The Power Of Thanksgiving.

Luke 17:16-19, "And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. - And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? - There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. - And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole".
okay, it's normal. Anyone you favor that does not thank you, might just loose your favor for life, or sometimes we actually weigh the quality of thanks, when we expect much thanks and we just get shallow thank you, we get discouraged from doing something for that person because we feel he or she didn't appreciate it. Now, let me start by saying, the only thing God cannot do for Himself is thanking Himself and praising Himself. No wonder He said in Luke 19:40, "And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out". This was because the Pharisees wanted Him to scold His disciples for praising Him. So, even if you stop thanking and praising God, someone else will. He still remains the I am that I am with or without our praise and thanks.

But you see, thanksgiving is a debt we owe God that must be paid otherwise the supplies will be cut short. Thanksgiving and praise invokes God's presence on the thanks giver, we are told that God inhabits the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3) so God is always with the person that gives thanks to Him and Divine presence is what you need to have a most triumphant ride in life, just like we can see in Romans 8:31, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?".
Jesus Himself gave thanks and 5 loaves and 2 fish became sufficient for 5000 men (John 6:11-14)

Many Christians are grounded because they take God for granted. Please note that God won't be with you because you are crying but He will be with you because you are praising Him. Prayer, Fasting, giving none of them qualifies you for divine presence. your prayer is giving God an extra job to do, He has to answer it, your giving is to open up the blessings of God in your direction. There is nothing God is benefiting from us apart from our thank you, bless you. your giving is out of the abundance that God has given you, so there is nothing He gets from it, but when you praise God, you attract Him and when you attract Him everything goes attractive for you. God's presence makes all the difference.

The truth is the degree of your gratitude is what defines the greatness of your journey. Gratitude is what determines your altitude in life. The more grateful you are, the more colorful your destiny becomes and your life will never go empty. none of your tanks can ever be empty when you are full of thanks. it is a worthy addiction to be grateful to God. The reason we are stranded is because we are addicted to murmurings and complains. See what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:10, "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer". In other words, murmuring leads to destruction. complains may look logical but thanksgiving is the only lawful way to go forward. it attracts unsolicited favor.

When we pray, God hears us, but when we praise, God comes down! so now between hearing you and coming down, which one is more powerful? When God comes down every Pharaoh on your way is cleared. it might not look like anything to you but God is working for you. I must say that so many people do not give thanks because

• They think that the happenings in their life is by their strength. you forget that it is out of His fullness, have we all received, (John 1:6). listen, if God didn't let what you have come to you, you will never get it, remember the Parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21. My dear the moment you start thinking it is by your strength and might, that moment you start diminishing. it might all be leveled out before you know it.
• Some people do not give thanks to God because of bitterness. so much bitterness in them that they can't even see any thing good in their life. please if you think that there is nothing good in your life how about the life you are living, the breathe. if you don't have that you will probably not even have the anything to complain of. please be thankful to God. please be grateful to God.
• Another reason is because of greed. some people just cannot get enough. There is nothing you give to them, that they don't wish they had more. they just want more and more or perhaps, nothing. and so they don't see reasons to thank God for the half that they think that they got, even when they say thanks they don't even mean it and God knows our heart.

Why Must We Give Thanks

1. To preserve our blessings Malachi 2:1-3
2. To perfect our blessings Luke 17:15-19. Note that the best of God will always follow the thanks of man.
3. To multiply our blessings John 6:1-11
4. To keep the anointing of God fresh in our lives. Psalm 92:1-2,10-15.
5. Thanksgiving is a way to silence our enemies.

It is not just giving thanks to God, we must also give Him thanks acceptably. just like we humans can't just take anyhow thanks, God too cannot just take a careless thanks. There are some conditions for acceptable thanksgiving.

• We must give thanks cheerfully, Jeremiah 30:19, Deut 28:17-18
• We must thank God quickly Jeremiah 13:15-17

let me leave you with these words of Malachi 2:2-3, "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, says the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. - Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it".
 My Dear, it is VERY RISKY NOT TO THANK GOD FOR HIS ACT AND PRAISE FOR HIS PERSONALITY. you can pray amiss but you cannot praise amiss. Until you are able to see what God has done, you are not qualified to see the next things that you desire.

first things first,  if you have not received Christ, your thanks cannot even be accepted as Jesus is the only way. if you are not saved, you are not safe, if you are not sure, then you are not saved. if you would like to give your life to Christ or maybe you fell off at some point and you would like to return back and reconnect with God, say this prayer and mean it," Lord Jesus, I come to You today, I accept that I am a sinner and I confess my sins and repent from them. I believe that You died on the cross of Calvary for my sins. Thank You for forgiving me. today I am saved, I am born again. thank You Jesus". if you said this prayer congratulations, you are now a child of God, so let go of the past evil ways, for the Bible says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away, behold, all things are become new (2 Cor 5:17). Be Blessed.