The Attitude of Gratefulness

“Count Your Blessings” was written by one of the prolific gospel songwriters of the past century, a Methodist lay preacher named Johnson Oatman.

“Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

There is always something to be thankful for in life. It is a moment counting our blessings and giving thanks to God for what He has done in our lives. Unfortunately, the atmosphere around us is pretty hostile right now. We live in a critical society that blame-shifts, makes excuses, and complains about everything. There is always an abundance of negatives, but Thanksgiving is a joyous event in a hostile world.

There is nothing we need that God has not provided; that we lack anything doesn’t mean He is withholding what we lack from us. On the contrary, in geneses before God created man, He ensured that everything that man would ever need was available.

If your needs have been met in life, you are expected to be grateful to those who supply. That is the exact position we are expected to be in life, knowing that God has provided all our needs in Christ Jesus. Gratefulness should be our response to the faithfulness of the Son of God.

Scripture said, But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. Hebrews 3:6.

Thanksgiving should not just be a day event or a yearly thing; most times, we concentrate only on our birthdays and so forth. Instead, Thanksgiving should be our day-to-day lifestyle. It should be a time to say, “Lord, thank you, Lord, for what you have done. I realize my blessing comes from you because of the grace and mercy you have extended toward me. Thank you, Lord, for being my helper, deliverer, healer, provider. Etc.

In abundance and blessing, let’s never forget that none of us would be where we are today if it weren’t for God’s grace. So many times, the Lord helps us when we are not aware of it. As a songwriter wrote. “Even when we don’t see it, He is working.” (SINACH) The truth is that we have all faced situations that justified tears and sorrow. But God turns them around. So many of us walk away from those ugly situations without ever thanking Him.

Gratitude should be a life attitude

Faith; Walking With Hope and Patience

I believe complaining is a spirit because I have watched closely and found out that many people are dissatisfied with their present state of life. Therefore, to be ungrateful has nothing to do with your current state. The wealthy, the poor, the landlord, the tenant, the married, the single, parent and nonparent, educated and non-educated. The list continued; every one of them is a victim of ingratitude.

That is why I concluded that ungratefulness is spiritual. It is a spirit that everyone needs to avoid. When the spirit of ungratefulness possesses someone, everything in their lives stops working. It means the nature of ungratefulness destroys, kills, and diminish things.

You will know an ungrateful person from their countenance. They complain about everything, and they are always sad. No one wants to associate with an ungrateful person. Why? Because their environment appears to be very intense. They are far from positivity and possibility in their thought. Such an attitude doesn’t attract anything good. On the contrary, it means such people hardly make advancements in life.

For example, we should draw a lesson from the children of Israelis in Numbers 21. They tend to complain over everything. They focus on what they don’t have or what they haven’t done. Some are waiting for life to improve before they change their attitude.

We don’t have to be completely satisfied with everything in our lives to be thankful. Every one of us is a work in progress. So even if we’re not where we want to be, we can thank God that we’re not where we were because of His saving grace.

God has done so much for us. But sometimes, it seems like we’re ungrateful. Some of us say, “well, you’ve done that, Lord. Now give me this.” But instead, we should say, “thank you, God, for what you’re doing for me now. And thank you for the greater things that lie ahead.” Whether we may or may not be spiritually, financially, physically, or emotionally, it’s never ok to have an ungrateful attitude.

Perhaps you’re at a point where everything in your life seems to be going wrong, and you don’t think of anything you should thank God for in your life. Are you alive? Do you have good health? But, even if your body isn’t well, Jesus healed you over 2,000 years ago. That’s something you should be grateful for in life.

Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,  in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:14-14.

We can always thank God for saving us and forgiving our sins. We can be thankful for the unfair advantage of the greater one who lives in us and leads and guides us. It doesn’t matter how bad a situation looks; we’re never alone.

Too many times, however, we don’t thank God for what we have. We’re too busy telling Him what we don’t have. That you don’t have or haven’t seen it doesn’t mean God has not provided. When our lives become full of complaining and grumbling, it shortens our vision from seeing what God has for us.

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32.

We need to be grateful in all things and all times. In Philippians 4:6-7. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

It takes a positive attitude to unlock the flow of the supernatural. We can constantly keep our Heaven open with an attitude of Thanksgiving. 

Joy is the key: With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:3.

One of the best examples of the power of maintaining an attitude of Thanksgiving is found in Acts chapter 16.

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. Acts 16:25,26.

Paul and Silas had been badly beaten and thrown in jail for preaching the Gospel. They didn’t know if they would live to see another day. But despite their situation, they began to pray and sing praises to God. They knew that their God was great, and He was more than able to deliver them out of any circumstance.

It would have been easy for Paul and Silas to pout at that moment. We’ve all pouted when things don’t go our way. But faith doesn’t fret. It only makes the situation and everyone around you more miserable.

