and comprehend) the REVELATION of God's Word so that it becomes a personal REVELATION which by FAITH connects us to God's GRACE which is His EMPOWERMENT to overcome the enemy, the world, every trial, or tribulation, or circumstance, or problem, or difficulty, and every challenge that tries to come against us. And that's why this following scripture is not only possible, it is by FAITH a sure thing:
2 Corinthians 2:14 - Thanks be to God who ALWAYS leads us to triumph in Christ...
One thing I especially want to emphasize again here toward the end of this series is that under the New Testament God's FAVOR does NOT come upon us because we've done some good deeds or been especially righteous lately or because we pray a lot and really beg Him and cry out for it. GRACE cannot be earned; God cannot be cajoled into releasing it. The BLESSING of God is NOT a reward for good behavior because if it were we would be living under the LAW instead of GRACE! This is important because millions of Christians around the world are routinely praying and begging and crying out to God for the blessings and favor and power that Jesus has ALREADY made arrangements for us to have access to. And ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE the only way to connect to those things is by FAITH.
So you may ask: "how then should we pray if we're not asking God for favor?" Since Jesus ALREADY got it all released for us, the correct prayer is to THANK Him for it and then ask Him how to receive it, where to receive it, when to receive it, etc. Ask Him how to improve your perception, i.e. your ability to see and hear spiritual things. God is not withholding anything anymore because Jesus already got it released and if we're not seeing His POWER and FAVOR in our lives, it's not because He's holding back on it. Rather, it has something to do with our FAITH WALK and we need to find out from Him what we need to change. I know this isn't traditional thinking but tradition kills the POWER of the Word (Mark 7:13) and we need to flee from tradition as fast as we can if it's blocking a true understanding of Scripture. We need to stop thinking and acting like we still live under the LAW and come fully into the freedom of the New Covenant. Your Bible says you're now supposed to be DEAD to the LAW so that you can: 1) be joined to Christ and 2) bear fruit for God (Romans 7:4). And friend, part of the fruit God has for you is to clearly demonstrate His POWER in your life as a witness for others.
Impediments to the Power
I believe that there are at least four huge BASIC impediments to the development of a GRATEFUL mindset and that these four things are robbing the Body of Christ of its POWER:
- An unwillingness to make the effort to grow in the understanding of the Word
- An unwillingness to separate from the ways of the World systems
- An unwillingness to put God first and ahead of one's own interests and agendas
- An unwillingness to let go of the Old Covenant
I could have come up with a longer list but this will suffice the point to be made in tonight's article. God's not limiting us as to what we can accomplish in the Kingdom of God. He could if He wanted to but He doesn't want to and He's not. "All things are possible with God" (Matthew 19:26) and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). No, God has made ALL things possible and available; it's we who're limiting ourselves and God by our ignorance and our small thinking and our self-centeredness and our LACK of FAITH and personal growth and spiritual perception and understanding and wisdom, and by our lack of GRATITUDE. We LACK these things because most of us haven't perceived how valuable and available the POWER of God actually is and so we stay in Egypt where we feel comfortable. Do you realize that well more than half the people in the Body of Christ do absolutely nothing in their Christian walks to make themselves true Disciples of Christ except occasionally attend church? Is there any wonder why there's so little POWER in the Church?
This picture could change dramatically if Believers would just take hold of the revelation of cultivating a lifestyle of THANKSGIVING. If you feel spiritually weak tonight, start THANKING God for all the good things He's brought into your life and make it a point to THANK Him every time you think about it. Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to SPEAK OUT your GRATITUDE frequently. God loves you and wants only the best for you. He's not the author of your circumstances and problems; He's the solution. But He's waiting for you to get the point. He's waiting for you come into agreement with The Word so it can begin to change your life, so it can begin to change your circumstances and give you His triumph, His victory in every area of life.
VICTORY in the Kingdom is not up to God. He's ALREADY done everything that for the time being He's going to do. No, VICTORY in the Kingdom of God is up to each Believer to live out of the Word in love and by faith. And one of the great places to start after you've believed and accepted Jesus as your Lord is to pursue a lifestyle of THANKSGIVING. Stop grumbling and complaining and accusing and blaming and being offended and replace all that with a determination to be GRATEFUL with an outlook that your future is bright. Try it and see what happens. Doors will begin to open and things will start to happen that you've been waiting a long time for because that's the way the Kingdom works. When you HONOR God, your faith will rise up and you'll start perceiving and connecting to the POWER He's ALREADY made available.
Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on July 13. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing, compelling you to PROSPER in every area of life!
Sinners' Prayer
If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:
Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
And, when you get a chance have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer today and believing what you said:
Romans 10:9
2 Corinthians 5:17
Ephesians 2:8
Prayer Requests
If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM central time. Agree with us for God to answer your petition.
http://www.creditcounseling.net/prayer-request.aspx
Donations
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About Prosperous Life Newsletter
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