Hosanna Restoration Church

Do we remember to be thankful? Do we remember to say please and thank you? It seems that manners have somehow been erased in much of our society, and personally it bothers me. I don’t think that we do future generations any favors by not teaching them good manners. It is my prayer that this will change. However, as I considered this, it reminded of the need to be mannerly toward God.

The Bible speaks of our lips continually thanking God. We are reminded not to be ungrateful. It is of course of far greater importance that we give thanks unto God. I believe a close walk with the Lord will produce far greater things than good manners but they will certainly be included.

There is something deeper that I want to touch on now that we have been reminded to use our manners and that is how thanksgiving affects our faith.

This scripture tells us that once we have received Christ we can walk in Him. We should be rooted in Him and established in our faith. Jesus is, was, and always will be our example of how we are to walk in faith. To establish something is to create something of substance, something that can be built upon. Therefore, we are to build upon the example that Christ established.

We are often times perplexed in our faith walk as we experience growing pains and ups and downs. I believe that thanksgiving is a key if not the key to the progress that we desire. This scripture exhorts us to abound in faith with thanksgiving.

I don’t know about you, but it is my desire to abound in faith and in the things that Christ laid as our foundation. Are we thankful to God only when things are good or only when our prayers are answered? Are we limited to being thankful only for the things we like from the past? Is it possible to give thanks in advance based on the promises of God? Does God keep His word, or did Jesus lie to us?

We have much to be thankful for even when we cannot see anything with our eyes. This is where we can kick up the abundance of our faith by praising and thanking God. The Holy Spirit has been reminding me to be thankful. A small example is that my wife just remembered to tell me that she printed some documents and now our printer is out of ink just as I am ready to print it. I am so thankful that I kept my mouth almost shut and remembered to thank God that I have another cartridge. Just imagine how much better things will turn out because I was thankful! Thanks be to God who gave me the victory. Even in the smallest things, an attitude of gratitude will produce abundance.