No one can deny God’s kindness and faithfulness to men as we are. Every day, every hour, every moment of our life, here and there, we see the blessings of God in our lives. But, do we know how to give thanks to God? How much are we grateful for its benefits in our lives? And even when we claim to be thankful for the good deeds of God in our lives, so how do we manifest it?
This is a very important question. Because one thing is to be grateful; but another thing is to know how to show our gratitude. Hence the reason for this preaching proposed by the preacher Thomson Dablemond under the title: How to give thanks to God?
Our Biblical Reference Passage Tells Us How to Give Thanks to God:
” Tell his glory among the nations, among all the peoples his wonders! For the LORD is great and praiseworthy, he is feared above all gods ” – Psalms 96: 3-4.
But, in practice, how to give thanks to God for his blessings in our lives, and even in our surroundings, our community?
The perfect manifestation of our recognition is in 3 points:
1st Manifestation of How to Give Thanks to God: The Praise – Acts 3: 6-9
One day Peter and John went to the temple and met a beggar who had been crippled and they in return, used the name of Jesus Christ to heal this crippled beggar (Acts 3: 6).
The Bible states: “Then Peter said to him, I have no money, no gold; but what I have, I give it to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk. And taking him by the right hand, he made him rise. At the same instant, his feet and ankles became firm; He jumped at once and began to walk. He went with them into the temple, walking, jumping, and praising God. Everyone saw him walking and praising God. They recognized that it was he who was sitting at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to ask alms, and they were filled with astonishment and surprise about what had happened to him.” Acts 3: 7-10.
Certainly, in this scene that describes this passage. We see a person in whose life God has manifested himself. In his case, he was healed.
The most important aspect here is the intervention of God.
Yes, because indeed, God also intervenes in the life of each of us in one way or another.
But did we show our gratitude to God as this former crippled beggar? The former crippled beggar showed his gratitude to God for his healing by Praise. Indeed, to praise God is an act of gratitude. We are called to praise God for all His blessings in our lives, every intervention of God in our lives, every grace, blessing, work of God, every response to our prayers, our supplications, and our requests to God.
Yes, the ex-beggar, crippled by praising God, showed his gratitude to God. He understood this word of Psalms 150: 2 which says, “Praise him for his deeds! Praise him according to the immensity of his greatness. Also, he understood that God was very worthy of worship for all these benefits. That is why after the intervention of God in his life, the former crippled beggar began to sing, to praise God in order to celebrate the blessings of God (Acts 3: 7-9).
Here Again, We Can Suggest Ways to Praise God:
– In singing, we can praise God, as was the case of the former crippled beggar.
– By translating our gratitude into a prayer of praise by celebrating the blessings of God, as was the case of David in the book of 1 Chronicle 16: 7-36.
– Whenever God intervenes in our life and his grace comes to fill our needs, we must spend time with God praising him to thank him warmly, with a heart happy, sincere, and grateful.
However, what is praise? Let us note that praise is a set of speeches or words by which the merit of someone, of some action, or if something is noted. In our context then, to hire God means to confess, to recognize, to publish, to testify to the merits of God. It is recognizing, appreciating, valuing what God has done for us. It is also affirming, confirming in all sincerity that it is worthy to be adored and praised.
2nd Manifestation of How to Give Thanks to God: Tithes and Offerings – Marc 1: 40 – 45
Here we see a leper who has just been healed by Jesus Christ (Mark 1: 40-42). After this miraculous healing, Jesus Christ gave an exceptional recommendation to the latter: ” and said to him, … but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, that it may serve them. Witness ” – Mark 1: 44.
We are particularly interested in verse 44 of Mark 1, specifically the offering that Jesus asked of this man that he had just cured leprosy.
Through this passage, we are called to show our gratitude to God through offerings and tithes.
Indeed, offering to God through offerings, tithes, or thanksgiving, or special gifts and willingly for his blessings in our lives is a manifestation of our gratitude to God.
By offering God our offerings and our tithes, we testify that God has truly manifested himself in our lives and has blessed us again, he has done us well… This is also a way of showing God our recognition.
It is right, therefore, that we understand the words of this prayer of David when he said: ” For whom am I, and who is my people, that we may willingly give you these offerings? Everything comes from you, and we receive from your hand of your hand what we offer you … Eternal, our God, it is from your hand that come all these riches that we have prepared to build you a house of yours to you, to your holy name, and it is to you that everything belongs. ” (1 Chronicles 29: 14, 16).
Thus, we see the material and physical manifestation of our gratitude to God. Indeed, by marking our gratitude to God through our (material) offerings we are confirming to God that he is the one to whom gold and silver, as indicated by the passage of Haggai 2: 8.
3rd Manifestation of How to Give Thanks to God: Publish the Benefits of God in Our Life – Marc 5: 19 – 20
In this biblical passage, we see a demoniac delivered by Jesus Christ (Mark 5: 1-18). Then after this healing, he wanted to stay with Jesus Christ, but Jesus did not allow it, however, he made a recommendation: “… but he said to him: Go to your house, to yours, and tell them all that the Lord has made you, and how he has had mercy on you “- Mark 5: 19.
