Joyce Meyer - Be Thankful and Say So

Well, thank you for joining me today on, "Enjoying Everyday Life". Today, I wanna talk to you about a very, very, very important subject. And that is the subject of being thankful. You know, I believe that, "Thank you," has a lot of power in it. And the more thankful we are to God, and to other people in our lives, who help us make our lives easier, I think, the more thankful we are, the more powerful we are. The title of this message today is: "Be thankful and say so". And that comes from a scripture, Psalm 100 verse 4, "Be thankful and say so". A lot of people might say, "Well, I am thankful". But, you know, other people can't read your mind, they need to hear the words. And I believe it's very important that we all step up our thanking people and thanking God for all the good things that he does for us.

You know, so often, people wanna know what the will of God is for their life. That's probably one of the biggest questions that people ask. "What is God's will for my life"? Well, of course, this is not God's entire will for your life, but 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances". I drew a big circle around "All". "Give thanks in all circumstances: for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". So, while you're looking for God's specific assignment for you, his general will for all of us, is that we have a foundation in our life of being thankful, all the time, in all things. The word "Thanks" and "Thanksgiving," appears in approximately 100 Bible verses. And we are told 73 times to give thanks. So, you know, I think, if anything is in the Bible that often, it must be something very, very important. Be thankful and say so.

I want you to get that down, be thankful and say so. It is the expression of our words that people need to hear. You know, so often, we take God for granted. We take the things that he does for us for granted. We get so used to God being good to us, that instead of continuing to thank him for his goodness, we grouch and complain the first time something happens, that is maybe, a little bit, even, inconvenient for us. And sometimes we can do the same thing with people. People are good to you, and they do things for you, or they meet needs that make your life easier. And maybe you just don't say, "Thank you" often enough or "I appreciate you". Those are power words that lift up, anybody. Be sure you begin to thank people more. Thanking God, is what many of these scriptures are about. But it's very important that we don't become so accustomed to the blessings of God, that we take them for granted.

Speaking words of gratitude, has a powerful effect in the spiritual realm. Satan loves to hear us complain, murmur, grumble and find fault. And you're gonna see before the program is over today, that actually, complaining, according to the Bible, is sin. And you know, when I found that out, several years ago, it really had an impact on my life, that it's not just something I can just do, and it doesn't have any effect. Complaining has a big effect in the spiritual realm, and it opens the door for the enemy. I invite him into my life to cause me more and more trouble, if I complain about maybe the little bit of trouble that I'm having, right now. Speaking words of gratitude has a powerful effect in the spiritual realm. Satan does not want us to be thankful. I want you to get ahold of that. Satan does not want us to be thankful. He wants us to murmur, grumble, find fault, and complain.

Now, God doesn't need us to thank him. But to be honest, we need to thank him. When we thank God for the things that he's done for us, and we focus on those things, it keeps us from focusing on what we don't have, or what God hasn't done. And there's way too much of that. Way too much of complaining about what God hasn't done, and looking at what we don't have, and what people don't do for us, instead of looking at the things that God has done, has given us, what people are doing for us. Are you focused on your blessings or are you focused on your problems? You know, whatever you focus on is what becomes bigger in your life. The more we focus on our problems, the bigger they seem to get. And to be honest, some of the things that we murmur and complain about, are not even anything that major. If we would just get our mind off of 'em, they wouldn't even bother us at all.

Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but 'in' every situation," not after the situation goes away. "But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God". You know, it just so happens, that right now, I'm in the process of writing an entire book based on Philippians 4:6. I think that's one of the most important scriptures in the Bible. The first thing we should do when we have a problem, is pray, ask God to get involved. There's so many problems that we have in our life, that we can't do anything about. And worrying about them, and becoming anxious, is only gonna make 'em seem bigger. It's not gonna help them go away. If we're not thankful for what we already have, why should God give us anything else? One time, I was asking God for something, and he whispered that in my heart, "Joyce, you're already complaining about what you do have, so why should I give you anything else to complain about"?

Just think about it. Now, not to insult you at all, but maybe, you're a complainer? Maybe, you're not, but maybe, you are? Maybe, you're the kind of person that is what I call, high maintenance, it's hard to keep you happy. I can say that to you because, at one time in my life, for many years of my life, I was that way. I wasn't very thankful, but I sure noticed everything that was wrong. And once again, the devil loves that, it opens the door for him in our lives. In Luke 17:11-19, there's a great story. "On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered the village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance they lifted up their voices saying, 'Jesus, master, have mercy on us'. When he saw them, he said, 'go and show yourself to the priests'. And as they went, they were cleansed". Healed of leprosy, as they did what Jesus told them to do.

