Beautiful afternoon to everyone on the platform and happy Sunday too. Not to forget too, it's the last day of the month of August and want to specially wish everyone happy new month in advance.
Thanksgiving is one of the thing that is done voluntarily in the house of God. It's not a command but to be self decided.
Thanksgiving shows our gratefulness for the favor/kindness demonstrated towards us. It's a good thing to give thanks to God for His goodness and mercy towards us always. we should sing glorifying His only name for His good deeds.
We should give thanks to Him because it's His desire for us to be saved according to 1 Timothy 2:4,2Timothy 1:10 and Phillipians 1:10. It's God who has made it possible for those in darkness to be saved and be brought into the marvelous light of His kingdom. Hence we should thank Him for His saving Grace and ability to continue in the faith.
It's also Worth thanking God to be used as instrument to reach out to the needy-Colosians 3:14. Extending help towards one another is something that is commendable and it shows an act of love. Through love shown , it can cause men to change from who they were to knowing God and following His ways. Giving shouldn't be restricted to only those around us but to all men(Galatians 6:10). In Psalms 46:10,the bible admonished us to be still and know that He is God. He would see to our needs. when we show men goodness,they would be convinced to draw close to God for sending help through men to them. Our Thanksgiving to God should be endless. Lets us be instrument of God so His will be done to all men. we are to bear one another's burden according Galatians 6:10. There is a God who guided us in all we do and we shouldn't take this for granted. Nothing can equal the grace we receive from the Lord. we should glory in knowing God and not in what we have because all things belongs to God. whosoever offer praise, glorify God-Psalms50:23.
According to 2Timothy2:22, we may face persecution in doing the Will of God and hence we need patience too. In the world there is trials which may likely face and hence we must keep praying for one another, but the good thing is that Christ had already overcome for us, so we shouldn't be afraid of the trial but we need patience to do the will of God. we should always remember the goodness of God-Psalms100:2. Christ endured persecution but the end was glorious-Heb 12:2. There are more glory to witness here on earth🌎. Every suffering has a reward. when we serve God, we would receive comfort. we shouldn't have the mindset that it would be suffering all through our lives. There is a joy set before us-psalms 37:5. If we obey God, He would not want us to suffer. The pleasures of sin is temporary and the end is suffering. Lets seek God first and God would take care of every other thing that pertain to do eithy us-Matthew 6:33. When we obey the word of God, we would be happy and prosperous- Psslms 1:1-3. Christ promise us rest when we come to Him;we would see the pleasure of serving God who is the owy of all things.
In summary
- Thanksgiving is a voluntary act and when decided to be done,it should be done whole heartedly and cheerfully.
- We should thank God for everything both the good experience and the bad ones because God's thought towards us are always good.
- Christ has already overcome for us , hence whatsoever is confronting us is only temporary.
*The more we thank Him, the more we are likely to obtain more from Him(God)