CENTRAL THOUGHT
Thanksgiving is a necessity for all believers.
TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 2:14; 2 CHRONICLES 7:1-16.
INTRODUCTION:
As a believer in Christ, you can give thanks because you are a part of His triumph; you are more than a conqueror through Him. No matter what you have gone through in this passing year, you can give thanks to God because Christ, not you, not your smartness, not your financial assets, Christ alone has made you to triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Nothing that is happening in our society today, neither death, nor natural disasters, nor war, nor political turmoil, nor scandal, ought to cause you to be ungrateful or unthankful on this day or any other day. Christ has overcome the world, and you have overcome through Him.
The objectives of this study are to:
1. Understand what triumphant thanksgiving means.
2. Know from scripture how king Solomon offered thanksgiving to God.
3. Learn what it takes as believers to give thanks unto God.
4. Appreciate the elements of a triumphant thanksgiving from scriptures.
5. Draw valuable lesson(s) from the believers of old that gave thanks unto God.
BIBLE TRUTH:
QUESTION 1A) WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY
“TRIUMPHANT THANKSGIVING”?
Triumphant thanksgiving refers to a victorious or successful thanksgiving. It refers to the thanks offered as prescribed by God in the scriptures, that is acceptable to
Him, i.e. one that God is pleased with and one that He accepts. Genesis 4:3-5 gives us clear example of God accepting Abel’s offering and rejecting Cain’s. It is one
offered to God from a sincere heart in appreciation for what He has done.
It is also a thanksgiving offered unto God as a result of what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross, despite the experiences one may have had.
QUESTION 1B) IN WHAT SITUATION SHOULD WE OFFER THANKS TO GOD?
1 Thess.5:18; Phil.4:6?
Scriptures enjoin us to offer thanks to God at all times and in all circumstances. (Ps 34:1). Specifically, we are admonished to be thankful at certain times and seasons. For example:
i. When all is well with us. (Ps.103:1-2).
ii. In adverse situations e.g. sickness or affliction (2 Cor.12:9-10) knowing that God is with us always and will turn things around for our good.
iii. When we are disappointed or feel abandoned or rejected. (Ps 42:5).
iv. When we are going through trials (Ps 59:16-17).v. When we are persecuted or tempted. (Dan.6:10).vi. When experiencing delay. (Ps 13:1-6).Thanksgiving is a choice we make to look for the good in every situation. Giving thanks in all things might not change the situation, but it will always change us in the situation.
QUESTION 2A) IDENTIFY THE VARIOUS WAYS KING SOLOMON AND HIS SUBJECTS OFFERED THANKS TO GOD?
2 Chronicles 7:1-62 Chronicles 7:1-6, shows how King Solomon and his subjects offered thanksgiving unto God. They prayed, fell on their faces to the ground and worshipped and praised God. The king made a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen or cattle and 120,000 sheep offering unto God; this is a very expensive offering in our today’s currency. They used the instrument of music to worship God.
QUESTION 2B) HOW DID GOD RESPOND TO SOLOMON’S SACRIFICE? 2 Chron.7:1-3, 11-16
God was well pleased with Solomon and his people and entered into a covenant with them. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”
QUESTION 2C) HOW THEN SHOULD WE THANK GOD?
HEB.13:15; Psa.95:1-2.
“And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will” (Leviticus 22:29).God wants us to offer thanksgiving to Him but it is not all thanksgiving that God accepts. Any thanksgiving that is not accepted by God is therefore a waste on the part of the person who offers it. Below are some biblical ways on how we should thank God.
i. Repent of our sins. Sin makes us unacceptable to God, and if we’re not acceptable to God, our thanksgiving can’t be acceptable to Him. So, let us repent of our sins before we offer thanksgiving to God. God is first interested in us before being interested in what we want to give Him. Matt.5:23-24; Prov.15:8; 21:27.
ii. Make sure it is a freewill offering. It must not be done out of compulsion. It must come from our heart. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). Don’t do thanksgiving grudgingly; it won’t be accepted by God.
iii. Sing and shout joyfully to the LORD. In the Bible, singing and making a joyful shout or noise to the LORD is associated with thanksgiving. Psalm 95:1-2 (NKJV).
iv. Dance to the LORD and sing with musical instruments (Psalm 149:3, 150).
v. Thanksgiving involves presenting to God something honorable to appreciate Him. There’s nothing we give to God that can match or pay for what He has done for us but what we give is our token of gratitude to Him. It can be money; it can be material things; it can be material things; it can even be our time offered for service. 2 Sam.24:24; 2 Cor.9:6.
QUESTION 3) WHY SHOULD WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD?
The Scriptures is full of reasons why we should give thanks to God. Some are listed below: -For saving us from our sins. -Thanksgiving glorifies God. Ps.100:1-4; 2Cor.4:15. -For His everlasting love that endures forever. Ps.100:5. -For all His benefits. Ps.103:1-6. -For His protection.Ps.91:1. -He comforts us in our distresses.Ps.113:9. -For His mercies and compassion.Lam.3:22-23. -For all His spiritual blessings in Christ.Eph.1:3. -For all the good and perfect gifts. He gives to us .Jam.1:17. -Thanksgiving is God’s will for our lives. 1 Thess.5:18. We are to offer quality substance for example, time, money, material property, etc because giving a triumphant Thanksgiving to God is not only about size but quality.
QUESTION 4) HOW DID THANKSGIVING FURTHER HELP THE FOLLOWING PERSONS IN LIFE?
Noah. (Gen.8:20-22; 9:1-2, 13-16)- After Noah and his family left the ark, one of the first things Noah did was build an altar and offer a sacrifice to God of every clean animal that was on the ark.The key lesson we should learn from this scripture is that it is important to thank God for the blessings He gives us. In Noah’s case, he offered a freewill sacrifice to give thanks to God for preserving him and his family in the ark and for allowing them to be used to repopulate the earth. God made a covenant of not destroying the earth with flood again and renewed His original covenant with man.
Mary (Mark 14:3-9)-To show her regard for the Master, Mary broke an expensive Alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and poured it on the Master’s head. And because of this, “whosoever the gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her”.
The healed Samaritan leper (Luke 17:17-19)-Jesus told the ten lepers to go show themselves to the Priest, while on their way, they discovered that they were healed, but only one came back to thank Jesus and he was a Samaritan- a stranger. For this he was made whole.Solomon, Noah, Mary or the healed Samaritan leper were not compelled to thank God, they did it willingly and wholeheartedly.
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION:
We are to give thanks to God in good times and even when it seems times are hard and also in the midst of challenges. We have been admonished to give thanks to God for his numerous blessings we received and all the calamity Hehelped us to escape. Are you a grateful heart? Don’t be ungrateful to God. As the refrain of that popular hymn says, “Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done! Count your blessings, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done”. That was what David did in Psalm 103. He listed all that God had done for him and blessed His name for all of them. Think about all God has done for you and thank Him for them; don’t forget all His benefits.
MEMORY VERSE:
2 CORINTHIANS 2:14“ Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
MON: GIVING-LEADS TO RECEIVING MUCH MORE. Lk.6:38.
TUE: APPRECIATE WORTHILY. Mal.1:8, 14.
WED: ALWAYS GIVE THANKS. Eph.5:20.
THU: TESTIFY OF GOD’S GOODNESS. Ps.105:1-7.
FRI: REMEMBER GOD’S RESPONSES. Ps.77:1-14.
SAT: APPRECIATE ONE ANOTHER. Phil.4:14-19.Thanksgiving.