Thanksgiving Faith
FOUNDATION STATEMENT: Many believers have
learned to thank God after the victory, but thanksgiving faith will thank God
before the victory & because of it walk in consistent victory
I.
Why you need to develop
in thanksgiving (1 Corinthians 10:5-11)
A. The company murmuring
keeps
1. 5-Them being overthrown
did not please God-He’s not pleased w/ defeat
2. 5-11-God is not pleased;
Idolatry, fornication, they tempted God & murmured
a. In our minds murmuring
hasn’t been as ugly as these other things and that’s why we’ve yielded to it
the way we have
b. We got to change our
perception of being unthankful; it’s as ugly as it gets
B. Don’t murmur-(Colossians 3:15-Thankful-Grateful, acting well, mindful of
favors)
1. There’s no place between
being thankful and being unthankful
a. There’s no place between
love and hate, faith and unbelief
b. If you’re not being
thankful, you’re being unthankful
2. You can’t be yielding to
this in the small things, that’s how it develops
3. The one sure way to make
sure you’re not complaining is to have thanksgiving on your mouth all the time;
u can’t be thanking God & be unthankful at the same time
a. Galatians 5:16-The way to
stop being unthankful is to start being thankful
C. Complaining is connected
to defeat – Thanksgiving is connected to victory
1. AND-Their destruction was connected to their
murmuring
2. Unthankfulness will open
the door 2 the destroyer in your life; thankfulness will close it
3. Genesis 3-Adam and Eve
were unthankful and destruction came
II.
Thanksgiving is something
we’re supposed to have on our lips all the time-Heb 13:15-16
A. We are to thank God
continually, in everything, but not b/c
God’s ego needs stroked
1. Hebrews 13:5-All the time
insinuates before the victory
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:18-In
everything give thanks insinuates before the victory
3. Ephesians 5:20-You can’t
thank God for things He didn’t do
4. Colossians
3:17-Everything you do, do giving thanks to God
B. Sacrifice of praise-If
you’re supposed to thank God all the time & in everything we can only
assume that there’s going to be a time when you don’t feel like doing it
1. Sacrifice-Suffer
something for the sake of obtaining something
a. You’re
giving something up in order to obtain something more valuable to
b. B/C
God calls it a sacrifice of praise I know it’s going to cost me something and
I’m not going to feel like doing all the time & it’s not going to be easy
all the time
2. Thanksgiving
has nothing to do with feeling thankful; you act on this verse by faith
3. Our sacrifice of praise when
our mouth starts thanking Him not when music starts
C. This sacrifice pleases
God; Ur going 2 thank God all the time-He’s going 2 be pleased
1. God is pleased with your
sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 69:30-31)
2. I’m going to sacrifice my
feelings for the sake of pleasing God & victory
3. God takes pleasure in my
prosperity and victory-Psalm 35:27, 1 Corinthians 10:5
III.
There’s a connection
between thanksgiving and faith
A. You can’t please God
without faith-Hebrews 11:6
1. If thanksgiving were without
faith it wouldn’t please God
B. Real faith has
thanksgiving with it
1. Col 2:7-If you’re in faith
you’re also going to be overflowing with thanksgiving
2. If faith that doesn’t
have thanksgiving with it,
it’s not really faith
C. Hebrews 11:1-Faith is seeing
something as real fact that’s not revealed to the senses
1. Faith thanks God because
it believes it has the victory, when it doesn’t see it
2. One of the highest levels
of faith and thanksgiving is not thanking God for what has happened, but
thanking God for the victory that hasn’t manifested yet
3. It takes little to no faith
to thank God for the victory that just showed up-that’s no sacrifice of
thanksgiving
a. It takes faith 2 thank
God for the victory that looks like it’s never going to show up; that’s a
sacrifice of thanks that pleases God b/c there’s faith in that
D. Thanksgiving is the voice
of faith-Mark 11:24
1. If you believe you have
it as your present possession then there’s no need ask anymore; the only thing
left to do is say thank you Lord
a. The voice of faith isn’t a
crying begging voice, but it’s one that says thank you Lord because it believes
it has received
2. Philippians 4:6-7
a. You make your requests known
to God in every thing by 1) Prayer-Believing you received 2)
Supplication-Passionate 3) Thanksgiving-Thank you I have it
b. Thanksgiving is the
activator of peace that passes understanding
1)
You
can’t thank God for your victory and worry that’s not going to show up at the
same time; you can’t thank God for your victory and be afraid you won’t be
victorious at the same
c. Peace will be on guard as
long as thanksgiving is coming out of your mouth
1)
Keep-to
guard, protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion
E. Thanksgiving will effect
your attitude (2 Corinthians 2:14)
1. Thanking God & walking
in victory makes known a sweet smell that is pleasing 2 God
2. A thankful attitude
smells good to God; an unthankful attitude stinks
3. Their offering smelt good
to God; thanksgiving is sacrifice that smells good (Ph 4:18)
