Standing in Stubborn Thankfulness
Daniel 6:10
Video Clip - Give Thanks - 1
The story is told of two old friends bumped into one another on the street one day. One looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?"
The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars."
"That’s a lot of money."
"But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear."
"Sounds like you’ve been blessed . . ."
"You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million."
Now he was really confused. "Then, why do you look so glum?"
"This week . . . nothing!"
The Thanksgiving Holiday is the perfect reminder that as believers that we have not only a repeated command but also abundant reason to focus our lives on joy and gratitude of thanks-giving and thanks-living.
This morning I want to invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Daniel - Daniel and chapter six - and I want to talk with you about Standing in Stubborn Thankfulness.
My thesis this morning is simple - thankfulness is not only possible, but it is commanded - and it is required as a principle choice, not a circumstance dependant response, if you want to life a successful life.
Have you stopped to consider the immense spiritual value of thankfulness? I would suggest to you that one of the most significant keys to the release of spiritual power is heartfelt and mouth expressed thankfulness - and one of the most life shaping qualities you can possess is a spirit of thankfulness. Thankfulness releases power - it is a gateway to anointing, to the miraculous and to the fulfillment of God’s promises. And the greater the cost of thanksgiving, the greater the release of power. In other words, the harder it is or the more of a sacrifice it is to give thanks - the more spiritual power your thanks releases.
Psalms 50:23 says it this way:- "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."
Thankfulness, I would suggest to you this morning, was one of Daniel’s keys to success, influence and to spiritual power - he made a principle choice to be thankful - and I will show you that from the Word of God this morning.
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).
Are you a thankful person? Here’s the principle: -
People do not complain because they have problems - they have problems because they complain.
People are not ungrateful because they have so little - they have so little because they are ungrateful.
People are not disgruntled because life is hard - life is hard because they are disgruntled.
Psalm 77:3 says it this way, "I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed." (NKJV)
What’s happening here? Thanksgiving releases power - complaining grants satan unauthorized access. Church - I said "Thanksgiving releases power - complaining grants Satan unauthorized access."
Daniel 6:10 - Read - Pray
Daniel got down on his knees three times every day and prayed and gave thanks to his God. I believe what we need is stubborn thankfulness. How many of you know that you have got some stubbornness in you this morning? Well put your stubbornness on your thankfulness! Come on now - you know what I am talking about! What we need is a thankfulness that refuses to be quieted, will not be put down and that does not give way to the pressure of negative thinking, challenging obstacles or troubled times. You see my friend, this morning either you are standing in stubborn thankfulness or you are falling under the poison of ingratitude. Church - may I say that again? Either you are standing in stubborn thankfulness or you are falling under the poison of ingratitude. Despite his overwhelming circumstances, Daniel stood in stubborn gratitude. Let me tell you about his thankful spirit. There are a number of things you need to know about it.
1. A Thankful Spirit is an Extraordinary Spirit (Dan. 6:3)
Three times in the short book of Daniel he is described as ‘extraordinary’. It is a word that refers to something that goes beyond what is good, beyond even what is excellent - it refers to having even more than is needed, a sense of extreme plentifulness. You see my friend, when you have a spirit of thankfulness, you always have more than you need. Instead of spending your time scavenging for resources, you become a resource for other. Why? Because like Daniel, you have a spirit of thankfulness - and a thankful spirit is an extraordinary spirit. Wherever Daniel went, he was a resource. There are people in life you are simply consumers - all they do is take, take, take. And when someone else has a need they are too busy, too poor or too tired. And then there are others who are resource people. People who are thankful people are resource people because they are extraordinary - plentiful - overflowing. And when you have an extraordinary spirit - it directs and empowers your thoughts, your speech and your deeds.
"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." If you want to know what’s in your heart, stop and let your ears listen to your lips say.
Which do you tend to talk about more – your blessings or your burdens, your pleasures or your pain, the needs you have or the needs God has met?
Are you a complainer, always grumbling, always finding fault with your circumstances - or a thanker, always rejoicing, always testifying?
Are you always dissatisfied with what you have and wanting more - or have you discovered that contentment with godliness is great gain?
Are you known as someone who always expresses thanks to others - or do you just take it as your due, think they owe it to you?
The soul that gives thanks can find comfort in everything; the soul that complains can find comfort in nothing. Complaining is a symptom of a deep seated spiritual problem -- a failure to trust God and a failure to be satisfied with His provision in your life.
A king was said to have suffered a terribly painful sickness. His advisor told him that his only cure was to located a thankful and contented man, asking for his shirt to wear it night and day. Immediately messengers were sent through the kingdom to look for such a man and bring back his shirt. Months passed when finally all messengers returned empty-handed. The king was exasperated, "Do you mean to tell me there was not even a single man in all my realm who is thankful and content?" A messenger replied, "we found only one such man in all thy realm." Then why did you not bring his shirt for me? "Master, the man had no shirt."