"Then one of them", one of them, "When he saw that he was healed, turned back," went back to Jesus, "Praising God with a loud voice". I'm glad that the guy got loud. You know, the devil doesn't like it when we get loud. I think about blind Bartimaeus, and he cried out, "'Jesus, have mercy on me'. And the people around him said, 'be quiet, don't bother the master'". And it says that, "He shouted all the more, 'Jesus, have mercy on me'". I don't mind a good shout once in awhile. "And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving thanks. And he was a Samaritan". That's important to notice because Samaritans were hated. But the Jews hated Samaritans so much that they wouldn't even go through Samaria. And so, this man would have been considered not even a believer, but he came back and gave thanks, for what God had done for him. "Jesus answered, 'were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine'"?

So, he noticed, that they didn't bother to give thanks. And I think when we don't bother to give thanks, that God also notices it, and it's not a good thing. Remember, being thankful, adds power to your life. Every time you thank God for something he's done in your life, it releases power in the spiritual realm. And it weakens anything that the devil can do in your life. I know you might think, "Oh, it's just, you know, thank you, has that much power"? Yes, thank you is full of power. If you're sincere and you mean it, thank you is full of power. I've been on a real journey, especially this last year of my life, to try to be more thankful. And each morning, when I pray, I thank God for many, sometimes the same things. But I'll thank God for my home, that I have a roof over my head, that I have food to eat, that I'm warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. And I thank God for my family, my children, my husband. I thank God that I have clothes to wear.

So many things that we take for granted, but if we didn't have them, we would certainly complain. It should not be easier to complain, than it is to give thanks. "'was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner'? And he said to them, 'rise and go on your way: your faith has made you well'". So, thank you, when we say, "Thank you," to God, it must be an expression of our faith. We know that he has done something for us. And we release our faith in him by saying, "Thank you, God, for helping me in this situation". Jesus noticed that the nine didn't come back. And you know what? If any one of us is not coming back, and giving thanks to God, for all the good things he does in our life, he notices that, too. I can't help but wonder, what happened to the other nine, can you? Think about that. I wonder what kinda door they opened in their life, for the enemy by being unthankful. You say, "Well, maybe, they were thankful"? Well, they didn't say so.

In Psalm 100 verse 4 says, "Be thankful and say so". And I'm hoping that those of you who are hearing this teaching today, will realize that it's important for you to get your mouth open, and start saying, "Thank you," to more and more people. And saying, "Thank you," to God more and more often. And that you will complain less, and grumble less, and find less fault. And I pray that since I'm teaching this today, that it will have an effect on me, and it will cause me to also come up higher. Even if you have problems, right now, and I'm sure many of you do. I've got a couple things going on in my own life, that I could, certainly, do without. But in the midst of them, I'm still giving thanks to God. No matter how many problems you have, right now, in the midst of them, you should still be giving thanks to God. Even if you have a problem, right now, take some time and think of the things that God provides all the time. Things such as peace, answered prayer, mercy, grace, the forgiveness of our sins, new beginnings, hope, right standing with him through Jesus Christ.

You know, we get all caught up in the material things that we don't have. And we really should be thinking about the spiritual blessings that we have. Just imagine your sins are forgiven, and God has forgotten them, and removed them as far as the east is from the west. And if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, your name is written in the lamb's book of life. And you are not gonna go to hell, you are gonna go to heaven, and spend eternity with God. There's so many spiritual blessings, that we could stay busy thanking God for. And if we did, we wouldn't notice the material things that we don't have. So, no matter how many problems you have, right now, find things that you can be thankful for. And I'm really encouraging you, strongly encouraging you, everyday of your life, be thankful and say so.

Paul never prayed for anyone's problems to go away. If you examine the prayers of Paul in the Bible, which there are many of them, especially they're listed in the epistles, everything that he prayed for the people, was something for their spirit. It was something that would make them stronger spiritually. He prayed for them to know the height, the depth, the length, and the breadth, of the love, that God had for them. He prayed for them to know, and choose, and prize what was excellent, to abound in love, all things that would help them in the spiritual realm. And the only thing that he said about their problems, was that he prayed that they would endure, whatever came their way with good temper. In other words, no matter how many problems they had, he wanted them to keep a good attitude.

