Rev Francisco Bilog
Thanksgiving is a good and wonderful day for God’s people like us. God wants nothing more than for us to be people of thanksgiving and gratitude. “A thankful
spirit is one of the key distinguishing marks of a Christian. It sets us apart from the world, it makes us different.” Psalm 118:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord for he
is good, his love endures forever.”
I. THE BENEFITS OF A GRATEFUL SPIRIT
Now why do you think being a thankful person is so important? Well I think
it is because gratefulness is good for us. There are a many ways being a grateful person can benefit you.
A) For one, being a grateful person can INCREASE YOUR PERSONAL HAPPINESS. Most of us think that our happiness is determined by our circumstances.
We’ve been taught that our happiness is somehow dependent on how well
things go for us. But really our happiness is determined by attitude. It is really in
how we see things. The apostle Paul wrote these words from prison (yes prison). “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say it rejoice.” (Philip.4:4). Paul
was happy despite being in prison and how, he learned to thank God in everything
he did. It was really his perspective on life.
Happiness is really determined by our perspective in life not by circumstances.
If we learn to be grateful people despite circumstances that will greatly improve
our happiness.
B) Being a grateful person can also IMPROVE YOUR WITNESS FOR CHRIST. Having a noticeable countenance of thankfulness and joy will certainly make us
better witnesses for Christ. What is sad is that most Christians are the most
negative, sour people in the world. We act like we have been baptized in vinegar
not in the Holy Spirit. It is no wonder people don’t want to have anything to do
with us.
But when we are thankful, joyful, upbeat people we attract people with
our spirit of gratitude because the world is so dark and depressing and ungrateful.
People are so discouraged? Yet if we can learn to be different, upbeat and thankful, we will attract them. We have something they don’t. 1 Peter 2:12 reads, “Live
such good lives among the pagans that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on
the day he visits us.” Living a life of thankfulness will attract the lost.
Being a grateful person will also ENHANCE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS. There is
one thing I notice about some married couples. After awhile many of them become ungrateful and unappreciative of their spouses. Over time they take each other for granted.
But husbands imagine about how much your marriage would improve if you came home one day with some flowers and just told your wife how thankful you
are for all she does. You might give her a wonderful heart through the year!.
Wives, just think about how much your marriage would improve if you told your husband how much appreciate him once and awhile. Kids, think about how
much better things would go for you in the home if you told mom and dad once
and awhile how grateful you are for the money they spend on you and the stuff
they get you? And the things they do for you?
Just imagine how much better our church relationships would be if we expressed our thanks for each other from time to time. Instead of picking at each other faults so much, what if just stopped and became grateful for each other.
Do you know how the apostle Paul began most of his letters in the Bible?
To the church in Rome he wrote. “First, I thank my God for all of you.” (Romans
1:8) To the church in Corinth. “I always thank God for you (1 Corinthians 1:4).
To the church in Ephesus, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you; remembering you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:16). To the church in Philippi,
“I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3). To the church
in Colossi, “I always thank God when I pray for you.” (Colossians 1:3).
Paul made sure that he let people in the churches know that he was thankful
for them. Imagine how much better our church and our relationships would be if
we expressed our thanks for each other.
C). I’ll tell you another way having a grateful heart will benefit you. It will
SOLIDFY YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. Which is the top benefit. Someone
once said that God lives in two places. He lives in heaven and in a humble,
grateful heart. Hebrews 12:25 says, “Let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts.”
You know what I have found to be true in my life? I have found that I have
an overwhelming need to give thanks. There is a desire within me to give thanks
to something for what I have.
There is something inside of each of us that needs to give thanks to God. When I spend time giving thanks to God for all I have, I just feel close to him,
don’t you? I think that is exactly why, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It is God’s
plan, his will for us to give thanks to him. He made us for that.
