With Thanksgiving

Philippians 4:⁶ “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (KJV)

1 Thessalonians 5:¹⁸ “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV, emphasis added). Pastor, I cannot be thankful for the promotion that I have been trusting God for, but it seems elusive. God is not saying be thankful for the apparently elusive promotion. God is saying be thankful in it. I cannot be thankful for my home not being as I envisioned, or my business not being as I envisioned it. Again, God is not saying be thankful for it. God is saying be thankful in it. In other words, while you are in it, be thankful. As you are thankful, it will build a citadel, a stronghold of gratitude around you.

Being thankful. Being surrounded with gratitude is the will of God for you. The truth is if you live long enough on this earth you will discover that no matter how good things are in your life, there will be some “bad” things that you need to work on. And guess what? No matter how bad things are in your life, there will be some “good” things you need to be grateful for. When you build a stronghold of gratitude, you enter into a state where you are too blessed to be stressed. Have you heard that before? A place where you are too anointed to be tormented. You enter a space where you are beyond stress and torment.

Someone wants to harass you, but because you are too blessed to be stressed, you are beyond it. It is being tucked into the fortress of gratitude. When the enemy tries to spring up hateful emotions in you and cause you to be hateful. However, when you are tucked into the fortress of gratitude, your response will be, “I am too grateful to be hateful. I am too blessed to be stressed. I am too anointed to be tormented. I am tucked into the stronghold of gratitude. The next question is how do I achieve that? How do I build a stronghold of gratitude? How do I enter into that state of being too blessed to be stressed? What fuels this building?

How do I get to that place where I am grateful, singing, giving, remembering, and praying? Where I am expressing my gratitude. The four ways to express gratitude are by singing, praying, giving, and remembering. So, if you find out that it is difficult for you to express gratitude through praying, singing, giving, and remembering. Know that your gratitude fortress is under attack. So, how does one build and sustain a stronghold of gratitude stronghold of gratitude? We will delve into five things beginning tomorrow.

Prayer (song): Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ His Son. And now let the weak say I am strong… Amen!