Summary:

Thanksgiving is vital to expanding your capacity to receive from God. It should not be consigned to just Thanksgiving Day. God is a purposeful Being with a reason for desiring you to give
thanks to Him—He desires to create a life of success, victory and
fulfillment for you. Position yourself for more to be given!

 


 

  1. Give God a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15).
    1. A sacrifice is when there is pressure to do something—when you don’t feel like doing it; when it’s uncomfortable.
    2. God wants you to praise Him continually with the fruit of your lips—open your mouth and say, “Thank You, Lord.”
    3. Giving thanks will cause you to become enlarged; it will “expand your capacity to receive more.”
    4. You must cultivate a lifestyle of thanksgiving.
      1. Cultivation is not automatic or only done when at church. It is purposely doing something every day.
    5. Thanksgiving is a key to experiencing fullness—“nothing needed and nothing wanted.”

  2. Gratitude will keep you on course—maintain an attitude of gratitude.
    1. The way to receive all that you’ve prayed for is to continually give thanks—it causes you to remain spiritually aligned with God.
    2. Enter into God’s presence with thanksgiving.
      1. Example: Pastor Robert Bagonza looked around at the house he has now and gave thanks for what God had done for him and for bringing him out of the house he’d had
        before. He was reminded of Psalm 34:1-3.
      2. Give thanks for what you have instead of complaining about what you don’t have.
    3. Psalm 136:1-3 says to give thanks to God.
    4. It is good to give God thanks (Psalm 92:1).
    5. When you stay on the path of thanksgiving, you will be on the path of light and understanding.
      1. Complaining and grumbling will get you off the path of light and place you in darkness and confusion.
    6. An ungrateful heart will push you into darkness and cause what you do have to be taken away (Matthew 13:12).

  3. Be thankful for what God has given you.
    1. Those who compare themselves to others and what they have demonstrate an attitude of ingratitude and work in pride.
      1. Comparison is an insult to God.
    2. There is nothing substandard or inferior about what God gives you.
    3. Be thankful for the little, and more will come to you.
      1. Example: Jesus took a boy’s “two-piece fish dinner,” blessed it and gave thanks—and it was multiplied to feed over 5,000 people (Matthew
        14:15-21).
    4. Don’t be ungrateful for what you have been given.
    5. Thanksgiving involves remembering what God has done for you and valuing it.

  4. Thanksgiving causes you to have grace (James 4:6).
    1. More grace is required to see more of anything in your life.
    2. A thankful person is a humble person—gratitude and humility go hand in hand.
    3. Pride shows ingratitude.
      1. Pride always wants more and isn’t satisfied with what it has.
      2. Pride says, “You owe me something”—you expect something from people.
      3. When it comes to people, expect nothing and appreciate everything; when it comes to God, expect everything and appreciate everything.
    4. God resists the proud and ungrateful.
      1. Example: Lucifer wasn’t grateful for all that God did for him; pride and ingratitude took root in him.
      2. Example: Adam and Eve weren’t grateful for what they had.
      3. Favor resists the proud.
    5. Pride leads you to destruction and hell.
      1. Example: Korah gathered a group of Israelites against Moses and Aaron because he felt like they were taking on too much and not giving others a chance
        to “shine” (Numbers 16:2-3). He was guilty of that of which he was
        accusing others (Romans 2:1).
        1. Moses told him that he was ungrateful for all that the Lord had done for him (Numbers 16:8-10).
        2. God was so grieved that He caused the ground to open up and swallow him and his followers (verse 33).
    6. Don’t look at what others have; instead, give thanks for what God has done for you.

  5. Guard your mouth and your attitude.
    1. Murmuring and complaining will undo all that you have strived to achieve through your prayers and confessions.
    2. Murmuring displeases God (Numbers 11:11).
      1. When you go from thanksgiving to murmuring, you go from light to darkness.
    3. Those who murmured in the wilderness were destroyed; it turned God against them.
    4. People who murmur are natural failures; nothing works for them, which causes them to live a life of perpetual struggle.
    5. A grateful heart is your fastest escape out of the trap of murmuring.
    6. Gratitude will cause God’s presence to engulf you.
    7. You can’t live a sign-dry life if you are full of gratitude and thanksgiving.

  6. Thanksgiving pleases God; ingratitude leads you to a curse.
    1. Jesus said that the reason the Father hadn’t left Him was that He did all things to please God.
    2. Thanksgiving and praise please God more than any other sacrifice (Psalm 69:30-31).
    3. If you know God and don’t give thanks to Him, your heart and imagination will be darkened.
    4. An attitude of ingratitude will open you up to a curse and cause you to want (Deuteronomy 28:46-48).
    5. By giving thanks, you are made whole.
      1. Example: When Jesus healed the 10 lepers, only one turned back around and gave thanks. The others were healed, but Jesus told him that he was made
        whole; there was no longer anything missing or broken in his life (Luke
        17:14-19).
      2. Give thanks continually for what you have and for what is to come.

  7. Your circumstances should not determine whether or not you give thanks.
    1. Abraham didn’t consider what things looked like—his old age and Sarah’s barren womb—when he stood on the Word that God had given him (Romans 4:18-20).
    2. In the middle of everything that is going on around you, give thanks no matter what the circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18, AMP).
    3. Giving thanks is God’s will for you.
      1. You won’t be able to find His ultimate will for your life until you have cultivated a life of thanksgiving.
    4. If you give thanks, you will experience multiplication (Jeremiah 30:19).

Scripture References:

  • Hebrews 13:15
  • Psalm 34:1-3
  • Psalm 136:1-3
  • Matthew 13:12
  • James 4:6
  • Psalm 92:1
  • Matthew 14:15-21
  • Numbers 16:2-3
  • Romans 2:1
  • Numbers 16:8-10, 33
  • Numbers 11:11
  • Psalm 69:30-31
  • Deuteronomy 28:46-48
  • Luke 17:14-19
  • Romans 4:18-20
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:18, AMP
  • Jeremiah 30:19

Pastor Robert Bagonza

Redeemed Church

www.mrolec.org