Living A Life of Thankfulness

When the children of Israel came to the Red Sea, they had the waters before them, and the army of the Egyptians behind them. They were worried, but Moses the man of faith was not worried, he told them to be still and see the salvation of the Lord. Last time we talked about crossing over, and today we talk about crossing over to the other side singing a song of praise, with thanksgiving.

Exodus 15:1-21

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying:“I will sing to the Lord, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

 ³ The Lord is a man of war; The Lord is His name. ⁴ Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.⁵ The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone .⁶ “Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces. ⁷ And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble. ⁸ And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, My hand shall destroy them.’ ¹⁰ You blew with Your wind, The sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. ¹¹ “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? ¹² You stretched out Your right hand; The earth swallowed them. ¹³ You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation. ¹⁴ “The people will hear and be afraid; sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. ¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling will take hold of them; all the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.

¹⁶ Fear and dread will fall on them; by the greatness of Your arm they will be as still as a stone, till Your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over whom You have purchased. ¹⁷ You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

¹⁸ “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁹ For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. ²¹ And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the Lord,
for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”

Moses , though at the beginning one who stammers, sang the song in the text above. His stammering came to an end as due to the faithfulness of God He sang a new song.

When we become people who look at the far the Lord has brought us and recount it to our God like Moses did, not that God does not know, but it keeps us from admiring things of the world, and want to associate more with our God. It does not matter who was on your back all through the year, all that matters is that we are crossing over to 2014. While the enemies were pursuing us, God was laughing at them.

Let us always be thankful, knowing that God is always watching over us. We are victorious.

Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

We have a reason to thank God. Through it all, God’s right hand is upon us. We have no reason to cry, as God’s right hand is upholding us. The battle is the Lord’s and the victory is ours. We are pressing on. Let us be like Moses, who was not complaining like the others when they came to the red sea; instead, he was asking God how things shall be. Moses was expectant of God’s doing, such that when the miracle happened he started singing. Let us have expectant hearts, so that when the miracle comes, we will not be surprised, but rather will burst with songs. With an expectant heart, you will not waste time with others who are surprised at God’s doing, but rather will be spending that time giving God thanks.

With an expectant heart, we will know that it’s not us who did what was done, but it was God’s doing. An expectant heart keeps you forever glorifying God.

Moses sang the song knowing that where the children of Israel were going they will be established, having already been delivered mightily (verse 17).

From the song of Moses, we see that he had gratitude all through, as he was recounting God’s doing from the beginning. We can learn the same, being men and women who forever recount what the Lord has done all through.

If you want to spend much time in prayer before God, be a person who will recount your blessings and God’s doing one by one, to God. This will lengthen the time you spend in prayer, and also block any doorways the enemy might have used to enter your life.

People who always complain are people who do not take time to be thankful to God. Do not sit with complainers; sit with praisers. Praisers fill their hearts with thanksgiving, while murmurers fill their hearts with complaining.

We have two choices: giving thanks, or complaining. Let us chose to give thanks at all times. In life there are things that will look like fire, but if you have a thankful attitude you will just pass through, without being hurt.

John 6:11

And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

It is interesting to note that Jesus did not start praying for the loaves and fish to be multiplied, or for God to do a miracle in order for the multitude of people to be fed. Whatever little you have, just start giving God thanks for it, and you will see it multiplied; it is what Jesus did. Instead of complaining about finances, start giving God thanks for what you have. Jesus, through thanksgiving, multiplied the fish and loaves of bread.

Instead of the disciples seeing an opportunity for the thousands of people to hear the gospel of the kingdom of God, they started seeing the people as a burden, wondering what they would eat. Jesus, on the other hand, saw an opportunity for a miracle. Jesus saw an opportunity to show that the Kingdom of God is powerful. Jesus did not even pray asking God to multiply the food, He just gave thanks, and multiplication came. Thankfulness results in multiplication.

If you want to live a life of multiplication, be a man, woman or girl of thanksgiving. Choose to see the other side of the coin, and give thanks for what you have. Jesus chose to see the other side of the coin, and so did Moses, and so were thankful. 

John 11:41

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

Again, Jesus did not start praying for Lazarus to be raised, begging God to raise Him up. He did not even bind any demons of death, not that there is anything wrong with binding demons. After the stone was removed, He just gave thanks and there was life. Thanksgiving provokes life in dead situations. He gave thanks when Lazarus was lying there dead. Before you go calling forth your miracle, give thanks first. Jesus gave thanks before He called forth Lazarus.

We have been taught many things, but Jesus’ way is what we should follow. Jesus’ way is the thanksgiving way. Before you even see it physically, see it happen, give thanks and call it forth.

Matthew 11:25

 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 

The things of faith are ridiculous to the natural man. The things of God are foolishness to the wise and prudent of the world. Sometimes we may envy the things of the people of the world, not knowing that we have much more that they have. We have peace, joy, relationship with God, wisdom of God et cetera., things that they do not have. We’d rather remain children in the kingdom of God, with revelations of things that are, and things to come, walking in the wisdom of God.

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 

Ephesians 1:16-18

...do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints...

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

...in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Be a thankful person at all times. 

Amen.

-- Pastor Mary Mugo.

09/12/13 Sunday service sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.


Pastor Mary Mugo is the Senior Pastor at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.