Let me ask you a question. Can you have a big problem, and still keep a good attitude? I think it's very important that we all learn how to do that. I believe that once you reach that point, you are coming into higher levels of spiritual maturity, and it's really, really important. Do you give thanks more than you complain, or do you complain more than you give thanks? I wanna say that again. Do you give thanks more than you complain, or do you complain more than you give thanks? Maybe, you've got a job that you're not particularly fond of. Maybe, there's people that work at your place of employment that annoy you, and maybe, you don't like your boss, and so, you complain, complain, complain, complain. Anybody that'll listen, you complain. But you know, I bet there's people that would love to have your job, because they don't have a job. And so, how 'bout thanking God that you do have a job?

And if you really want to work somewhere else, then go and look for something else, but be thankful while you're doing it. This is so important. I pray that you're getting this message, today. There's power in, "Thank you". In Paul's short letter to the Colossians, which was actually very short. I found five times where he told the people to remember to give thanks. And that's really what I'm doing today. I'm just reminding you. I'm reminding you to be thankful, and to say so to the people in your lives, to God, to Jesus for what he did for us. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, was the scripture that we read in the beginning, that says that, "It's the will of God that we give thanks in all things".

In verse 19, the verse right after that, says, "Do not quench the Holy Spirit". The word quench means to stop. You know, we want the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. We want him to have free reign in our lives. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. But if I'm understanding this correctly, if I'm complaining all the time, then I'm quenching the spirit, and I'm preventing him from helping me in my life. I believe even our angels, the Bible says, "They hearken to the Word of God". When we're being thankful to God for what he's done for us, I think that the angels that are assigned to us, can work more powerfully in our lives. But who knows? Maybe, when we complain, we're also giving up their help. Think about it. We complain, it quenches the Holy Spirit, it stops the angels from working in our lives.

Let me tell you something we're giving up way too much, just to voice our complaining. Philippians 2:14 and 15, "Do everything", not some things, "Do everything without grumbling or arguing". "Fault-finding and complaining," that's the Amplified translation. "So that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation'. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky". Oh, this scripture is so important, 'cause you know what he's saying? "Get out in the world and don't complain". You know why? Because everybody is complaining these days. I don't know about you, but I am so tired of listening to people complain, complain, complain, complain. And the Bible says that, we, as believers in Christ, should get out in public among the people, and we should be thankful and grateful, and then, we will shine like stars, in the midst of a warped, and a crooked generation.

You know, you can be a good example to somebody, just by being thankful. You never can tell, you may actually be able to lead somebody to Christ, just by being thankful. Be a good example to people. Be grateful. If you're eating lunch at work with a lot of the other employees, and everybody's sittin' around and grumbling about something at the company, why don't you speak up and say, "Well, you know, everything is not perfect here, but I'm thankful that I have a job". There's a lot of people that don't have a job. Or wow, ladies, what if you complain about your husband all the time? You know, I bet there's some lonely person that would be happy to take him off your hands.

One time, I remember, I was not happy about a couple of things that Dave was doing, that irritated me. And God challenged me to get a piece of paper, and make two lists. One: the things that Dave did that bothered me. And the other list all the things that I could think of, that I really liked about Dave. And you know what? I was pretty ashamed when I realized, that the list of things that I liked about him was so long, and there were only two or three things on the list, that I didn't like. But because I was focusing on those things, it was really hurting my relationship with him. I wonder how many people end up getting divorces, just because they focus on the one or two things, that they don't like about somebody. How about inconvenience? How inconvenienced can you be, without complaining? Can you make it through an inconvenience, when you have to wait on something? Can you be patient, and still remain thankful?

Complaining is a reaction to something that we don't like. And it's a natural reaction. We don't have to try to complain, it's just naturally gonna happen. But if we're gonna give thanks, we're gonna have to do it on purpose. Retrain yourself. Every time you're tempted to complain, instead, find something to be thankful for. Life is filled with little annoyances, and if we can make it even through one whole day without complaining, I think it would be a major miracle. And as I said, complaining is sin. The Israelites were brought out of Egypt, and they headed toward the Promised Land. You might say, when we're born again, we're brought out of a life of sin. Our sins are forgiven. And we find all the promises of God. There's over 7000 promises of God, in the Word of God. And we want those promises. We wanna see them happen in our life. But, very often, we have to travel through the wilderness of our own soul, first. And they traveled through a wilderness, and they complained, and complained, and murmured and complained, and found fault.

And there's a scripture, in Numbers 21, that says, that serpents got into the camp and bit 23.000 of 'em and they died, just because of complaining. Well, I liken that to Satan, that then we murmur and complain, I think, we open a door for him to get involved in our lives. And there's no telling, how many people end up with a life that is just miserable because all they do is complain, all the time. Paul said, in Philippians 4, "I have learned to be content whether I'm abased or abounding". And, you know, something? We can learn it. I can learn it. You can learn it. And that's what this is all about, today.