Thanksgiving Can Change Your Life
Psalms 118:1
The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."
Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "They’re getting divorced," she shouted, "I’ll take care of this." She called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father. "You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their flights."
The Thanksgiving Holiday gives us the perfect opportunity to transform our lives from those of griping and dissatisfaction to lives of joy and gratitude. Thanksgiving is a good holiday for us to turn the corner and become grateful people. God wants nothing more than for us to be people of thanksgiving and gratitude.
Alan Perkins says, “A thankful spirit is one of the key distinguishing marks of a Christian. It sets us apart from the world, it makes us different.”
Psalm 118:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.”
I. THE BENEFITS OF A Thankful SPIRIT
A. Why do you think being a thankful person is so important?
1. Because Thankfulness is good for us. There are a many ways being a Thankful person can benefit you.
a. Being a Thankful person can INCREASE YOUR PERSONAL HAPPINESS.
b. Most of us think that our happiness is determined by our ciircumstances.
On a scale of one to ten how happy you are right now, you might say, “Well, I’m about a 2 on the happiness meter because of my circumstances.”
We’ve been taught that our happiness is somehow dependent on how well things go for us. But really our happiness is determined by attitude. It is really in how we see things. The apostle Paul wrote these words from prison (yes prison). "Rejoice in the Lord always," he wrote, "and again I say it rejoice." (Philippians 4:4).
Paul was happy despite being in prison and how, he learned to thank God in everything he did. It was really his perspective His outlook on life.
I am Thankful for.........
....the taxes I pay because it means I’m employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.
....my shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.
....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking.
....my huge heating bill because it means I am warm.
....all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.
....the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means that I can hear.
....the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.
....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I’m alive.
....the weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive
Happiness is really determined by our perspective in life not by circumstances. If we learn
to be Thankful people despite circumstances that will greatly improve our happiness.
II. Being a Thankful person can also IMPROVE YOUR WITNESS FOR CHRIST.
A. Having a noticeable countenance of thankfulness and joy will certainly make us better witnesses for Christ.
What is sad is that some Christians are the most negative, sour people in the world. Mean spirited and ungrateful lugs. We act like we have
been baptized in vinegar not in the Holy Spirit. It is no wonder people don’t want to have anything to do with us.
1. But when we are thankful, joyful, upbeat people. We attract the lost with our spirit of gratitude because the world is so dark and depressing
and ungrateful.
2..Have you looked at this world lately?
a. People are so discouraged?
b. Yet if we can learn to be different, upbeat and thankful, we will attract them. We have something they don’t.
1 Peter 2:12 reads, "Live such good lives among the pagans that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day
he visits us."
B..Living a life of thankfulness will attract the lost.
III. Being a thankful person will also ENHANCE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.
A.. There is one thing I notice about some married couples. After awhile many of them become ungrateful and unappreciative of their spouses.
Over time they take each other for granted.
Somebody described the first few years in a marriage this way. The husband seeing the wife has a cold, says, "You don’t look good. You should
go to the hospital. I have already arranged it. I know the food is bad there, but we are going to have meals catered in."
The second year he says, "You don’t look so good. I have called the doctor. Go and lay down. I will take care of the kids. The doctor will be right
over."
The third year he says, "You know you are not looking so hot. When you are done feeding the kids and cleaning up the kitchen, you ought to go
lay down."
The fourth year he says, "Would you quit walking around here barking like a seal, you’re going to give me your cold?"
The longer we become familiar; the less thankful we are for each other.
But husbands imagine about how much your marriage would improve if you came home one day with some flowers and just told your wife how thankful you are for all she does. You might give her a heart attack.
Wives, just think about how much your marriage would improve if you told your husband how much appreciate him once and awhile.?
IV. Just imagine how much better our church relation ships would be if we expressed our thanks for each other from time to time.
A.. Instead of picking at each other faults so much, what if just stopped and became grateful for each other.