F. If faith &
thanksgiving are connected then unbelief & being unthankful are connected
1. If you are unthankful,
complaining, or feeling sorry for yourself, you are not in faith
2. One of the main ways the
enemy gets you in unbelief is by getting you to operate in unthankfulness; and
he does that by getting you to think about and focus on what you are not, what
you don’t have and what you can’t do
a. When you’re look at seen
things that you aren’t or don’t have it’ll lead you into being unthankful,
you’ll be in unbelief, and destruction will manifest
3. 2 Corinthians 4:18-Don’t
look at what you can see, look at what you can’t see and that will help to stay
in faith and thanksgiving
a. Only allow yourself to
think about and talk about who you are in him, what you have in him & what
you can do in him this will keep you in faith and thanksgiving & connect
you to victory
G. Romans 4:16-21
1. 16-Inheriting the promise
is through faith-Faith has thanksgiving with
it
a. If ur
going 2 receive the promise you’re going 2 have 2 say thank u beforehand
b. The end of the promise comes
proceeds your faith; faith precedes manifestation and therefore so to does
thanksgiving
c. Thanksgiving should not
only proceed your victory, it should precede it
2. 16-Inheriting the promise
is by grace
a. You didn’t earn it and
you don’t deserve and God doesn’t owe it to you
b. Romans 4:4-If you worked
for it, then it’s not grace, but it’s owed to you
1)
If
it’s owed to you there’s no need for thanksgiving b/c you earned/deserve it
2)
Get
out of this mentality that I did what the Word said b/c I did you owe me
3. All things that pertain 2
life and godliness are being offered 2 us by grace and me must receive/take
them by faith (2 Pet 1:4)
a. 17-Abraham took the
promise by faith by calling things that be not
4. 18-19-His eyes were fixed
on what he was and had in God; he didn’t think about what he wasn’t, what he
didn’t have, what he couldn’t do
5. 20-He’s not staggering
through unbelief, but his faith had thanksgiving with it
a. He’s thanking God 23
years in 4 a victory that looks like it’s never going to happen
b. He had thanksgiving w/ is
faith b/c he believes he’s the Father of many nations
6. 20-The more He thanked
God the stronger his faith got-this makes your faith stronger
a. Faith w/o thanksgiving is
weak faith that will produce weak results
b. When u than God 4 the
victory before the victory that’s evidence ur faith
is strong
IV.
Faith thanks God for the
victory before the victory
A. 1 Cor
15:57, 2 Cor 2:14-We don’t just thank God for
victories that have happened when thank God for things that haven’t come to
pass yet like they’ve come to pass
a. Which gives us-He has given, He gives now, and He will give in
the future
b. Always causes us to triumph-Always means yesterday, today, and
forever
2. EX: If you tell me that
you’re going to take me out and buy me a new suit after church I’m going to say
thank you; Not I’m going to reserve my thanks until I see it happen (if that
was my attitude I’d lose that suit)
a. People are reserving
their thanks until the victory shows up and that’s keeping the victory from
showing up because that’s not faith
3. Joshua 6:16-They thanked
God before their victory f
4. 1 Jn
5:4-Faith is the victory that overcomes the world & thanksgiving is voice
of faith
B. Follow the example of the
Master
1. John 11:1-4, 41-44
a. 4-Jesus believes &
speaks & it’s supposed to come to pass
b. 41-He lifted his eyes to
Heaven
1)
If
you’re going to operate in faith and in thanksgiving you can’t allow yourself
to think about what you are not, what you don’t have, or what you can’t do.
Only think about, talk about, and thank God for who you are in him, what you
have in him, and what you can do in him
a)
People
become ungrateful when they start looking at what they aren’t, what they don’t
have, and what they can’t do
2)
He
looked at what He couldn’t see not what he could see (2 Corinthians 4:18)
a)
If
he would have looked at that tomb and got his eyes on that he could’ve gotten
to the place where he was feeling sorry for himself, saying this doesn’t work,
why didn’t God do it
c. 41-This is the voice of
faith because it doesn’t look like God heard him in verse 4
1)
He’s
thanking him for the victory that he, can’t see & isn’t manifested yet
2)
He’s
not complaining about what hasn’t changed, what hasn’t manifested,
3)
He
speaks to a man who is dead like he’s a live b/c that’s what he believes
d. His thanksgiving
connected him to his victory
2. Matthew 14:14-21, John 6
a. John the Baptist and just
been beheaded and Jesus went to be alone and the people followed him. He was moved with compassion and healed
their sick-He’s not grumbling because he lived a lifestyle of thanksgiving
b. He had two pieces of fish
and five loaves of bread, but he didn’t allow himself to think about what he
didn’t have, what he couldn’t do, or what he wasn’t-He lifted his eyes to
Heaven
1)
When
he got his eyes off of what he didn’t have it activated thanksgiving and his
thanksgiving connected him to victory
c. He’s not just thanking
God for what he had, he’s thanking God for what he didn’t have