Through this biblical passage, we are called to publish the blessings of God, sharing them with our surroundings, our family, our relatives, our acquaintances, etc.
In fact, to publish the benefits of God is also to express his gratitude to God for his benefits and graces in our life.
And indeed the ex-demoniac: ” He went away, and began to publish in the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And all were amazed ” (Mark 5: 20).
We understand then that to testify by publishing the kindnesses and the fidelity of God, is also a way to express our gratitude to God.
Principles and Methods in the Manifestation of How to Give Thanks to God
There are of course principles and methods to take into account when we express our gratitude to God:
1 – It is good to sing God by praising and worshiping Him. It may be in the street, in the house, in the Church that we express our gratitude to God with praise.
2 – For hymns or psalms, they must be intimate with God that is to say at home. Let’s lock ourselves in our house, let’s put ourselves in a spirit of reverence and prayer. Generally, psalms and hymns are accompanied by prayers of praise and worship.
3 – For prayers of praise and worship, they are usually done at home, personally and intimately with God: We must exalt God, elevate God, honor God, glorify God in our prayer when we show our gratitude to God. To this kind of prayer is added the first of thanks also for the benefit of God in question. It often happens that others begin to sing God in the street following an instant intervention of God in their lives. It is also possible.
4 – We give tithing to God and give offerings of what we have received from God (1 Chronicle 29:14). The tithe is the tenth part of what we received as wages, income, etc. On the other hand, the offerings are voluntary: we give what we want according to our possession, according to our degree of faith, and according to our level of recognition. A sum of the offering of gratitude to God is not necessary; it depends on the individual as he has resolved in his heart to give to his God.
The biblical principles here are clear:
* To give the offerings as we have solved in our heart without sadness or constraint, for God loves him who gives with joy (2 Corinthians 9: 7).
* Let us also learn to give in secrecy: anonymity, without publishing the sum to glorify ourselves in the eyes of men, as Jesus advises us in this parable of Matthew 6: 2-4.
* Let our hearts be liberated (far from grudges, grudges, etc.) when we give our offerings to God, as we can imply in Matthew 5: 23-24.
5 – Concerning the publication of the benefits of God, this reflects the fact of testifying. On the one hand, it is necessary to publish the benefits of God in our life by testimonies to the Church, between the brothers in Christ, in the assemblies with a view to edifying the faith of the brothers in Christ. On the other hand, it is necessary to share the benefits that God has done for us with our entourage, our family, our community, our friends, our relatives, our knowledge in order to show them the glory of God (his goodness, his mercy, his power, his kindness, his justice, his wisdom, etc.) This may be a way, a method of bringing them to Jesus.
General Conclusion on How to Give Thanks to God
In the end, we must give thanks to God by:
– Praises, hymns
– Prayers of praise and worship
– Offerings and tithes, Thanksgiving
– Publication, sharing: witnessing the benefits of God.
But another way of being grateful to God for all his benefits in our life is to put oneself at the service of God, to put oneself in the oven and the mill in the work of God, without interest, out of love, with devotion, joy, zeal, fervor, ardor; this implies (includes) a life of consecration and sanctification entirely for the glory of God.
We must be grateful to God, even in the smallest details, the smallest things. Our gratitude to God is expressed by our witness of its benefits in our lives. We must go and tell what the Lord has done and what He is doing for us. Somewhere be like the centurion (Matthew 27:52), after seeing all that has happened, the centurion testified that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Son of God, and thus he testified to the glory of Jesus Christ. Christ.
In reality, if God does not manifest himself too much in our life, it is because of our unbelief, but also because of our ingratitude, that is to say, our lack of gratitude for a benefit received from God.
In the smallest details, in the least things in which God intervenes in our life, we are not grateful; this is one of the reasons why God does not do great things in our life. This reflects the fact that God will do great things with us, in us, and for us, if we are grateful to him for the little things. Consider the passage from Matthew 13:58.
It is time for us to learn to be thankful to God.
If we have an intimate, honest, and sincere relationship with God, then we will have time to praise Him, to worship Him. In a word, to give Him all Glory, Honor, Adoration, Elevation, Praise, which is due to him for our gratitude to him.
Strength and need are to note: ” The best way to be grateful to God is to lead a life of repentance, sanctification, and consecration. In a word: to give it really our heart and our life. This is the offering and the manifestation of our gratitude to the most pleasing God who is pleasing to him. ” (Thomson Dablemond).
CALL: COLOSSIANS 3: 15
Through this preaching, the Lord exhorts us to be grateful. Recognition is a key to blessing, especially when it is done with a good heart, in all sincerity, and with real joy. It is necessary that we learn to be grateful to be more and more blessed by the God who is able and wants to fill us with all things (2 Corinthians 9: 8-11).
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS: Are we truly grateful to God for all His visible and invisible benefits in our lives? Do we know how to show our gratitude to God?
PRAYER: May God make us grateful people to him! May God give us strength, intelligence, wisdom, and will to be more grateful to Him in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!