Gratitude: The Lifestyle of Faith

Do you know that everything you need to live a fulfilled and great life has already be given to you? Well if I have it and should cleary see it. Where is the bank alert you may say? My friend, it has been fully deposited in your life. Here is the alert, the scriptures says clearly that:

2 Peter 1:3 (KJV)
³  According as HIS divine power HATH GIVEN unto us ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN UNTO LIFE AND GODLINESS, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Now if someone has done something for you, would you not thank the person? When you say thank you, you are showing that you have received it wholeheartedly. If someone says take this $10,000 money to buy a car, you would say thank you because you have received what is needed to meet your transportation needs and end your public transport life. Now what if the car you are going to buy is $8,000 and when you get to the car dealer he says “well the price for the car has increased and is now $12,000”. You will shout in frustration that the money is not enough. But guess what, the work that Christ did on the cross for you and now working in you as a believer is so effective that it is able to meet all your needs. There is absolutely no problem you will meet that Jesus blood has not already provided the solution. The way Christ solved challenges when he was walking on the earth is deposited in you now to live the way he lived and solve any challenge.

Do you know that there is just one miracle in particular that was recorded in all four gospels? It is not the miracle of raising Lazarus. Neither is it the miracle when Jesus walked on water but rather when Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes. Everyone ate well until they were filled (John 6:9). There was no complaint of the food finished before it got to me or they passed me and I got nothing. The lord emphasized the miracle of multiplication in all the gospel books to show you that his supply is far more than any demand that you come across. Our supply is a mighty supply. Let us give thanks for that.

Do you know that for a person to give thanks it involves the act of remembering? When your respond positively to something you remembered, thanks giving is birthed. When 10 lepers where cleansed by Jesus, only one realizing that he is cleansed turned back, fell down at his feet and gave him thanks (Luke 17:15-19). What made him give thanks was that he remembered what Jesus had done. This in the end brought wholeness to his finger. Parts of his body that was destroyed by the leprosy grew back. So whatever you come across, remember what Jesus did on the cross. Remember that on the cross, he dealt with all sins thereby dealing with all problems.

A man of God was asked “What do you thank God for the most?” The man answered without even giving it a second thought by answering “Jesus.” When a need is staring you at the face, throw the seeds of thanksgiving knowing that the need has been met at the cross. It will germinate solutions. The need for forgiveness of sins has been met, the need to succeed has been met; the need to have divine health has been met. So if it has been met what do you say to God to show you have received it? You say thank you Lord. So if the devil comes with his lies and deception saying “God will never forgive you”, what would you say back? You say to him what you know concerning that issue from the word, from the finished work of Christ. You say “Father I thank you that I am forgiven and I am redeemed” (Ephesians 1:7). It is done deal, signed, sealed and satisfied on the cross.

Giving thanks is an act of faith. Jesus told the leper “Arise, go thy way: thy faith had made thee whole” (Luke 17:19). When did the leper act in faith? He acted in faith when he gave thanks. Stop looking at giving thanks as just a way of being polite, it is a faith walk. Faith does not initiate an action on its own. Faith is action that comes from a response to God’s word. When you remember scriptures or what God has done for you, you will respond by giving him thanks. That is faith. Another scripture that shows that thanks giving is an act of faith is in Romans 4:20 (KJV).

20   He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; BUT WAS STRONG IN FAITH, GIVING GLORY TO GOD;

You see strong faith was linked with giving glory to God. In fact we can say that you cannot claim to have strong faith if you are not giving thanks.

Being grateful is not for weaklings, is for the strong. When everything is just going wrong for you, you think your feelings will support you to give thanks? It will not. Thanksgiving acts like an anchor. It keeps you in faith. It keeps your feelings in check but once you start griping and complaining, it is like removing the anchor and the storm will carry you away. When we complain, it is like telling God “Can’t you see, do something”. But when we thank God we know that God has empowered us to change the situation around. Thanksgiving is not a one off thing. It is a lifestyle. The power of being grateful shows up in consistency. At the beginning it may not feel like anything is happening but as you continue in it over a prolonged period of time, your life will begin to transform. Your problems will have nowhere to latch on you. If you want to be a person of faith then be a person that is always grateful.