B. Do you know how the apostle Paul began most of his letters in the Bible?
1.Church in Rome . “First, I thank my God for all of you.” (Romans 1:8)
2.Church in Corinth. “I always thank God for you (1 Corinthians 1:4).
3.Church in Ephesus, “I have not stopped ... giving thanks for you; remembering you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:16).
4.Church in Philippi, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3).
5.Church in Colossi, “I always thank God when I pray for you.” (Colossians 1:3).
C..Paul made sure that he let people in the churches know that he was thankful for them. Imagine how much better our church and our
relationships would be if we expressed our thanks for each other.
I’ll tell you another way having a grateful heart will benefit you. It will SOLIDFY YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. Which is the top benefit.
Someone once said that God lives in two places. He lives in heaven and in a humble, grateful heart.
Hebrews 12:25 says, “Let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts.”
ILL.- A 12 year old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact. When asked what he’d like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother’s hand."
Get it right. We have it so good. We enjoy it so much. And often, we express it so little.
I Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
It is God’s plan, his will for us to give thanks to him. He made us for that.
IV. WAYS TO DEVELOP THANKSGIVING IN OUR LIVES
A. First, if we want to be thankful, remember that EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS FROM GOD.
1. Acknowledge that everything we have is God’s and not ours. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.”
2. When we do this, it reminds us that it is a privilege that God has loaned us everything we have.
1 Corinthians 4:7 says, “What do you have that you did not receive from God? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as
though you did not?”
Snoopy took one look at the dog food and said, "This isn’t fair. The rest of the world today is eating turkey with all the trimmings and all I get is dog food. Because I’m a dog," he said, "all I get is dog food." He stood there and stared at his dog food for a moment and said, "I guess it could be worse. I could be a turkey."
B. Everything we own, we ultimately received from God and We owe him thanks. James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is From above coming
down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting sand.”
II. Secondly, if we want to be thankful we need to AVOID COMPLAINING.
Dr. Dale Robbins writes, “I used to think people complained because they had a lot of problems. But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain.
1. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make situations better.
2. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for the devil to cause havoc with our lives.” Complaining
makes us miserable. Psalm 77:3 says, “I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.”
3. Complaining is the archenemy of thanksgiving. The two cannot co-exist in the same heart.
4..And so I challenge you to try to quit complaining for a whole month. Just try it. When you feel tempted to complain, instead of filing your
complaint, file a praise. It will change your life.
Philippians 2:13 says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”
C. DEVELOP THE DAILY DISCIPLINE OF GIVING THANKS.
1. In order to be thankful people we need to start to give thanks everyday. Not just once a year on Thanksgiving.
2. We need to discipline ourselves to find something each day that we should be thankful for and express our thanks to God.
3. Thanksgiving must become a daily habit.
Ephesians 5:19 says, “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.”
Always is the key word. Not just on Thanksgiving. Everyday.
4. In Daniel 6 we read that Daniel got down on his knees 3 times day and prayed-- gave thanks to his God. And how many of us do that?
5. Remember the old hymn? “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost.
Count your many blessing, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”
Thanksgiving is a daily discipline.
a. If you own one Bible, you are abundantly blessed, because a 1/3 of the people in the world do not have access to a Bible.
b. If you awoke this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than 1 million people who will not survive the week.
c.. If you have never experienced the danger of war, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation you are more
fortunate than 500 million people on earth.
c. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, $20 in your pocket and a place to sleep you are richer than 75
percent of the world.
O, God forgive me when I whine.
I found this list of questions you can ask to test whether you are a grateful person or not?
#1 Which do you tend to talk about more – your blessings, or your disappointments?
#2 Are you a complainer, always grumbling, always finding fault with your circumstances?
#3 Are you content with ... what you have, or always dissatisfied and wanting more?
#4 Do you find it easier to count your blessings, or is it easier to count your afflictions?
#5 Do you express thanks to others when they help you, or do you just take it as your due?
#6 Would others say that you are a thankful person?
