I was invited *not literally, but virtually* to share with my church fellowship about a life of thanksgiving and I’d like to point out, on here what God placed on my heart.
Being the lawyer that I am and having had the ‘incomplete’ four years of law school, I’d have to start with a definition and authority for the statement.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines thanksgiving as an expression of gratitude or a celebration in acknowledgement of divine favor.
Well, I must say that many things came to my mind when I was given the topic but after much prayer and seeking God’s ultimate guidance, two things stood out for me. For one to fully say they are living or have lived a life of thanksgiving then these two aspects stand out;
The condition of your heart.
Faith.
The protagonist for the first aspect of thanksgiving (the condition of your heart) will be the widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7 with whom, Elisha had an encounter. I chose to use this portion and this widow because she had every right to feel entitled to Elisha’s or God’s help with the debts, seeing as her husband had been in the faithful service of the Lord for a while until he died, but she didn’t. instead she obeyed and God blessed her over and above what she had expected.
Its so easy to feel entitled to things and this usually blurs our gratitude because we never have enough and accordingly, see no reason to be thankful. From the widow, its clear that God blesses us just as much as we let Him. (2 Kings 4: 6) the widow’s olive oil stopped flowing when the last jar was filled. If she had limited the number of jars she’s filled, then her blessing would have been less.
Paul also reminds us in Philippians 2:14-15 that we should do everything without complaining or arguing so that we may be innocent and pure as Gods perfect children who live in a world full of sinners from whom we must shine like stars! A discontent and grumbling heart can never be grateful. That’s why there are quarrels and divisions amongst us, because we don’t have what we desire and so, we envy, covet, kill and hate because of the insatiable material needs. (James 4:1-2)
So, what then must we do to be content? To fully live a life of thanksgiving?
Have faith.
The second aspect I’d like to talk about is faith. Hebrews 11:1 defines this clearly by saying that it is being sure of things we hope for and certain of things we can’t see.
That’s hard right? How can you be so sure of things you can’t see? The world we live in is evidence and facts based and so telling someone to believe in something they can’t see might be as hard as putting a camel through the eye of the needle.
My protagonist for this section is Ruth. Ruth’s faith was revealed in Ruth 1: 16-17 when she chose to leave her past and move on with Naomi; make Naomi’s people her people and to make her God hers too. Even where Naomi tried to push her away and after Orpah left, Ruth stayed and guess what?
She never lacked, became a great grandmother to David; Israel’s greatest King and was in the lineage of Christ. Imagine what would have happened if she had walked away like Orpah, we would have never read about her faith and courage.
Therefore, thanksgiving is a lifestyle. Not only when God is being faithful or providing for you everyday but also when there’s uncertainty about the next step in your life, or next meal.
A few things to remember before I leave;
Matthew 6: 33; seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Psalms 37:4; Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall grant you the desires of your heart.
In summary, an entitled and disgruntled heart will never be thankful because it never has enough but a hopeful and pure heart will be thankful for whatever little because of its faith.
I hope we will all task ourselves to choose to be grateful and count our blessings more than our losses.
On that note!! *drum rolls*
I finally got my creative juices to make myself a gratitude jar. I’m super-duper excited to have one. It can help keep track of what your grateful for everyday and remind you in the days you are not so upbeat, of how far God has brought you.
I hope you have an amazing rest of the week and I’d definitely want to know what you’re thankful for today.
Cheers.
Baluka Hannah Stacey
Condition of my heart and condition of my faith. It was surely worth it
Khanani Daniella
Yes. Thank you for attending the fellowship and reading Hannah ☺️
Baluka Hannah Stacey
Always😊
Baluka Hannah Stacey
Condition of my heart and condition of my faith. It was surely worth it
Khanani Daniella
Yes. Thank you for attending the fellowship and reading Hannah ☺️
Baluka Hannah Stacey
Always😊
musanjufu benjamin kavubu
It’s hard for us millennials to be thankful, we have the entitlement mode in us
Khanani Daniella
I know it is. It really is, but we need to create the mindset that we can.
musanjufu benjamin kavubu
It’s hard for us millennials to be thankful, we have the entitlement mode in us
Khanani Daniella
I know it is. It really is, but we need to create the mindset that we can.
Lebogang Shazzygal Malatji
Thanksgiving is indeed a lifestyle
🤗🤗thank you very much gir such an insightful word.
advocateofunpopularopinions
Touched by the same sentiment
Khanani Daniella
☺️ I’m glad.
Khanani Daniella
Yes it is. Thank you for passing by Lebogang
♥️
Lebogang Shazzygal Malatji
Thanksgiving is indeed a lifestyle
🤗🤗thank you very much gir such an insightful word.
advocateofunpopularopinions
Touched by the same sentiment
Khanani Daniella
☺️ I’m glad.
