The Wonders of a Thankful Attitude
And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings:… (Amos 4:5 KJV)
A thankful heart and the grateful attitude that it produces will work wonders in your life: it will put a smile on God’s face, break chains in your heart, and put you in line for the supernatural, and will refresh those who relate with you like a cold drink on a hot summer day.
A thankful heart is a spiritual sacrifice to God, as Amos 4:5 above states. Sacrifices in the Old Testament(OT) brought pleasure to God’s heart as a fragrant aroma. As I discussed in prior Deshen Daily devotionals, those OT animal sacrifices were only a shadow of the real sacrifices that God wanted. Hebrews 13:15 tells us when we open our mouths and genuinely express thanksgiving to God; they are the true spiritual sacrifices that are well-pleasing to the Lord.
An attitude of thankfulness circles back to positively change the person who is thankful. Gratefulness in our heart breaks chains that hinder our hearts from practically connecting with the Spirit of God and opens our hearts for the supernatural. It is no spiritual coincidence that when we are bitter, ungrateful, and dark inside, we turn to attract bitter and dark circumstances in life. Therefore, the Lord commands us to guard our hearts diligently because our lives are determined by it; one way to take care of our hearts is by maintaining a grateful spirit.
A thankful spirit also pours refreshing water on those around us. Who amongst us enjoys hanging around a spouse, brother, sister, friend, or neighbor who never sees value in anything anyone has ever done for them or feels they do not need anyone because they are self-sufficient? An attitude of ingratitude is poison to any human relationship. On the contrary, when we sincerely appreciate the things people do for us, not only do we change the way we perceive them, but the people we relate with are encouraged and inspired as they connect with us.
So thanksgiving is critical in your life as a Christian. Not only will it reach God’s heart, but it will positively affect you and those around you.
Read more: The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving.
What are the wonders of thanksgiving discussed above?
Make it a habit to think about things God has done for you that have benefited you. Then genuinely express your gratitude by telling Him thank you. Do the same to your spouse, sibling, parents, children, or friends. Spread the wonders of thanksgiving!
Thank the Father for the beautiful gift of Jesus in our lives.
Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. (Leviticus 20:7–8, KJV)
As the Great I AM that I AM, God revealed Himself as the Lord who sanctifies His people in the Old Covenant—Jehovah Mekaddishkem. But this was only a shadow of something greater that was coming in the New Testament.
Jehovah Mekaddishkem is the English transliteration of the Hebrew words for “I am the Lord which sanctify you” ( “mekaddish” = sanctify, “kem” = you). Divine names and titles in the Old Testament often reveal an aspect of God in relation to His people.
There are three keywords that underlie the meaning of sanctification: “wash,” “consecrate,” and “separate.” Sanctification essentially means to make something holy. Sinlessness is a core aspect of holiness, but there is more to holiness than sinlessness. It is the very nature of God. However, when used in reference to us humans, it means to be cleaned from sin, set apart for God, and consecrated to Him.
In the passage above, God tells the people first to sanctify themselves and then reveals He is the One who sanctifies them. Thus, He gives us the two sides of sanctification—the God side and the human side. There’s something God does and something His people do for their sanctification.
This truth was only a shadow in the Old Testament. It is in Christ that we see God fully revealed as Jehovah Mekaddishkem to His people through the sanctifying work on the cross. In speaking to the Corinthians, Paul revealed,
“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, KJV)
This is Jehovah Mekaddishkem fulfilled in Christ: We were washed and sanctified. Note that these are in past tense, describing something God has already done. The day you received Christ, you received the bath of your life, a heavenly bath by the Spirit of God that removed every stain of sin through the precious blood of Christ. And as you continue to live on earth, the Spirit continues to sanctify you daily.
Following the sanctifying work He has already done in us, He commands us,
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, KJV)
Now that you are clean, washed, and sanctified, He tells us to put that sanctification to work outwardly. Paul explicit states it is what God wants—His will. He gives us a very specific example of sanctification here: abstain from sexual immorality. Few things defile us, like sexual impurity. But sanctification certainly includes more than abstaining from fornication or adultery. As above, it includes living a consecrated and separated life to God daily in the way we talk, act, think, feel, and handle our bodies.
He is Jehovah Mekaddishkem, the God who has Sanctified you in Christ and continues to sanctify you every day.
Meditate
Is our sanctification completed, ongoing, or both?
Apply the Word
This is the crucial part of this devotional. Until you receive the truth that God has already sanctified you by His Spirit, you will not be empowered to be sanctified practically. Put God’s sanctification power to work in your life daily by faith in the finished work of Christ.
Pray
Ask the Lord to help you in your daily walk of sanctification.
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