II. WAYS OF EXPRESSING OUR THANKSGIVING IN OUR LIVES
Well, what are some ways we can become more grateful people? Now, remember that Everything We Have Is From God. Acknowledge that everything
we have is God’s and not ours. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” When we do this, it reminds us that it is a privilege that God
has loaned us everything we have. 1 Corinthians 4:7 says, “What do you have
that you did not receive from God? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”
The story is told of a poor man who was given a loaf of bread. He thanked the baker, but the
baker said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the miller who made the flour.” So he thanked the miller, but the miller said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the farmer who planted the wheat.”
So he thanked the farmer. But the farmer said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the Lord. He gave
the sunshine & rain & fertility to the soil, & that’s why you have bread to eat.”
Everything we own, we ultimately received from God and we owe him thanks. James 1:17, “
Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does
not change like the shifting sand.”
A). We now realized that we are blessed. Realizing and feeling that we
are blessed let us go and express our thankfulness first to those who have been willing and loving instrument by God to bring His blessings upon you.
(Illust. The Praying Hands by Albrecht Durer)
Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.
Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder’s children had a
dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father
would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.
After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a
pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss
completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with
sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.
They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went
off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed
his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he
graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.
When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their
lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated
with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a
toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition.
His closing words were, “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can
go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”
All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears
streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and
repeated, over and over, “No …no …no …no.”
Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at
the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look … look what four years in the mines have done
to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been
suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your
toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother … for
me it is too late.”
One day, when he went home from his shop, he saw his brother in his room with folded hands
in prayer, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and
thin fingers stretched skyward to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed,. He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands,” but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his
great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love “The Praying Hands.”
The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your
reminder, if you still need one, that no one – no one – – ever makes it alone!
Yes, offer and express your thankfulness to all who have been an instrument of God’s blessings upon you.
Again we must remember that all of these blessings came from God who
love us so much. So realizing and feeling that we are so blessed, let us therefore express our thankfulness to God by loving him. Our Methodist General Rules says “We should stay in loved with God.” Loving God could be manifested by obeying His commands.
Thus I challenge all of us today, YOU ARE BLESSED, THEREFORE OBEY HIS COMMANDS.
Now, one of His commands that rings and always speaks to His church and
all who call themselves Blessed is this “Go and make disciples of Jesus Christ!”
When you are blessed, you will always be joyful and happy that the blessings you are enjoying also be poured upon people you know. When you
make disciples of Jesus Christ you become a channel of blessings to that person.
Yes, discipleship starts when people open their hearts and lives, for Jesus
Christ to enter- in and be their Savior and Lord. Discipleship is also for people
who have surrendered their lives to the Lord but need help, guidance and
friendship, as they walk and grow in the faith and in the service of God. A fruitful expression of your thankfulness to God for your blessedness is to choose one
person this year, a friend, a neighbor, a church mate or office mate with a
thankful purpose of walking, learning, growing and serving God joyfully until
he/she become matured in the faith.
B), One last thing we can to do to produce a spirit of thanksgiving is to
DEVELOP THE DAILY DISCIPLINE OF GIVING THANKS. In order to be thankful
people we need to start to give thanks everyday. Not just once a year on Thanksgiving. We need to discipline ourselves to find something each day that
we should be thankful for and express our thanks to God. Perhaps create a journal
or a file on our computers where we list the things God has done for us. Call it a praise file. Thanksgiving must become a daily habit.
Ephesians 5:19 says, “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.” Always is the key
word. Not just on Thanksgiving. Everyday.
Remember the old hymn?
“When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
when you are discouraged thinking all is lost.
Count your many blessing, name them one by one.
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”
Brothers and sisters, let us be thankful and express and offer our thanksgiving joyfully in manifold ways, such as going to the person who has been a channel of
the blessings you have enjoyed and be thankful; and then make a covenant to stay
in love with God and joyfully obeying His commands, specially obeying His
commands of making disciples of Jesus Christ by sharing the blessings you have enjoyed to a person you have chosen to pray with, walk and grow together in the faith and vitally serving God as the Lord calls you to do.
Yes, indeed, if you are blessed and thankful to God today, make it your goal
and mission this year to disciple even just one person, and I pray that during your thanksgiving and anniversary next year you would give thanks and present the
fruits of your love and ministry to God.