Khanani Daniella
Yes it is. Thank you for passing by Lebogang
♥️
NASHE
It’s crazy how when someone wrongs us we have a whole book full of words for them but when someone does something great for us, all we say is ” ooh I don’t know what to say “, we need to master the art of Thanksgiving and being grateful. Gratitude is a must
NASHE
It’s crazy how when someone wrongs us we have a whole book full of words for them but when someone does something great for us, all we say is ” ooh I don’t know what to say “, we need to master the art of Thanksgiving and being grateful. Gratitude is a must
jeofreyogire
This is very informative. Yeah! Faith is Thanksgiving because, without it, you can not offer Thanksgivings freely.
Khanani Daniella
Thank you Jeofrey for passing by and you sure are right.
jeofreyogire
You are very much welcome dear.
jeofreyogire
This is very informative. Yeah! Faith is Thanksgiving because, without it, you can not offer Thanksgivings freely.
Khanani Daniella
Thank you Jeofrey for passing by and you sure are right.
jeofreyogire
You are very much welcome dear.
Kevin Bongonyinge
I agree God blesses us according to how we let him. Nice write Danny we out to give thanks.
Kevin Bongonyinge
I agree God blesses us according to how we let him. Nice write Danny we out to give thanks.
Norah Nabbosa
Great work here Daniella. Thanksgiving is something we still need to master. Touched by this
Khanani Daniella
Thank you Norah. And yes we definitely have to.
Norah Nabbosa
Great work here Daniella. Thanksgiving is something we still need to master. Touched by this
Khanani Daniella
Thank you Norah. And yes we definitely have to.
justynlove
Thanks
Great lessons in there
Khanani Daniella
Surely. Thanks for passing by ☺️♥️
justynlove
Thanks
Great lessons in there
Khanani Daniella
Surely. Thanks for passing by ☺️♥️
conniedia
A Gratitude Jar thanks for reminding me , working on that this week.
You were missed and such beautiful truths on gratitude
Khanani Daniella
Yessss please work on it. I’ll be super excited to see what yours looks like. ☺️ Thank you for passing by Connie.
conniedia
A Gratitude Jar thanks for reminding me , working on that this week.
You were missed and such beautiful truths on gratitude
Khanani Daniella
Yessss please work on it. I’ll be super excited to see what yours looks like. ☺️ Thank you for passing by Connie.
Maurice
Faith is really the victory that overcomes the world. If Ruth wasn’t acting in faith then she would have forfeited the blessing of being apart of the lineage that Christ came through. The faith also break the yoke that came upon them. The lost of their husbands wasn’t a good thing but her faith had opened the door to a glorious life
Khanani Daniella
Hey Maurice. You sure are right about faith. It is an action that we have to take to trust and see what God has for us at the end of the tunnel. Thank you so much for passing by and sharing your two cents .
Maurice
You are welcome Khanani Faith is a very powerful gift given to us by the Living God to resist the works of the enemy to work against our purpose.
Khanani Daniella
Yes it is. ♥️
Maurice
Bless you
Maurice
Faith is really the victory that overcomes the world. If Ruth wasn’t acting in faith then she would have forfeited the blessing of being apart of the lineage that Christ came through. The faith also break the yoke that came upon them. The lost of their husbands wasn’t a good thing but her faith had opened the door to a glorious life
Khanani Daniella
Hey Maurice. You sure are right about faith. It is an action that we have to take to trust and see what God has for us at the end of the tunnel. Thank you so much for passing by and sharing your two cents .
Maurice
You are welcome Khanani Faith is a very powerful gift given to us by the Living God to resist the works of the enemy to work against our purpose.
Khanani Daniella
Yes it is. ♥️
Maurice
Bless you
Don't Lose Hope
Gratitude is so important. It puts things back in perspective and reminds us of how blessed we are, and how great our God is 🙂
Khanani Daniella
Yes it is. Thank you so much for passing by.
Don't Lose Hope
Gratitude is so important. It puts things back in perspective and reminds us of how blessed we are, and how great our God is 🙂
Khanani Daniella
Yes it is. Thank you so much for passing by.
mbnoblin
Great article. Choosing to have a grateful heart is a choice that keeps Satan from stealing our joy. The women in the article all had choices to make and chose obedience to God, a heart of Thanksgiving and gratefulness. They implemented their choices and God blessed them.
Khanani Daniella
Thank you for passing by Margaret and yes they did.
Khanani Daniella
Yes it is. Thank you again for reading.
mbnoblin
Great article. Choosing to have a grateful heart is a choice that keeps Satan from stealing our joy. The women in the article all had choices to make and chose obedience to God, a heart of Thanksgiving and gratefulness. They implemented their choices and God blessed them.
Khanani Daniella
Thank you for passing by Margaret and yes they did.
Khanani Daniella
Yes it is. Thank you again for reading.