THANKFULNESS

SUNDAY SERVICE JAN 31ST 2016 BY REV. OWEN WAFULA Thanksgiving has two parts: Thanks: We come to thank God Give: We come to give back to God So we come into the presence of God to do both. If you don’t do so the devil can easily redirect you and you get an ungrateful heart. You henceforth start blaming others and complaining. This is not from God. A discontented person becomes the devils target. There are things the devil makes them look attractive and if you have an ungrateful heart, you fall prey. Its always good to remember to give thanks. No one can give thanks if they have a short memory. If you give someone something and they cant remember, they can never say thank you. And if they come next time, since they dint remember to say thank you, you may not give them. There are people with short memories that they cant remember what god has done for them 1 Chronicles 16:1-36 Points to note on Good thankfulness 1. Remember what God has done The Israelites at the red sea forgot what God had done. Moses told them the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt would deliver them. God has seen you through 2015, what is it that is making you afraid in 2016? He shall surely see you through. God made a way through the red sea, they got to the desert, no food, no water and they started murmuring again for they had a short memory. We are alive today because God has kept us. Remember what God has done for other people. Dissatisfaction comes the moment we shift attention from what we have to what we don’t have, when you stop thinking of things you have to things you don’t have. Numbers 11:4-6 When God gives us something, He protects it but when man gives us something, that has an end. Though the Israelites had manna (food of the angels) they still complained and longed for food they ate in Egypt. They forgot that they had to pay for it with hard labour. Learn to be careful. 2. Telling others about what God has done Give a personal testimony of what God has done. For the bible tells us they overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. 1 Chronicles 16:8-9, Psalms 105:1-4, Leviticus 7:2 Chronicles 16:8-9, Psalms 105:1-4, Leviticus 7:28-38 You have to personally bring the sacrifice to the Lord. By that you will be publicly declaring what God has done. Take time to personally communicate your thanks to God and others who have done you good. 3. Show God’s glory to others 1 Chronicles 16:10,24-25,28,29-34 Publish His glorious deeds among the nations. God has done us a lot that we need to tell others, people will get saved Acts 3:4-13 Peter took the opportunity to publicize the glorious God. If you are grateful to what God has done, show His glory to other people. Giving praise and gratitude brings glory to God for we have been created to glorify Him. 4. Offering gifts of self, time and resources Romans 12:1 You yourself become a sacrifice to God Hannah asked for a son and promised to give the child to God. She lived to fulfill her promise Most people make vows but never fulfill them. Lets give ourselves, time as a sacrifice to God. For theres no valuable thing we can give to someone other than time. If God quantifies what he does for us, even if we sell our whole generation we can never pay back. There will be no great overflow until we are thankful to God Proverbs 3:9, 1 Chronicles 29:9, Exodus 25:5 1Chronicles 16:8-9, 29,37 5. Give offerings of resources God has blessed us with material things. Share them and serve the Lord with gratitude.