A Thankful Spirit is an Extraordinary Spirit
2. A Thankful Spirit is an Obedient Spirit (Dan. 6:4)
Consistent obedience flows out of stubborn thankfulness. When you realize how much you have, the natural response is to obey. The commissioners and satraps were watching Daniel day in and day out - they watched him when he was in company and when he was alone, when he was at work and when he was at home, they noted his work ethic, his attitude, his honesty, his integrity - and they could find no grounds for accusation. Why? Because a thankful spirit is an obedient spirit. When we lose our deep gratitude for salvation, we let go of our sincere commitment to obedience. Church, I said when we lose our deep gratitude for salvation, we let go of our sincere commitment to obedience. The world could find no grounds for accusation against Daniel - not because they were not looking in the right places, but because they were looking at a man who had a thankful spirit - and a thankful spirit is always an obedience spirit.
A Thankful Spirit is an Extraordinary Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is an Obedient Spirit
3. A Thankful Spirit is a Honoring Spirit (Dan. 6:21)
You see, when you are thankful, you find it easy to honor others. Did you notice that about Daniel, it does not matter whether it was someone in authority or someone in the street, someone in the palace or someone in the prison, Potiphor or his wife, his brothers who did him in or his father who loved him, a thankful spirit is an honoring spirit?
1 Peter 2:17 say "Honor all people . . ."
To honor means treating another respectfully because you value them highly. It means simply to consider another as more important than yourself, to give them preference, treating them as special, doing more than what’s expected, and having a good attitude. When you honor someone for who they are, God releases their blessing into your life. That is why when you honor a prophet you get as prophet’s reward. When you honor a preacher you get a preacher’s reward. Daniel learned when you honor a king you get a king’s reward.
In a world that has lost the concept of honor, Daniel chose to honor his world, even when it dishonored him.
While it is much easier to honor someone who lives an honorable life, the command and the extra blessing come when you rise above the failures of another, and honor them as a sacrifice to God.
Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, was reminded one day of a vicious deed that someone had done to her years before. But she acted as if she had never even heard of the incident.
"Don’t you remember it?" her friend asked.
"No," came Barton’s reply, "I distinctly remember forgetting it."
Sometimes honoring others requires that instead of remembering what they have done we look at what they were made to do in Christ Jesus, instead of focusing on what they have done to us, focus on the things God has taught us through that experience with them.
Do you realize that almost all relational issues come as a result of not honoring others? The fallen nature in man wants to receive honor, the thankful spirit is about giving it. Now listen carefully - when a believer fails to honor others, he puts shame on himself and on his God. The degree of your honoring others is the measure of your thankfulness to God.
A Thankful Spirit is an Extraordinary Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is an Obedient Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is an Honoring Spirit
4. A Thankful Spirit is a Faithful Spirit (Dan. 6:20)
Precious friend - one of the things that marked Daniel’s life was the consistency. He served consistently. He honored consistently. He helped others consistently. He prayed consistently. He thanked God consistently. A thankful spirit is a consistent spirit.
I meet people all the time who have allowed the compromise of inconsistency to rob them of the fulness of extraordinary blessing.
They quit their job, their marriage, their church, their study, their waiting in faith too soon - and satan robs them of their blessing.
Don’t let inconsistency rob you of the change to line up with the heart of God to bless you and to prosper you, to give you a hope and a future.
Last time you failed at something - could it be that . . .
you quit trying just before your season of victory
you quit that ministry just before your breakthrough
you quite that relationship just before the healing came
you quit trusting just before the provision arrived
you quite praying just before God answered
you quite believing just before God brought the fruit
Inconsistency robbed you of more blessing than satan ever did.
A Thankful Spirit is an Extraordinary Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is an Obedient Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is an Honoring Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is a Faithful Spirit
5. A Thankful Spirit is a Trusting Spirit (Dan. 6:23)
Did you know that one of the greatest expressions of a thankful spirit is trust? It was because of trust that no harm or injury came to Daniel.
When you are thankful to God - you trust Him. It does not matter about the cost, the danger or the reaction of others - you trust Him. It does not matter what conventional wisdom says, popular opinion says or even personal preference says - you trust God.
Will not He who has given you all things including His Son not do right for you?
There is an incredible line in the film August Rush on the circuit right now when a little girl asks her preacher father about the safety of a little boy who is not longer with them. And the preacher responds with these incredible words - "He will be fine because he has a (heavenly) Father who loves him."
Listen to me precious believer - it does not matter what you are facing or how difficult the road seems. The storm may be raging like never before and the obstacles seem greater than they have ever been. One of the greatest ways of expressing thankfulness is trusting God.
As we close this morning -
A Thankful Spirit is an Extraordinary Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is an Obedient Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is an Honoring Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is a Faithful Spirit
A Thankful Spirit is a Trusting Spirit
Do you have a thankful spirit this morning? May I remind you how much we have to be thankful for?
F. E. Marsh reminded us of these things . . .
An acceptance that can never be questioned (Ephesians 1:6).
An inheritance that can never be lost (1 Peter 1:3-5).
A deliverance that can never be cancelled (2 Corinthians l:10).
A grace that can never be limited (2 Corinthians 12:9).
A hope that can never be disappointed (Hebrews 6:18, 19).
A bounty that can never be withdrawn (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
A joy that need never be diminished (John 15:11).
A nearness to God that can never be reversed (Ephesians 2:13).
A peace that can never be disturbed (John 14:27).
A righteousness that can never be tarnished (2 Corinthians 5:21).
A salvation that can never be canceled (Hebrews 5:9).
