Welcome!
Today: Thankful, praiseful and blessed!
Passage: John 6
11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. (John 6, NIV84)-emphasis added
Jesus was teaching His disciples something through each and every miracle He did, and through His talks and actions
When they had this gathering of thousands of people whom jesus wanted to feed physically, Jesus just asked them how they would handle this
They came up with various answers, other than the possibility of a miracle
Even peter didn’t say, “Lord, you can do something about this”!
They had seen the miracle at Cana and many other miracles; but just like us, they forgot all of that; they started calculating hard, doing all types of math, probabilities and statistics
Jesus, on the other hand knew what He was going to do
He just took the bread he got and gave thanks
He thanked for what He had, not worrying about the great need on the other side
Israelites, while on their exodus from Egypt, had seen the great miracle of the red-sea parting and the manna, etc. Yet all they did was to grumble and complain, instead of thanking and trusting God for their present and future
They were childish in asking Moses to do something, every time they had a need
Many believers today are like that. After having experienced many miracles from God, they still run to “that man” or “this woman”, whenever they have a need
They don’t even take time to pray to God. Even if they pray, they have no faith that God will hear their prayer. Instead, they believe that God will hear anyone else’s prayer!
If we can have a thankful heart, if we will thank God for what we have, God can only bless us more. Some of us, by our very “culture”, rarely thank. We look out for the “free stuff” out there and then just enjoy it, forgetting the very source!
See a short prayer of Jeremiah:
14 O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved.
My praises are for you alone! (Jer 17, NLT) – emphasis added
Can we try some thanks and praise? Not just from our mouth, but from our heart. Think and thank-of all that God or even others have done for you
A little praise, a little thanks goes all the way
Thanks and praises go up, blessings come down- an attitude that leads to altitude!
Have a thankful, praiseful and blessed day!
BG
Prayer: Father God, I thank you. Thank you for all that you have done for me; praise you for who you are. All my blessings come from you. I am sorry for all my doubt, unbelief and grumbling. You are God; you are good. In Jesus’ name; Amen
One of the ways we can be a “stranger” to God, is by being thankless!