Gift of Thanks

Seeds for more

November 21, 2021

Gift of Thanks

It’s so great to receive stuff – even those things that are just practical, like groceries or parts to fix things. This is possibly a great reason why Amazon has become the largest company in the world. People would rather order something and receive it at their door than run down to the store and pick it up themselves. It just feels good, even when you already know what it is. But especially when it’s something you’ve really needed and wanted for a long time, and it comes as a gift from a loved one. Now, that really produces a rush of goodness. Sometimes, though, even just a kind word or a Facebook ‘like’ can bless as it is received.

The problem with getting hooked on just receiving, though, is that there can be a missing out on something even greater – giving. As Jesus indicated in Acts 20, the blessing for the giver is greater than for the receiver. In fact, we’re also told that when you get hooked on this greater blessing, you can count on God supporting your habit. (2 Cor. 9) He turns on the grace so that there is an abundance to give all over the place, wherever there is an opportunity. Once this really gets rolling, it sets up an attitude of continual gratitude for this abundant supply. A relationship with the Provider is developed of complete assurance that, whatever the need may be, He has already provided it in abundance for those who have opened up the door of giving. The gift of thanks to Him, then, is just an expression of faith before and after the reception of what will be used for the greater blessing of giving. Thanks, for the giver, is fixation on the provision no matter the level of need, with overwhelming confidence that, way more dependable than Amazon, God has already provided.

Notes

Receiving things is one of the great gratifications of life.

Giving is even greater than receiving. More blessed to give than receive

Acts 20:35 (NKJV) 35 … And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

In order to give, though, there must first be reception of something.

Freely received, freely give

Matthew 10:8 (NKJV) 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

With the reception of a thing, there is possession of another gift to be given– thanks.

Luke 17:15-16 (NKJV) 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

In giving, there is provision for more reception/giving.

The degree of thanks given determines the degree of provision for more

Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

With a gift is benefit to the giver – supplied needs

Philippians 4:17-20 (NKJV) 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. 18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

When thanks is given, focus is shifted from need/desire to what has been received.

Thanksgiving for liberal reception from God

2 Corinthians 9:6-12 (NKJV) 6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written: “HE HAS DISPERSED ABROAD, HE HAS GIVEN TO THE POOR; HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER.” 10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

In Christ we’ve already been given everything for life and godliness.

God – the Great Giver of every good/perfect gift

James 1:17 (NKJV) 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Already given every need – when believed/thanks

2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV) 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Thanks is the faith expression of belief in what is already yours in Him, whether seen or not.

Faith is the present possession of what is yet to be seen.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Giving thanks is planting seed for more as it displaces complaining.

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) 14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Thanks – God’s will

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV) 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Overview:

  • Receiving things is one of the great gratifications of life.
  • Giving is even greater than receiving.
  • In order to give, though, there must first be reception of something.
  • With the reception of a thing, there is possession of another gift to be given– thanks.
  • In giving, there is provision for more reception/giving.
  • When thanks is given, focus is shifted from need/desire to what has been received.
  • In Christ we’ve already been given everything for life and godliness.
  • Thanks is the faith expression of belief in what is already yours in Him, whether seen or not.
  • Giving thanks is planting seed for more as it displaces complaining.

Prayer:

“You are the Giver of every good thing, and I am incredibly blessed by all that is mine in You. Help me to grow in the reality of this truth and develop in its expression of thanks. May each gift of thanks be much more than just a fulfilled obligation. Let it be a faith declaration of my heart’s belief with more than enough power for mountain removal.”

Declarations:

  • In receiving the free gift of life in Christ, I have already been provided with complete abundance for life and Godliness.
  • As I have freely received these many treasures, I am even more blessed in their giving to others and the continual giving of thanks that they are already mine.
  • As gratitude fills my heart and mouth, so provision is made for an ever-expanding provision of resources for giving.
  • In every word of thanks is a redirected thought from an area of lack to an abundance of provision.
  • My new life in Christ is filled with the incredible gratification of giving from both the seen and unseen abundance that is mine right now in the gift of thanks.