Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love for His wondrous works to the children of man. He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things. – Psalm 107:8, 9
I love the smell of a turkey roasting in the oven but the heavenly fragrance that is released through offering our thanksgiving and gratitude to God surpasses any other aroma.
This is an awesome time of the year, a time in which we reflect on our past, our present and as Christians, on our future filled with great things. It is a time where we are reminded of the steadfast love and goodness of our Heavenly Father.
God has equipped each one of us with gifts, with tools, with characteristics that set us up for success in Him and through Him, and for Him. And He has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us. Wow, we have many reasons to be thankful!
It takes time and effort to harvest a fruitful spirit of joy. We cultivate joy by practicing gratitude; making a deliberate, specific, and intentional effort to be thankful to God and to others.
“But thanks be to God! For through what Christ has done, He has triumphed over us so that now wherever we go He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Gospel like a sweet perfume. As far as God is concerned there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives. It is the fragrance of Christ within us, an aroma to both the saved and the unsaved all around us.”
2 Corinthians 2:14, 15
When we give God our thanks and praise, we release supernatural authority over every situation that we face. It frees us from stress and pressure and allows God to fight our battles! When we are grateful, thankful Christians, powerful supernatural forces from heaven are unleashed that cause things to work for us the way they should.
My encouragement to you in this season is to remember that:
- The death and resurrection of Jesus have covered every need we could ever face or situation that we are in.
- Thankfulness to God changes our perspective on every situation and takes our focus off the desperation and hopelessness to the great victory that God has in store.
- It shuts up the enemy when he sees that our total dependency is in the Lord.
- When we are in a negative situation and we start thanking God for victory, it raises our faith levels to believe that God will answer our prayers
- By giving thanks to God, we allow the fragrance of God in us to permeate our situation and others are encouraged and come to know the goodness of God.
I know that the road that you travel on is often very dusty and has numerous obstacles. You will be misunderstood and possibly even abused. But you are standing strong in His might, for His glory. And for that I salute you, I honour you, and thank you for representing Jesus in our community. It’s an honour to fight and build alongside you and to know that encouragement and prayers are flowing for each other.
Happy Thanksgiving!
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
William Arthur Ward