Faith shouts! During their battle, chained to a wall with their backs still bleeding, Paul and Silas chose to shout praises to God. They decided to maintain an attitude of Thanksgiving. It didn’t matter what the situation looked like because faith knows it has the answer when it prays. That same night, God delivered Paul and Silas from their captivity (v.26).

Paul wrote a lot in the New Testament about being thankful. He faced many trials-stoning, shipwrecks, imprisonment, rejection, and constant persecution-but through it all, he remained thankful.

Think of what we could do if we had Paul’s attitude. Imagine how much we could accomplish if we began to thank God for everything He has done in our lives. It’s easy to thank the Lord when in our own eyes, everything is going great. But can we praise and thank Him when things are out of our expectations? When we face trials and tribulations, we find out what we’re made of inside.

Let’s decide to have an attitude of Thanksgiving every day. First, begin to thank your Father God for what you have and for the people He has placed in your life. Then, thank the Lord daily that your sins are forgiven, you have the Greater One dwelling in you, and you are on the road to Heaven. Remember, no matter what you’re going through, you have already made it because God said we are overcomers in Christ Jesus.

Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:37.

Four Benefits Of Gratefulness

Knowing God’s will:

In everything, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18. KJV

When a purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. Therefore, being a Christian and not knowing or understanding the will of God is critical. Why? Because when you know God’s will, you will be able to access the kingdom benefits rightfully. 

You seem to be reluctant or not consistent in applying Godly principles in your life because you lack the knowledge of His will. When you know and understand God’s will, your motivation, passion, zeal towards life, and relationship with God will become more and more fruitful. When you equip yourself with the proper knowledge of God’s will, it will cause you to continue and not grow weary.

Thanksgiving multiplies things:

And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to Heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were leftover. Matthew 14:19-20. NIV

It is always good to be grateful for the little things we may have. However, the scripture said we should not forsake the day of little beginning. Zechariah 4:10. It takes the right attitude to see beyond what you have or the position you might be in at a time. If a farmer ignores a seed, he has destroyed a great harvest because the farm’s future is in that tiny seed.

So many of us have destroyed our seed with the words of our mouth through murmuring, complaining, and bitterness. Being grateful for the little thing in our hands will activate the principle of multiplication that comes through Thanksgiving to increase it.

Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. Job 8:7.

Thanksgiving perfects things:

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” [whole.] NIV

Even if it did not go well as you thought, thank God, and the Lord will perfect it and make it good. To enjoy perfection then we must be grateful in all things. It takes faith to be thankful even when something doesn’t look perfect. As a child of God, we are encouraged to walk in faith because faith is the key to activating the supernatural.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17.

We should start taking baby steps. That is how it works; it doesn’t just happen overnight. So start doing the little, little things by being thankful for all times. That is the way to grow your trust in God

The lifestyle of a Christian is a lifestyle of faith. So, be willing to walk in confidence as a Christian. The faith walk is seeing things beyond the natural; that is, seeing and believing what the Word of God says.

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19.

Jesus Christ succeeded in His earthly ministry because He was in tune with His Father. Therefore, everything He sees or hears from His Father is what He does. So likewise, we can be in tune with our Father through His Word by studying, believing, and practicing. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 5:2.

Thanksgiving gives life to dead things:

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”  When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:40-44. NIV. 

As water is to plant, that is how Thanksgiving is to our lives. Thanksgiving gives life to anything that seems not working around us. We will always be joyful when we are thankful, and a cheerful fellow will always remain fruitful. The fruits will remain because nothing dies around a joyous person.

The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Joel 1:12.

BE COURAGEOUS

We shouldn’t easily give up on life. Why? Because there is hope for every one of us, for God is on our side. He has not, and He will not give up on us. The best way to succeed in our Christian faith is to learn from those that have gone ahead, for God not being a respecter of person; He will see you through.

In Mathematics, they have an Example; the goal is to teach you how to understand the formula and solve other Mathematical problems. If you ignore the example, then you have decided to fail. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1.

Enhance your spirituality by doing what is required of Christians. Christians don’t approach or go through life as non-Christians. Christianity is for the tough-minded; we don’t give up or give in; we don’t faint in the day of adversity. We’re not at the mercy of Satan; we know what to do when he shows up; we use the Name of Jesus against him. We’ve been given the right and power of attorney to use the Name of Jesus and make our petitions known to our heavenly Father for answers. That is what you must do when you need to change things; continue in prayer. Pray fervently with the Word until you have the note of victory in your spirit.

James 5:16-18 says, “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the Heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” Elijah prayed this way and got results; He didn’t give up or give in!

You, too, can take advantage of God’s Word and insist on your rights in Christ. Take God’s Word to Him in prayer, and continue until your spirit bears your witness.

Don’t give up! Have an attitude of Thanksgiving, and you will always be on the other side!