GIVING THANKS WELL
(week 09/11)
OLUBI JOHNSON
1Corinthians 14:16-17 MKJV: Else, if you bless in the spirit, he occupying the place of the unlearned, how will he say the amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you say? (17) For you truly give thanks well, but the other is not built up.
Here the scripture tells us that when we give thanks to God in the Spirit (i.e. with tongues) we give thanks well; this implies it is possible not to give thanks well.
Thanksgiving to God is a spiritual sacrifice: spiritual power that we release as we speak to God to bless and refresh Him in appreciation of what He has done for us.
Hebrews 13:15 KJV: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Psalms 50:13-14 MKJV: Will I eat the flesh of the mighty, or drink the blood of goats? (14) Offer to God thanksgiving; and pay your vows to the Most High;
Song of Solomon 4:16 MKJV: Awake, O north wind; and come, south wind; blow on my garden, so that the spices of it may flow out. Let my Beloved come into His garden and eat His pleasant fruits.
Just like we eat physical food, God ‘eats’ and ‘drinks’ our praise, worship and thanksgiving and it blesses and refreshes Him just like physical food and drink refresh our physical bodies.
We give thanks to God because of His mercy that endures forever: loving-kindness shown to us by His wisdom and power.
Psalms 136:1, 23-26 MKJV: Oh give thanks to Jehovah; for He is good; for His mercy endures forever. (23) Who remembered us in our low estate; for His mercy endures forever; (24) and has redeemed us from our enemies; for His mercy endures forever. (25) Who gives food to all flesh; for His mercy endures forever. (26) Oh give thanks to the God of Heaven; for His mercy endures forever.
Now to give thanks well, we do not give thanks only with our words through our lips; we also give thanks with our substance: tithes and offerings:
Deuteronomy 26:1-2 MKJV: And it shall be, when you come into the land which Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and live in it, (2) you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth which you shall bring of your land that Jehovah your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose to place His name there.
Deuteronomy 26:10-11 MKJV: And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which You, O Jehovah, have given me. And you shall set it before Jehovah your God, and worship before Jehovah your God. (11) And you shall rejoice in all the good which Jehovah your God has given to you, and to your house; you, and the Levite, and the stranger in your midst.
With our entire being: spirit, soul: will, mind and emotions and physical body and strength:
Romans 12:1-2 AMP: I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. (2) Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
Mark 12:30 MKJV: and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment.
2Samuel 6:14 AMP: and David danced before the Lord with all his might, clad in a linen ephod [a priest’s upper garment].
Psalms 47:1 MKJV:To the Chief Musician. A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Clap your hand, all you peoples; shout to God with the voice of triumph.
So to give thanks well, let us give thanks with our lips, our substance: tithes and offerings; our life style: will, mind, emotions and bodies; and our physical strength in our praise of God with clapping, dancing and making melody to our God!
